Thank you for visiting the consultation page for the proposed Oikos Marine & South Side Development (OMSSD) project. The statutory consultation for the project is now closed.
We thank all of you who have responded to the consultation and provided us with your comments. We will now spend time analysing and reviewing these comments and amending the proposal as necessary. With a view to submitting the application to the Planning Inspectorate later in 2021.
The consultation materials will remain available to view but are now for information purposes only. If you have any queries about the consultation or the project, please contact the Community Relations Team via:
Email: oikos@communityrelations.co.uk
Phone: 0800 206 2583
Post: OIKOS FREEPOST
The Oikos facility is an existing nationally significant bulk liquid, oil and fuel import, storage and distribution harbour facility, which has been operating on the site since 1936. The facility imports, stores and distributes various fuel and bulk liquid products including aviation fuel to major airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
The fuel and liquid bulk products arrive at the facility by ship. Onward distribution of these products from the site mainly takes place via underground fuel distribution pipelines, although some onward distribution also takes place via road tankers.
The OMSSD project consists of the installation of new import and export infrastructure, including marine loading arms and pipelines on the existing operational jetties and the construction of new storage tanks across the southern part of the facility. Other associated works such as a new workshop, additional road tanker loading facilities, additional on-site parking, an extension to the existing office and off site ecological mitigation works also form part of the OMSSD.
As a nation, we are increasingly reliant on fuel which is brought into the UK by sea-going tankers to import terminals like the Oikos facility. The Oikos facility, therefore, plays an increasingly important part in maintaining a reliable, resilient, competitive, efficient and safe UK fuel supply system.
The OMSSD project will provide additional infrastructure, helping to ensure that essential fuel supplies continue to reach the UK’s airports, petrol stations and industries that rely upon them. The fuel we supply is critical, both for providing energy to people and businesses and also to support the wider UK energy market.
The project forms part of an ongoing investment programme to upgrade and enhance operations at the Oikos facility, and to ensure that we can continue to set industry-leading safety and environmental standards.
As you can see on the Project Timeline below we are entering the Statutory Consultation Period, which will run until the 18th May 2021.
Once the consultation has finished we will review all feedback received and use this along with our final assessment work to complete our project proposals ready for submission to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) later in 2021. Although the timeframe will then be determined by PINS, and subject to PINS accepting our application, we anticipate that the examination period into the OMSSD project would begin in late 2021, with a decision due by late 2022. We hope that construction will start on site in early 2023.
Information relating to the OMSSD consultation webpage is also available on the Castle Point Borough Council and Canvey Island Town Council websites.
We are mindful of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and the need to protect public health is our number one priority. As a result, we will be taking a digital first approach to consultation and engagement, whereby we will be using a range of online mechanisms so that local communities will have access to all appropriate information and opportunities to provide feedback, but without having to meet in person.
Due to current restrictions in place because of the Covid 19 Pandemic it is not possible to hold traditional face to face exhibitions. We have tried to recreate this experience by creating a virtual exhibition room where you can spend time learning about the project, its benefits and how we will ensure its impacts are acceptably managed. The Virtual Exhibition Room will be available throughout the Statutory Consultation Period and can be accessed via the following link: