Bristol Port Company is to appeal against a council decision toreject its plans to expand the giant car parks at Royal Portbury Dockinto the countryside.
The company currently stores more than 50,000 imported vehicles inits pounds between the M5 Avonmouth Bridge and the dockside.
But it wants to stretch its boundaries into the green fields ofneighbouring Shipway Farm to park more cars and light vans after theyarrive by sea.
The company applied to North Somerset Council in February forpermission to change the use of the land from agriculture to vehiclestorage with security fencing and lighting.
But councillors sitting on the district's North Area Committeerejected the application by a large majority.
They said they were all for the dock flourishing, but not at theexpense of more land at Shipway Farm.
Some said that if the port company wants more space then perhapsthe time had come when they should start looking to build multi-storey car parks.
It was claimed that this would cost about the same as tarmacingover a couple of acres of land and it was being done at SouthamptonDocks.
But Bristol Port Company greeted the decision with disappointment.
Spokesman Patrick Kieron said: "We just don''t have enough land tooffer new customers at the port which would not only increase thedock's prosperity, but would help to secure the business we havetoday.
"We are disappointed because after all the investment - more thanGBP300 million in the last 11 years - we have not had any extra landallocated to us beyond that set in 1971." The appeal will be heard ata public inquiry at a date and venue to be set.
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