Haven ports

When Labour lost power in the 1970 election the Redcliffe-Maude plans were scrapped, but the new Conservative government had its own plans for local government reform and also wanted to unite the Haven ports.

The government proposed to move the new Colchester and Tendring districts from Essex into Suffolk, so that all the Haven ports would be administered by the same county council.

Although there was some support for this, notably from Cuthbert Alport, former MP for Colchester, the Essex County Council opposed this since it would mean the loss of Colchester (including the main campus of the University of Essex) and the major port of Harwich.

The county council launched a campaign against it, and as a result this part of the Conservative government's proposed changes were not implemented.

[2] The Local Government Act 1972 was eventually enacted, without major changes to the Essex-Suffolk border.