My home in Hove is within a few hundred yards of Shoreham Harbour but you would never know it.

Apart from the occasional mournful noise of a ship's hooter and the scrunch of tyres by lorries making the sharp turn off the A259 into Wharf Road, the port often seems to be a desolate place.

It was not always so. In the Sixties, this harbour was home to the gasworks and two electricity power stations.

There was constant marine activity, not least by the ships bringing coal to produce fuel there.

The official guide to Southwick for 1969 proudly mentions the port. It refers to three million tons of cargo during the previous year and almost 3,000 commercial vessels using the harbour.

It mentions Shoreham as being one of the leading wine and timber-importing ports in Britain.

So what went wrong? The power stations and gasworks progressively closed and they were the commercial heart of the harbour. Rail access was cut off and road access was never improved.

The port authority appeared blinkered while the four councils in charge of the port could never agree on how it should be redeveloped.

Even when part of the A259 collapsed and had to be closed, it took months to restore it because of all the internecine squabbling.

Huge opportunities to revive the port were missed, in particular when a new road was built on the south side far too close to the beach, preventing the development of waterfront activities, such as sailing and windsurfing.

The authority appeared to be under the impression it was purely commercial and leisure should be discouraged while everything pointed the opposite way.

Four years ago, consultant Graham Moss produced ambitious plans, for once backed in principle by everyone, for a mixed-use development including leisure, commerce and a media village.

At last something appears to be happening. An enterprise park has been planned for the north canal bank of the harbour, which should produce at least 500 jobs. As well as the industry, there will be landscaping, pedestrian walkways, restaurants and a marina.

The port authority, now under fresh control, seems to have a positive outlook of the port, which not only includes developing industry but also encompasses marine leisure.

A planning application is expected shortly and, if approved, work could be completed within two years.

Now comes the tricky part. The enterprise park can be built using the present access because of its location but little else can.

There must be a direct route from the harbour to the Hangleton Link Road so lorries can get on to the main trunk road system.

Years ago, there were plans to demolish scores of homes in Church Road and Trafalgar Road, Portslade, to provide this access. But there would be an outcry if this were proposed today and the only solution is a tunnel.

This would probably cost £100 million. It would also not be impossible to bring back a rail access to the harbour so heavy goods could be kept off the roads. This link could also provide direct access by passengers to any new cross-Channel service to France.

Shoreham Harbour is the largest brownfield site in the South-East outside London. Fully redeveloped, it could provide thousands of jobs and be a real boost to the area, particularly the run-down districts of Fishersgate and South Portslade.

When work starts on the enterprise park, it should lead to further development, instead of coming to a sudden halt. But for this to happen, the powers that be, for once, need tunnel vision.