FORTH Ports said yesterday its plans for a new Leith waterfront would "add hundreds of millions of gross value added to the Scottish economy".

It would also help to "create social inclusion" in the city through job creation in north Edinburgh, chief executive Charles Hammond told shareholders at the company's annual meeting in the capital, the day before voters went to the polls to decide who would run the city council.

He said: "We will shortly lodge the largest outline planning application Edinburgh has ever seen, for the redevelopment of Leith Docks, and which will be the largest long-term expansion of the city for over two centuries. Later in the year, we will finalise our more detailed master plan for the first two villages of the Leith Docks development, known as the Hub - a plan which will give the waterfront a retail, leisure and commercial heart."

He said Forth welcomed the release of the first tranche of funding for the tram project which would link the waterfront with the city centre and the airport and would "help to make our sites an established quarter of the city".

In a nod to the elections, Hammond went on: "These plans deserve unanimous political support in our capital city and we look forward to working with the new city council administration through the Waterfront Development Partnership Board to realise our vision."

In the wake of the recent sewage spill disaster in the Firth of Forth, and amid concerns by environmental groups about proposals for ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Forth, Hammond said: "We take our role as guardians of the Firth of Forth seri- ously. We continue to con-sider the proposals to carry out ship-to-ship transfers of oil in the firth.

"These plans are being assessed to ensure such operations, if approved, would be carried out in an inher- ently safe manner and would not affect the environment of the Forth. The results of the assessment will be published on our website and comments will be invited from interested parties before any final decision is taken on the proposals."

F & C Asset Management, a 7% shareholder with some of its holding in its ethical fund range, has said it is awaiting the detail of the proposals.

Forth Ports, at the centre of regular takeover speculation as the UK's last listed port operator, said current trading in the first quarter was in line with expectations.

Hammond said: "Our pipeline of projects gives us con-fidence for the future. At Tilbury, London's port, we are preparing to be the port of choice for the Olympics in 2012. Our new long-term agreement with Cemex is evidence of our early success in this area.

"In Scotland, our container volumes continue to grow at Grangemouth and our plans are advancing to create a modern distribution hub in Scotland's largest port, serving both the Glasgow and Edinburgh metropolitan regions."

Hammond said the decision last year by Ineos to build a biodiesel plant at Grangemouth strengthened the outlook for growing liquid and bulk tonnages.