A rail expert voiced major concerns about plans for a massive rail freight hub near Elmesthorpe village - and he fears the views of locals won't count for much.
Chris Milner, editor of Railway Magazine, wrote of his worries that the proposed Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange (HNRFI) would be pushed through with little regard to resident’s views.
He also queried why four rail hubs, including the Hinckley project next to Junction 2 of the M69, are planned within 50 miles of each other, and said that in a few years they would most likely be road served.
He said: “I suspect I am not alone in finding it rather unsavoury that four almost identical schemes, located in close proximity, are proposed by different developers, and all designed to fall outside the remit of a local authority?
“Objections to the plans by concerned local residents won’t count for much and are likely to be over-ridden by the ‘strategic’ nature of the schemes which will be viewed to be in the ‘national interest’.”
The other three schemes he mentioned were the East Midlands Gateway project next to East Midlands airport, the Northampton Gateway Rail Freight Interchange at Junction 15 of the M1 by the West Coast Main Line, and other proposed warehousing near there on the west side of the line.
The 440 acre HNRFI would include a 1,500,000 square foot warehouse, the largest building in Leicestershire and some 800 bays, with lorries accessing the site via new slip roads to be built on Junction 2 of the M69.
Although the land lies within Blaby District Council’s area, due to the scale of the project the Government’s Planning Inspectorate will decide on if the plans go ahead.
Mr Milner said: “Here are FOUR schemes totalling 24 million sq ft, but include the in-progress extension at Daventry rail freight terminal and you have 32 million sq feet of new warehousing within 50 miles of each other.
“How can such vast complexes be justified, particularly as they are all so close to each other?”
Planners predict the Hinckley project would create 8,400 jobs.
The site is just a short distance from Burbage, Hinckley, Elmesthorpe, Stoney Stanton and Sapcote, with parts of it backing onto Burbage Common.
Mr Milner was also concerned that the rail freight aspect of the projects may be just a sop to get them through planning.
He said: “It’s likely within a few years these terminals will end up being road-served because it’s cheaper, convenient and more flexible, completely ignoring the green credentials rail can offer.”
Councillor's reaction
His concerns echo those of district and parish councillors in the area, who are very worried about the traffic impact on the area.
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough councillor David Bill said: “The arguments he [Mr Milner] deploys reflect the views of so many of us who cannot see the justification of the Hinckley proposal despite our natural wish to see freight moved from road to rail.
“We cannot see how this proposal will achieve that.
“This article challenges the whole concept of what is happening not only at Elmesthorpe but across a relatively small area of the Midlands.
“It will be interesting to see how the industry itself responds to the article.”
More Hinckley news
You can view the whole article on the Railway Magazine website.
The next phase of the project will be to invite members of the public to have their say, with a formal consultation planned for Spring 2019.
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council is preparing an impact statement ahead of the consultation and council leader Mike Hall asked residents to send in their views, to mike.hall@hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk
