Representation by Malcolm Wilkins
- Date submitted
- 17 June 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am extremely concerned at the potential impact the HNRFI development may have on the area where I live due to the scale of the proposal and the lack of infrastucture in this area to allow a project like this to function. Firstly at a time of food insecurity the proposal would take out of use nearly 500 acres of agricultural land to build the proposed railfreight interchange. Is inclusion of a railfreight element to this development a way for the developer to sideline local planners who might be more rigourous in their oppostion to this development. The development will create massive enviromental impact on the local ecology especially Burbage common which will be overwhelmed by noise,light,emissions etc from the site. Local villages will have to face massive increases of traffic on infrastructure which is already fragile.I currently look out of my upstairs back windows at night to the south east to see the halo effect of Magna Park:Do I want to look east to see the same fromHNRFI? Why do we need another site like this in our area when we are being built upon in every direction by warehousing,Magna Park,DPD/Amazon and sites from DIRFT up the A5/M1. Surely this is merely encouraging the importation of more climate change damaging non-recyclable products into our enviroment. With regards to HNRFI green credentials of encouaging railfreight into the terminal do 16 container frains a day currently run along this line for trains to stop and drop off freight. This freight will then be interchanged and shipped back on lorries,onto roads which are already struggling with capacity eg the A5 from M1 to M42,and the M69 especially at peak times at junction 21. Do we have any commitment from Tritax as to what percentage of inward freight will be rail hauled compared to road. With regards to employment the key questions are in a low unemployment area where are 8000 employees going to come from,how are they going to get to work on clogged roads and with minimal public transport. These jobs will not be high skill/high paid jobs as this will be largely low skill warehousing jobs. This and other potential projects should not be allowed to be developed until we have a core structure in place for infrastucture,for how these projects when no longer needed will be restored to their original status and who will pay for the clean-up. I do not think Tritax Symmetry have any sympathy for the environment or the people living locally to this proposal which should be quickly rejected.