Representation by Mrs Mandy Jane Motley
- Date submitted
- 22 June 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
There are already many under-utilised rail-freight hubs within short distance of the proposed site. The proposal only brings in the rail link after 10 years of operation, therefore I must only assume that this is just another logistics park in the guise of freight-rail in order to by/pass local planning and make it “strategic”. Europe’s largest logistics park, Magna Park, is only a few miles along the A5. We do not need another so close. The proposed site is slap bang in the middle of Fosse villages which will be massively affected by traffic from both the construction phase and subsequent commuting of the 8,000 staff and thousands of HGVs. Hinckley and Blaby’s only large SSSI is right next to the proposed site with many protected species. The site will be built on prime agricultural land. We need to produce more of our own food post-Brexit, not less. The proposed A47 link road from the site does not exit onto the A47, as stated, but onto a busy “B” road opposite Hinckley’s major sports facilities. I cannot imagine the chaos and safety issues associated with the thousands of HGVs spewing onto this busy minor road. The building phase will take many years, creating health issues for the local population as well as damage to the SSSI as well as affecting the water table. Of the 9,000 jobs created, the proposal aims to ship in 8,000 of these from elsewhere, therefore creating relatively few local jobs, not that we need them as our local unemployment rate is tiny. Increased rail traffic across the Narborough level crossing will cause major hold-ups for road traffic. The limits locally of the A5 major trunk road are well documented, including the low rail bridge at Hinckley. When the M69 junction exiting onto Sapcote road was built, it was well documented that an exit on the western side of the junction was not built because the road infrastructure on the Sapcote road would not take the increased traffic. Nothing had changed this and yet the proposal is to expand this junction to provide an exit/entrance on the western side of the junction. Many aspects of the proposal have not been thought through and the government should be putting its efforts into ensuring that the other local under-utilised rail-freight hubs are better utilised. A recent survey found that the nearest one at Daventry, just a few miles along the A5 from this proposal, was only 30% utilised.