Representation by Amy Margaret Smith
- Date submitted
- 22 June 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
This project is completely ill planned and situated in entirely the wrong location. This project is enormous and no amount of natural screening, light reduction, traffic measures or 'camouflage' will negate the massive impact this will have on our neighbourhood. The negative impact on the surrounding area, local residents and countryside will be undeniable and cause much upheaval and upset in the local area. Traffic around the area will cause unneeded distress and upset to residents - and the feel of this idyllic area will be destroyed. The local villages cannot support the increased traffic, and despite what the developers said about traffic being forced to use the M69 junction, the construction traffic and the employees of the site will use the local roads, and in the event of any traffic at the M1/M69 (which there is for several hours a day already) the HGVs will try and use the local roads. It's also worth noting that at the Public Consultation the representatives were unable to answer questions about the volume of traffic that the NRFI would put out into the local villages, either during construction or when operational, and didn't have any data to refer us to. The local villages are already struggling to cope with the current volume of traffic, and with the proposed housing developments in Barwell, Earl Shilton and Hinckley this will already be pushed to breaking point. This development will prove catastrophic and there will be inevitable accidents and injuries. The impact on Burbage Woods and Common will be inexcusable - a place many people find peace and solace in. The environmental impact will be of sufficient magnitude that nothing could be put in place to mitigate the impact of the HNRFI on the local environment. The issue was raised at the Consultation of using large mature trees to help screen the site off from ground level, but the advisors said they would only use saplings (which is all about cost, and not how well the trees take to being planted which is how they tried to spin it to me). The proximity to Burbage Common Road would impact the wildlife in and around Burbage Common tremendously, not only from the noise but the light pollution from the 24/7 operation. This area is incredible at night as the low light pollution allows you to see clearly into the night sky, and the inevitable light pollution and disturbance this development will cause, would impact on local residents but also on any local wildlife that remains after the construction. Personally, the destruction of the views we have in our house (the reason we bought a property in this area) will ruin the outlook of our property and in my day to day life, the cost of my property will be impacted negatively as the views will no longer be of stunning countryside, but instead a huge industrial park! This site has been picked without any consequence to the impact of the local area. The company are trying to 'shoehorn' this project into a quiet, rural, village setting, which surrounded by a collection of small villages, who cannot sustain this level of infrastructure. Other existing logistics parks are in large, open, undeveloped areas, where there is already existing infrastructure to take on this capacity. The proposed project has been developed with no thought or consideration for the long and short term impact. It was clear from the lack of detail at the public consultation that Tritax has shown a disregard to the local residents in their lack of preparation, lack of thoroughness, inability to answer our questions at appropriate levels and misleading statements made at the consultation. The level of noise and pollution created will also be a huge upset to the locals - I have not found one person who believes this to be the right site for such a huge project - especially when Magna Park is so close by! There are a number of other rail freight parks that could be used to take up this capacity. It would also be more environmentally and economically sensible to build rail access to any of local logistics parks to provide them with dedicated links to the rail network, if it was of National importance that the Rail Freight capacity be increased, whereas this is just a private developer wanting to push through a logistics park with a nod to Rail Freight, with no concern to how this development will impact local villages and residents. This location will have a devastating impact on the local area.