Representation by Rachel Burlingham
- Date submitted
- 23 June 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am writing to you to raise my concerns regarding the proposed development by Tritax (Hinckley railway hub). My husband and I own wentworth stables on Burbage Common road, next to the proposed development by Tritax. I have serious concerns regarding the location in the first instance, I believe it to be largely unsuitable due to the lack of supporting infrastructure, the inability to modify the existing road network due to constraining factors such as available road width etc, coupled with the reality that the existing network is already at capacity. As a consequence the proposed development will compromise road safety, and result in an unacceptable level of congestion detrimentally affecting the local residents in an unacceptable manner not to mention the related pollution! The development purports to be a rail based distribution hub, suggesting the green distribution of goods. The reality could not be further from the truth; diesel trains feeding product into the facility, hgvs supporting onbound delivery, and a facility that is self sufficient - on the basis of generating its own brown (gas) energy. The level of pollution that the site will generate is horrific - noise, dirt, light and air pollution will all compromise the living standards of the local population to significant extent with a radius of in excess of 10 miles. Not to mention the congestion it will cause. It would appear that no consideration has been given to these factors, they are being ignored. In fact indifference is probably the best way of describing tritaxs approach to the concerns raised by locals. Poorly coordinated engagement reviews, ignorance to concerns raised by individuals (I have personal experience of this), reflecting an approach that appears more aligned to a box ticking exercise than a genuine endeavour to work with and listen to the local population. I feel that tritax have sought only to generate a data set that demonstrates their engagement. This has been demonstrated in the poorly arranged reviews, the ignorance to direct communication from stakeholders, and on the other hand the weekly attaching over the last few weeks of communications regarding the proposal to local properties, an act I would suggest driven by planning requirements, or a desire to numerically demonstrate engagement, rather than an endeavour to be engaged with stakeholders in an effort to be able to placate any noise that 'the little people' are likely to make when presenting to the inspectorate. Furthermore it is with great disappointment that I see that tritax persistently regress their plans, proposing to remove vital bunding around the development, increasing pollution of all kinds to the surrounding area. This decision can only have been financially motivated without care or consideration for the area. From a personal perspective our land touches the proposed site. The affect on us will be significant. During the proposed decade of building our countryside dream will be destroyed. I don't even know if it will be feasible to continue using it for its intended purpose. The associated pollutants; air noise, dirt, light etc will compromise our well being, and that of our animal's. Why should we be victim of tritaxs proposal, why should our dreams die because of it? No discussions have been held with us regarding the impact. In fact tritax appear oblivious to it. This is a factor that needs to be addressed directly requiring compensation. On a personal note I am concerned about the use of burbage common lane ongoing, both during development and once live. It is a single track lane that is unsuitable for anything other than the level of use it currently has. I personally do not want to see this development proceed, it's not the right location, doesn't have the required infrastructure, doesn't have the available workforce to support it, and will be an environmental nightmare. Its a prime example of big business ignoring anything other than its own financial gain with no moral compass to ensure that the development is empathic to the area, the people, or for that matter animal's that live within it. Sadly given the indifference of tritax to the voice of its stakeholders the only platform that I am left to raise these concerns within is through the inspectorate, I hope my voice, along with those of the wider community can finally be heard, and the concerns raised addressed