Representation by Helen Chauhan
- Date submitted
- 21 June 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
This project would have a hugely detrimental impact on the local area and is unnecessary given the scale of similar projects within a small radius of the proposed site. The main concern I have is for the environmental impact on the immediate and wider area. The planned freight exchange is located alongside Burbage Common and Woods which is a local beauty spot and open space, used daily for many by people local to Burbage and Hinckley, but also from the surrounding villages. We all know now, the importance of open spaces and nature the health and wellbeing of the population and this project would destroy the peace and tranquillity of the area, not to mention have a devastating impact on the wildlife of the area. The light pollution and noise pollution caused by such a huge project would further damage the area and we would lose a valuable open space and asset to our local community. The roads surrounding the proposed site are already busy at rush hour - the M69 is often backed up at the junction with the M1, the A5 is extremely busy, and getting busier with the expansion of Magna Park and DIRFT near Rugby. The traffic through our village and those around us has already increased hugely in the years we have lived here and our roads simply will not cope with the extra traffic. Pollution in the village, near to the roads, has also worsened and this project will only serve to worsen this further. The extra rail traffic will cause issues at the crossing in Narborough which already causes some problems with queues at busy times. Nothing seems to be in the plan to mitigate this. As mentioned previously, DIRFT and Magna Park, as well as Freight exchanges in Coalville, are already built and have grown enormously recently. There simply does not seem to be the need for yet another similar project within such a small distance of so many others. I urge the Planning Inspectorate to refuse this application and save our lovely villages from the increased pollution: traffic pollution, air pollution, light pollution and noise pollution, that would undoubtedly be caused by this project. We chose to live in an area with reasonably quiet roads and open spaces nearby. We have already lost a significant amount of green space in the decade and more we have been here, and this project would destroy not only the land it is on directly, but the land and villages surrounding it in particular the roads, green spaces and night sky.