Start of rail freight hub examination
The Planning Inspectorate will start its examination of the Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange scheme on 12 September.
The examination into the 662-acre scheme, earmarked for rural land south-west of Elmesthorpe, will take around six months.
The process starts with what is termed the Preliminary Meeting, scheduled for 12 September, to be held at the Leicester Tigers Conference and Events Venue at Welford Road in Leicester.
This will be a public meeting and anyone who has registered their interest in being involved in the HNRFI examination process is entitled to attend. People will also be able to join the meeting on Microsoft Teams if they can’t attend in person.
The meeting will discuss procedural matters only and these will include a schedule for the examination process, deadlines for various formal submissions and topics to be covered.
Anyone wishing to attend in person or speak on the procedural matters during the meeting must register with the Planning Inspectorate by Tuesday 5 September.
People will also need to register if they intend to speak while using Teams, however, they don’t need to register if they just want to watch the meeting online.
Whether they attend or not, interested parties will then be sent details of how to take part in the examination.
Blaby District Council is already preparing its Local Impact Report and Written Representation, estimated to be due early October. These will outline significant concerns with numerous aspects of the scheme.
Previous representations have stated the Council believes developers, Tritax Symmetry, have failed to sufficiently mitigate against the negative impacts the development will have on elements such as highways, landscape, ecology, noise and light, air pollution and, specifically, extended downtime at Narborough level crossing.
Councillor Terry Richardson, Leader of Blaby District Council, said: "We are now heading into a critical time for this development when the scheme’s plans are looked at in detail. As a Council we are spending a significant amount of time and effort in ensuring we are able to make reasoned and sound responses on any aspects which are of concern. As part of our commitment we are engaging a number of specialist consultants to scrutinise the plans, bringing a raft of expert opinion to bear.
"We will continue to respond and challenge in a timely and robust manner and I would urge all interested parties to take the opportunity to attend meetings, either in person or online, and ensure they speak up and make their own responses and voice any concerns. This examination period offers the chance for us to speak out on any elements with which we may take issue."
For more information visit: Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange - Planning Inspectorate
Councillor Terry Richardson
Leader of the Council