Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange

The Journal has obtained responses to the proposed rail freight interchange from Narborough Parish Council, Friends of Narborough Station and Blaby District Council. The full responses to Tritax Symmetry with regard to the proposed Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange are too long to include in The Journal so the conclusions from these documents are reproduced below.

Narborough Parish Council

The Council objects to the proposal principally due to the impact of increased downtime at the level crossing. There are also health and safety concerns and the lack of positive biodiversity measures.

Friends of Narborough Station

1 There was no mention about safety issues (such as passing loops, refuges, bi directional working) or that freight trains even today cause delays to passenger trains.

2 Tritax Symmetry claim there will be “No Impact” on the environment or wild life and “Little Impact” as far as the railway line was concerned. No evidence of these claims has as yet been provided.

3 Safety matters relating to Narborough Station highlighted by FONS have not been addressed, in fact Tritax Symmetry seem to have no concern about the effect their project will have on the station, the level crossing or indeed the village itself.

4 A question to be asked relates to the genuine requirement for the use of rail, or is it solely to expedite planning consent. Could it be there could be railway sidings and other related railway facilities built with all the loss of green belt land, never to be used or even see a train.

5 We have highlighted a number of serious problems with this application, with huge implications not just in the Elmsthorpe and Hinckley area, but in an extremely wide radius around it.

6 FONS supports the widespread opposition to this proposal from the Leicestershire Parishes and Action Groups, and hopes the Secretary of State will consider all detailed aspects and unanswered questions, relating to each of the safety and environmental concerns raised in this response.

Blaby District Council

A robust plan, which will ensure that Blaby District Council is fully prepared for the crucial next stage of the Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange (HNRFI) proposals, has been agreed by Councillors.

The Full Council meeting on 05 April saw Councillors commit £100,000 towards any specialist consultants required to assist the Council on key matters within the application. As the application is decided by the Secretary of State, Blaby District Council receives no application fee despite the significant work required. The Council will attempt to recoup these costs back from the developer to minimise the burden on taxpayers.

The Council’s formal consultation response will be published and available for residents to view by the middle of April.