14.01.16
East Midlands freight interchange gets green light
The East Midlands Gateway Rail Freight Interchange, planned for a site north of East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire, has been granted development consent by transport minister Robert Goodwill MP.
The strategic rail freight interchange (SRFI) will be built over 250 acres near Castle Donington, making it large enough to qualify as a nationally significant infrastructure project. It will accommodate up to 6m sq ft of new distribution and storage buildings.
As defined by the government, the SRFI will be a “large multi-purpose rail freight interchange and distribution centre linked into both the rail and trunk road system”, with “rail-connected warehousing and container handling facilities and may also include manufacturing and processing activities”.
The facility, for which the government says there is a “compelling need”, will include an intermodal freight terminal accommodating up to 16 trains per day, each up to 775m long.
According to its developer, Roxhill, this would “provide the facilities to enable large volumes of freight to be transferred to and from road vehicles and freight trains”.
“In simple terms, it would operate as an inland port. It would therefore directly support a wide range of economic sectors within the UK, and form part of increasingly significant flows of international cargo movements,” it said.
The proposal is expected to generate around 7,000 direct jobs once operational, and including training opportunities and integrated public transport facilities, as well as further employment through the construction phase.”
A new direct rail link will also bolster the scheme by connecting to the existing Castle Donington Branch freight line, providing access to the national rail freight network and to major ports.
Though the examining authority took issue with the fact that the site’s proposed warehousing would not be directly connected to rail, Goodwill noted that freight will be transported between the terminal and individual warehouses by road-based tractors, meaning warehouses will still be “rail accessible” or “rail served”.
The consent was issued by Goodwill rather than the transport secretary, as is customary, due to his potential interest in the project given his Derbyshire constituency.
The project’s proposals have been evolving over a number of years, originating from the policies and evidence base of planning strategies for the East Midlands region.
It initially faced opposition from a local action group who wanted proposals to be scrapped, much like the struggles faced to get the Radlett SRFI built. Despite the developer’s pledge for 7,000 more jobs, residents and parish councils united against the project’s planned destruction of more than 600 acres of wildlife habitats and farmland, as well as potential increased traffic and noise and light pollution.
Speaking to the BBC, member of the action group and chairman of Lockington cum Hemington Parish Council, Toni Harrington, said the approval was “devastating news” and that the area was already over-developed.
“The parish council and residents worked really hard to demonstrate the development isn't necessary. There's already loads of empty warehouses at Castle Donington. We have read the small print and it could be that a rail connection will never go ahead, which is what we feared all along. Our biggest worry is that it just becomes a road freight yard,” he said.
“We're not done yet - we will look at a judicial review.”