Council leader resigns from East Midlands Freeport board over ‘undemocratic’ logistics hub plans

The leader of Leicestershire County Council has resigned from the board of the East Midlands Freeport after it emerged that 250 acres of agricultural land around Diseworth could be “swallowed up” by the site.

Councillor Nick Rushton said that although he continued to support the Freeport, he “fundamentally disagree[d] with the late addition of a major greenfield area” near the Northwest Leicestershire village, describing it as an “ill-advised afterthought.”

He said: “This was not part of the original bid and its last-minute inclusion was undemocratic, lacking in transparency and carried out without any consultation.

“Not only that, it’s totally the wrong place to put an industrial development of this enormity. There is no need to decimate this rural area and disrupt the neighbouring village when there are plenty of brownfield sites locally that would be much more suitable for this aspect of the overall Freeport development.”

A campaign group, Protect Diseworth, has been formed to oppose the proposed development of a logistics hub on land between the A453 and Clements Gate.

Richard Brackenbury, spokesperson for Protect Diseworth, said: “We applaud Councillor Rushton for taking this stand and for his support of the people of Diseworth and the surrounding area. We are not against the Freeport in general, but we firmly believe that the farmland which neighbours our rural village is a highly unsuitable place for this specific part of the development.”

Brackenbury added: “A busy, noisy logistics hub will have a major impact not just on people living in the village, but also on local traffic, the environment and wildlife. We implore the board to consider alternative brownfield options and to exclude our green and productive fields from their forthcoming planning application. It’s not too late for them to do the right thing.”

Councillor Rushton has called on the Freeport board to reconsider the plans.

However, in a statement, he said the board were “determined to press ahead despite my opposition”, leaving him with “no alternative but to resign.”