Controversial £750m rail freight hub hit by delay

Developers Tritax Symmetry have withdrawn their application for the controversial £750m Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange – but the firm says the move is only a temporary one.

Tritax had submitted the application to the Planning Inspectorate on 6 February for consideration. However, the Planning Inspectorate have told Tritax they failed to provide a required technical report in their submission documents.

On 21 February the Hinckley and Bosworth Borough and Blaby councils submitted a response that said the scheme’s consultation “falls short of what should have been undertaken”, highlighting “deficiencies in the time and information available during consultations, and there were limitations and gaps in the baseline information provided”.

It is understood Tritax will now take several weeks to prepare this report and will then need to resubmit their application.

This will restart the process from the start of the acceptance phase.

The scheme, earmarked for 440 acres of land between the M69 and the Leicester to Birmingham railway line, is to the north-east of Hinckley – partially within the Hinckley and Bosworth Borough with the majority situated within the Blaby District – and would be based close to Junction 2 of the M69 to the north of Burbage Common.

Whilst Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council can comment on the application throughout the formal process, it cannot make the final decision. The scheme is considered of such scale and national importance it will be determined by the Secretary of State.

It is expected this delay will add several weeks to the currently expected timetable.

A statement from Tritax’s development director Nick Payne said: “Working collaboratively with the Planning Inspectorate, we have temporarily withdrawn the application in order to submit an additional minor piece of information at their request, on a Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Embodied Carbon Assessment for construction of the offsite highway works.

“Unfortunately, the strict Development Consent Order process does not allow us to submit further information at this stage, so we have to withdraw and then resubmit.”

“We remain committed to delivering on our plans to invest in Leicestershire and create opportunities for local people and will be looking to submit the updated application to the Planning Inspectorate shortly.”