Concern new logistics park would 'suffocate' village

Manchester Airports Group submitted the plans to develop the 102-acre site

A campaign group has opposed plans for a new logistics and manufacturing park next to East Midlands Airport (EMA).

Protect Diseworth said the proposed development south of the A453 would "suffocate" the Leicestershire village and its surrounding agricultural land.

Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which owns and operates EMA, submitted the plans to develop the 102-acre site as part of the East Midlands Freeport.

EMA said it was "conscious" of the site's proximity to Diseworth, adding the plans sought to "strike the balance" between the need for development against the potential impact on residents and the environment.

Segro, which operates the nearby East Midlands Gateway with EMA, successfully applied to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for the project to be treated as nationally significant.

This would allow the company to apply for a development consent order (DCO), which would allow it to compulsorily purchase land owned by the airport and develop it.

A Segro spokesperson said "conversations are ongoing" to establish commercial agreements with its East Midlands Freeport partners to "realise the economic potential" of the site.

They added: "We remain hopeful that these agreements can be achieved.

“It is MAG’s decision to proceed with a planning application to develop the land it owns and this does not impact on whether the intended commercial agreements can be reached.

"However, regardless of the commercial negotiations, we believe that a DCO is a form of planning process that is particularly well suited to schemes of this scale, complexity and which are likely to have significant national and regional economic impact, and this would be our preferred option for the overall site.

"It is also the form of planning consent used for the original East Midlands Gateway site, where all the land was acquired through commercial agreement with landowners, including MAG, not a compulsory purchase."

'Do the right thing'

East Midlands Airport’s managing director Steve Griffiths said the land was "a prime location for the sort of development we are proposing, which meets a need identified by the local planning authority".

"We have met and will continue to meet members of Diseworth Parish Council and community groups and have aimed to address their concerns in our proposals,” he added.

Richard Brackenbury, spokesperson for Protect Diseworth, said: “While these big businesses are battling over their respective Freeport landgrabs, we are caught in the crossfire. But the sad fact is that, whichever firm wins, we lose.

"Our village and the agricultural land around it will be suffocated to make way for yet more giant logistics warehouses.

“We’re calling on MAG East Midlands Airport, Segro and the Freeport Board to seek alternative brownfield locations for their developments. We want them to do the right thing to save our village from this unnecessary assault."

East Midlands Freeport CEO, Tom Newman-Taylor, said the site was one of three being promoted by the Freeport.

He continued: "All of them are alongside long-established concentrations of industrial activity that are critical to the future of the regional economy.

“Our aim is to attract much-needed investment in these key sectors, and to ensure people have the skills necessary to access these opportunities. But we are also committed to working with, and listening to, the communities around these sites so that we achieve high-quality sustainable development.”

Freeport customs sites are also known as free zones and are enclosed customs zones, where eligible businesses can benefit from tax incentives.

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