Enderby hub campaigners 'not happy' amid new planning fight

Campaigners are concerned about lorry traffic and a loss of open countryside

Campaigners say they are "not happy" after a planning appeal was launched over a rejected warehouse project on the edge of a Leicestershire village.

The Snub the Hub group claims the Enderby Logistics Hub would clog up roads and swallow up the countryside.

It consists of four large warehouses and a training centre on the site off Leicester Lane.

Developers say all concerns have been mitigated and consultees were satisfied.

Blaby District Council turned down an application for the project in October 2023, going against the advice of their own planning officers.

The Inverock Trust and The Drummond Estate submitted a new application just four months later and now they have launched an appeal against the original decision.

"Needless to say, we are not very happy", a Snub the Hub spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The group claims the appeal has been lodged due to the "strength of opposition" to the reworked plans.

"The amount of objections doubled and a 60 page report put forward with stronger and more detailed reasoning for not having our green space covered in huge warehouses and causing pollution and gridlocks for anyone who lived or had to travel past Enderby," it said.

The LDRS said the group claimed the proposed hub would result in 250 more heavy goods vehicle trips and 1,000 van journeys on nearby roads, as well as commuter traffic for workers.

'Solutions identified'

But the developers said they had already put plans to increase road and footpath capacity in place.

Martin Ward, on behalf of The Drummond Estate, said: "The appeal has been lodged as this site is allocated in Blaby District Council's adopted Local Plan for employment use and the application was fully compliant with national policy, the council's own Core Strategy Policies and the council's subsequent Delivery DPD policies for the site.

"In fact, the council has acknowledged the application is compliant with policy and therefore recommended approval.

"This application followed years of work with council officers to ensure comprehensive technical and deliverable solutions were identified.

"The statutory consultees were all satisfied, including Leicestershire County Council's highways team and National Highways, and it was clearly concluded there was no basis for a refusal on highways grounds."

The deadline for commenting on the appeal is 17 May, with a hearing date set for 9 July.