A plan to build a massive warehouse in Kegworth village has been unanimously turned down by councillors after being dubbed a “monstrosity”.
North West Leicestershire District Council’s (NWLDC) planning committee met on Tuesday, 14 July, to discuss whether or not to approve the construction of a 13,000 sq metre warehouse and industrial estate on the site of the former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Data Centre in Kegworth.
More than 200 objections had been raised against the plan, citing concerns about HGV traffic and the size of the warehouse looming over homes near Pritchard Drive.
The meeting heard residents voice objections to the plan, including representatives from Kegworth Parish Council.
Andrew Priestley, chairman of the parish council, told the committee that future homes would face a “wall of steel” if the megashed plan went ahead.
He added: “These types of developments have 24/7 use with no restrictions.
“It is beyond question that there will be additional environmental noise from HGV movements … and light pollution from the goods yard.”
Angela Pritchard, a vocal campaigner against the scheme, said it “wasn’t about jobs” but about a “large company seeking to impose a speculative warehouse on [our] local community for monetary gain”.
She added: “There are many more suitable sites to put a warehouse.
“There has been a unanimous objection from 200 people, who all put forward many valid reasons why this shouldn’t go ahead.
“This huge warehouse will be right next to the place where we live.”
Tom Beardsmore, representing the applicant, Hobden Estates Ltd, said that the site would create 250 full-time jobs and generate £600,000 in business rates for the council.
He added: “This is a significant investment in the local economy.”
Other objections came from Cllr Carol Sewell and Cllr Ray Sutton, representing areas of Kegworth, who said they felt the village was becoming “besieged by industrialisation” and was “likely to be enclosed by a ring of steel”.
Councillors on the committee later questioned how many jobs the scheme would create, as well as raising concerns about how the warehouse would look from nearby homes.
Committee member Cllr Peter Moult said: “We had views of different places five years and 10 years after it would be built.
“We didn’t have a view from Pritchard Drive – because that won’t change. What we are going to get is a monstrosity of a building in their outlook.”
Independent councillor and committee member Rachel Canny praised NWLDC planning officers for making the plan as “acceptable” as possible.
She added: “The size has been reduced and the roof has come down. Everything that you could possibly do, you have done.”
Despite this, Cllr Canny said that Kegworth was a “small village”, with the council “looking to put a huge warehouse at the entrance”.
She added: “It is a small, rural, pretty village. It’s an employment site as it is.
“It is such a shame that this is what has come forward.”
Cllr Canny also referenced issues in her ward, Castle Donington, where many residents are struggling with noise pollution from warehousing.
She said: “It’s there every time you open the car door. It’s there when you go to bed. It’s there when you get up in the morning.
“In this heat, you can’t open the windows. There’s no respite.”
Councillor Dave Bigby proposed a motion to refuse the application due to its having an “overbearing impact” on residents, as well as concerns about noise and light pollution.
The motion was unanimously passed by the committee.
Mrs Pritchard said: “We’re absolutely overjoyed and we can’t quite believe it in some ways.
“It might not be the end because it is up to the developer now to decide what to do. We’ve put in so much hard work to make them see that this is the wrong planning application.
“We’re not against something being built there.”
By Chris Harper, Local Democracy Reporter
