Residents in a quaint Leicestershire village fear that plans for a ‘horrific’ new industrial estate will leave them in a ‘vice grip’ of development.
SEGRO, the developer behind the existing East Midlands Gateway Logistics Park, has unveiled proposals for an expansion on land between Diseworth and the M1, just south of East Midlands Airport.
The proposed development, known as East Midlands Gateway 2, would cover around 252 acres – the size of around 150 football pitches – and deliver up to 326,500 square metres of ‘state-of-the-art’ employment space, as well as create 5,000 jobs.
Ian Robertson, 83, said that Diseworth was a “lovely conservation village” and, if the plan went ahead, it would be a “complete disaster”.
He added: “I’m 83, getting close to the end, and for those six years it’s being built, there’s going to be traffic, noise, and pollution.
“They’re talking about putting 4,500 houses near Isley Walton. We’re going to be surrounded and absolutely hemmed in.
“I think it’s bad news and I think it’s appalling.”
Alan Leech, 86, said he believed there were “far better” brownfield sites on which to situate the planned development.
He added: “We’re a very historical village and we’ve got a strong community, and we’re being threatened.
“The people living here have no idea that this was going to happen to us. It happened to Lockington-Hemington. They’ve got sheds over there, and these sheds will be monstrous, high, and encroaching upon people’s lives and people’s property in the village.
“The approach we’ve taken through Protect Diseworth is very strong indeed, and we have hopes of coming through it if we attack their plans on the infrastructure, which is nonsense.”
Andy Foxall, 64, who sits on the committee of Protect Diseworth, said he felt the village was being put under a “vice grip” with the planned development.
He said: “We’re absolutely not opposed to growth and development because we live in the United Kingdom and the country depends on growth and development.
“But it has to be appropriate to the area, to what is already there, and to offer some benefits to those in the area. And, at the moment, it feels like the convenient dumping ground for huge logistics barn developments is in North West Leicestershire.
“The village road network wasn’t designed for a massive amount of traffic to go through it. We’re okay with Download [Festival]. That’s fine – it produces a lot of traffic for a couple of days.
“But what would another x-hundred goods vehicles a day do to that road?
“It will be filled up with traffic.”
The application is currently being examined by the Planning Inspectorate and will ultimately be decided by the relevant Secretary of State.
Formal examination hearings began in March 2026 and are scheduled to continue until September.