Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange

Latest update

The Planning Inspectorate has published the Rule 6 Letter, which has confirmed that the The Examination stage of the HNRFI application began on Tuesday 12th September 2023. The Examination will last for a period of six months and will conclude on Tuesday 12th March 2024.

Between now and the conclusion of the Examination there are a number of deadlines where BDC the Council will provide reports and attend hearings to set out the Council’s position on the proposed HNRFI development. The Rule 6 letter includes approximate dates for submissions and details on matters including;

• Submission of a Written Representation and Local Impact Report
• Attendance to at Issue Specific Hearings and Open Floor Hearings
• Timetable for examination of the application (subject to change)

The Rule 6 Letter is available on our planning applications web page by using the proposal's dedicated Council reference 22/3000/HNRFI.

A Rule 8 Letter will be published by 24 September setting out exact timescales for the Examination stage that is taking place over the next 6 months

What is HNRFI?

A proposed multi-purpose freight interchange and distribution centre in the south of the District of Blaby. The proposals include:

• New rail infrastructure providing access to a series of parallel sidings
• Intermodal freight terminal 'railport' capable of accommodating up to 16 trains of up to 775 meters in length
• Hard surfaced areas for container storage
• Up to 850,000 square meters of warehousing and ancillary buildings with a total footprint of 650,000 square meters and up to 200,000 square meters of mezzanine floorspace
• Lorry park with welfare facilities and fuel filling station
• Energy centre incorporating an electricity substation, a gas-fired combined heat and power plant, battery capacity and roof-mounted photovoltaic arrays 
• Terrain remodelling, hard and soft landscape works, amenity water features and planting
• Noise attenuation measures consisting of acoustic barriers up to 6 meters in height
• Pedestrian, equestrian and cycle access routes and infrastructure
• M69 update works including additional northbound and southbound slip roads
• Link road from M69 junction 2 to the B4668/A47 Leicester Road

Where is it?

The site is south west of the village of Elmesthorpe and next to Burbage Common. It is predominantly within the boundary of Blaby District with a section of the new A47 link road within the boundary of Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. 

Who is deciding this application?

The development is considered to be a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. As such, the Council will act as a statutory consultee in the process and will not be responsible for determining the application.

A formal application has been made by Tritax Symmetry (formerly DB Symmetry) to the Secretary of State for Transport for a Development Consent Order. The process is administered by the Planning Inspectorate. A link to the Planning Inspectorate's website is provided at the bottom of the page, which is the best place for information and updates on the application.