Plans for a massive Jaguar Land Rover warehousing complex on a central England farmland site have taken a big step forward
Planning officers have recommended councillors back proposals that would see a 2.9m sq ft JLR logistics campus built as part of a wider scheme on land in west Leicestershire.
JLR wants to move the work done at 10 warehouses across the Midlands to a central site.
In all it would have five units supplying spare parts to about 80 regions across the world including the 海角视频, north and south America, parts of Asia and India.
The West Midlands car giant wants to create the new hub close to junction 11 of the M42, a few miles from Ashby.
Dozens of residents have objected to the scale of the plans.
JLR has not said how many jobs it would create but the existing 10 warehouses – including three main sites in Desford, Leicestershire, at Bagington in Coventry and Honeybourne, near Stratford, and are run by Neovia, Unipart, Ceva Logistics and Panalpina – employ around 1,200 staff.
Officers at North West Leicestershire District Council have recommended the plans are approved at a September 3 planning meeting – subject to the developers making an investment into the local community to offset some of the impact.
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The council said there had been a “significant number” of objections from residents, and from 16 local parish councils as well as North Warwickshire Borough Council.
Despite that the planning committee report states: “There is strong evidence to demonstrate that there is an immediate need or demand for the proposed development and.... the principle of the development is therefore considered acceptable in land use terms.
“Whilst concerns have been raised by objectors regarding a range of issues, the application is accompanied by an environmental statement which indicates that, subject to appropriate mitigation, these issues or other adverse environmental impacts arising from the proposed development would not indicate a conflict with the development plan as a whole, nor that planning permission ought to be refused.”
Hinckley and Bosworth MP David Tredinnick said he was opposing the plans along with Market Bosworth county councillor Ivan Ould and North Warwickshire MP Craig Tracey, but supporters include Kevin Harris, chairman of the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership.
Mr Harris said: “Leicester and Leicestershire already has significant automotive and logistic strengths due to its central location and strong manufacturing base and the creation of a new global parts logistics centre would bring additional economic benefits to the area by generating new employment and supply chain opportunities for local people and businesses.”
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If it gets the go-ahead JLR would lease the site from property developer IM Properties, which announced last summer that it had bought the 238 acres of farmland near Appleby Magna to put up 3.6 million sq ft of warehousing.
It said the £350 million distribution park – with buildings ranging in size from 200,000 sq ft up to 1 million sq ft – could create up to 3,000 jobs.
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Appleby Magna residents have said they were worried about the impact of such a big development, which coincides with plans for the HS2 to pass close to the village.
Letters of objection include concerns about the height of the buildings and area covered by the site, the impact on the local environment, carbon emissions, the loss of farming land, light pollution and increased traffic.
A Jaguar Land Rover spokeswoman said: “This proposed move is about us centralising and streamlining our 海角视频 based global spare parts business.
“We have 10 海角视频 warehouse locations for the spare parts part of the business and by moving all of that to one purpose-built, centralised facility, there would be huge efficiencies and service improvement opportunities.
“It would strengthen the 海角视频’s position as the hub of our global spare parts business.
“This is a long-term plan. We want to start transferring operations in early 2022 with full completion by early 2023.
“We will be working with current providers throughout that time to ensure a smooth transition. The new site would be operated by a third party, but it’s way too early to say who that will be.
“The existing sites employ about 1,200 people between them. It’s too early to say how many the new site will have, but it’s part of the growth plans of the business, so will be a significant employer.”
Asked about potential job losses at other sites and Brexit she said: “It is way too early to talk about the impact on people.
“It is absolutely not Brexit related. This is a long-term project, which we began work on in early 2016.
“It is absolutely not short-term Brexit planning, because it is a strategic move.”
If it gets the go-ahead, work could start next spring with the first unit ready in May, 2021.