Britain’s shortage of logistics provision is shrinking. News of new sites keeps on coming. Hot on the heels of a Manchester proposal, another is coming down the tracks, this time in the highly desirable “golden triangle” of the English East Midlands.
Tritax Big Box Developments (TBBD) is hoping for a positive decision on a Development Consent Order (DCO) application for Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange (HNRFI). The proposed development, midway between Leicester and Coventry, would provide a strategic rail freight interchange which, when complete, is projected by the company to generate between £329 million and £406 million per year in Gross Value Added (GVA) for the UK economy.
Conflicts of locations
The submission comes a week after the government outlined a series of major infrastructure initiatives aimed at revitalising the UK economy. Among them, a top priority has been a desire to alleviate a stifling shortage of warehousing and modern, connected logistics provision. Tritax has referred to their project as a “once in a generation opportunity to deliver a major infrastructure project, which has rail freight, sustainability and economic growth at its core.”
The issue around the development of several projects has been conflicted locations. Britain’s biggest markets lie in its most densely populated areas, where amenity land is already at a premium. Those who have their heart in the Heart of England rarely wish to see it succumb to logistics’ Golden Triangle. Nevertheless, previous recent developments, such as the established East Midlands Gateway, or the massive SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton, currently under construction, have proved that a manicured amenity can be cultivated around the warehousing and rail tracks.
Green and arboreal credentials
Last week, Tritax had good news regarding its Newton-le-Willows project. The company has no doubt that its project at Hinckley will proceed with equal success. Already, a management deal has been signed. HNRFI will be supported by Maritime Group, the UK’s familiar blue-liveried road and rail freight logistics provider. Maritime is on board to operate the site’s 40-acre (16ha) rail freight interchange, capable of handling up to 16 trains per day. Tritax says that equates to more than 83 million miles (133 million kilometres) of heavy goods vehicle movements avoided on the UK road network. Tritax says that’s around 70,120 tonnes of CO2 avoided each year.
Hinckley is an £800m private sector initiative. In addition to rail and road infrastructure, up to 850,000 sq m (9.1 million sq ft) of modern, rail-served, warehousing and logistics space will be provided. Tritax says around 8000 jobs will be created, and local public transport will be upgraded to support new commuter flows. The developers propose at least a ten-cent Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), amounting to a fifty-acre (20 hectares) extension to existing amenity space, including planting nearly 20,000 new trees.
Boost the growth agenda
“Few developers have the funding, capability and expertise to deliver a project of this scale and complexity,” explained Andrew Dickman, Managing Director at Tritax Big Box Developments. “We are fully committed to the project in the knowledge of the major economic and social benefits it will bring to the country’s future economic prosperity, and its impact on growth in the wider UK economy.”
To sweeten the deal, Tritax says they have made a number of significant improvements to their plan. “This project is very much in line with the Government’s understanding of the value private investment into infrastructure in the UK economy and would boost the government’s growth agenda,” said Dickman.
Unique statement of confidence
“We have worked diligently to design a project which will improve connectivity, create investment, alleviate road congestion and create a sustainable development which will benefit Leicestershire,” concluded Andrew Dickman. “HNRFI is the first development of its kind to have signed up a Rail Freight Terminal operator, Maritime Group, before a DCO has been granted.”
Hinckley is not a new project. Readers of RailFreight.com, our sister site, have read reports periodically since 2020. The project has been crawling through the British planning system for several years, and is not alone in that respect. However, the change of ruling party in the British government has signalled a significant change in the planning process, with a presumption towards granting applications like Hinckley. The end may not be in sight, but perhaps the beginning is just over the horizon.