Villagers near East Midlands Airport fear 'lack of transparency' over patch of land earmarked for development

Pictured is passengers at East Midlands Airport
-Credit: (Image: Nottingham Post)


Tensions are running high over plans for a patch of land near East Midlands Airport, after a property investment and development company had the site designated as “nationally significant” by the Secretary of State.

The land, which is near the Leicestershire village of Diseworth, and between the A453 and Clements Gate / Long Holden, is owned partly by the East Midlands Airport, and partly by local landowners.

There had been plans for the site to be developed, but nearby residents understood any proposals would go through the normal consultation process with North West Leicestershire District Council.

However, it has now emerged that SEGRO has had the land designated as a ‘Development of National Significance’. This status was granted by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, Michael Gove, on February 21 and means SEGRO could develop the land without the permission of its owners, the EMA.

The move means the planning process for any building on the land would be streamlined, although it would still involve extensive consultation with stakeholders and the local community. Eventual approval would be given by the Secretary of State, bypassing local authorities.

SEGRO says it plans to build warehouses and offices on the land.

The scoping application submitted by SEGRO concerns the larger, roughly right-angled triangle
The scoping application submitted by SEGRO concerns the larger, roughly right-angled triangle

But local residents fear a lack of transparency over the process, in addition to the destruction of the green lung separating them from the airport.

Richard Brackenbury is the spokesperson for Protect Diseworth, a campaign group for the nearby Leicestershire village of the same name. They fear national interests could be prioritised over the preferences of those living in the local area.

He said: “The airport owns roughly half of the land, and SEGRO has its hands on the rest. Initially we were told SEGRO would buy out the whole site, but were promised that the body who would decide on the planning permission would be North West Leicestershire District Council (NWLDC).

“The airport then announced it would develop its part of the land over the course of several meetings with Protect Diseworth. At the beginning of March, SEGRO said they’d applied to Gove to get a Section 35 decision.

“What this means, is that it would be classified as a nationally significant monument, which has thus been granted. A representative for the company said that it was due to ‘compulsory purchase powers’, whereby companies can acquire land without the consent of the owner - in this case, the EMA.”

A spokesperson for the East Midlands Airport, outlined their concerns at an application that could result in bypassing standard planning practice: “East Midlands Airport’s parent company, Manchester Airports Group (MAG), owns land south of the airport near Diseworth. At the request of the Freeport and to support its business case, EMA has included this land within the EMAGIC (East Midlands Airport and Gateway Industrial Cluster) tax site.

“EMA was approached by SEGRO, which owns East Midlands Gateway on the northern perimeter of the airport site, about the possibility of a coordinated development involving the MAG land and a neighbouring site. Discussions are yet to be concluded.

“In the meantime, EMA is in the process of submitting a planning application to NWLDC, for the development of high tech advanced manufacturing and commercial facilities with associated access roads and landscaping on its land, which would include full open and transparent local consultation.

“However, EMA has become aware that SEGRO has requested the Secretary of State to redesignate MAG’s land as ‘nationally significant,’ and that this has been granted.”

EMA’s Managing Director Steve Griffiths expressed his own concerns about the move, and said: “We remain committed to the Freeport and playing our role in unlocking the economic benefits to the region in terms of attracting investment and creating new jobs.

“However, we have significant concerns about losing control over the development of land that we own – and even having that land compulsorily purchased from us – both of which are potential outcomes of a planning process determined by a development consent order (DCO). This goes against the principles of collaboration agreed upon by all Freeport members.

“Our plans for the land we own are well advanced and will bring much needed impetus to the Freeport’s progress. We hope that a satisfactory outcome can be found in the interests of realising the full potential of the Freeport and the opportunities it can unlock for the region.”

A spokesperson for the East Midlands Freeport said: “Our mission is to act as a catalyst for economic regeneration across the East Midlands to deliver tens of thousands of jobs and £9bn of GVA for the regional economy. We will achieve this by attracting international investment to all three of our sites, including the development site south of the airport.

“We have been working with SEGRO and Manchester Airport Group to broker a solution to bring forward a viable scheme but unfortunately that hasn’t yet been possible.”

Earlier this year, SEGRO submitted a scoping application to NWLDC - separate to the Section 35 application. They want the council to outline what important issues and information they need to include in their Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or other reports for their proposed development project. Whilst this doesn’t directly mean development will be going ahead, it is often submitted as the second stage of the development process - perhaps a sign of what is to come.

A spokesperson for SEGRO said: “The East Midlands Freeport will deliver a number of economic and employment benefits for the region and we are working hard to help create the intended low-carbon advanced logistics and manufacturing hub at the heart of the Freeport initiative.

“A DCO is a form of planning process that is particularly well suited to schemes of this scale, complexity and which are likely to have significant national and regional economic impact, and the Secretary of State has outlined a number of reasons why the EMAGIC South site has been identified as nationally significant and therefore qualifies for this form of planning determination.

They added: “Conversations are ongoing and we remain hopeful that these agreements can be achieved. While a successful DCO process does allow for the potential compulsory purchase of land, this is not the reason that we applied for the section 35, and it is better for all parties to come to commercial agreements with landowners.”