Developer Roxhill has been granted planning permission by the transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin to build a 6 million sq ft strategic rail freight interchange north of the East Midlands Airport.
The application came before the transport secretary as it was considered a nationally significant infrastructure project. The Planning Inspectorate completed its examination of the site, near Castle Donington, in July and in October put its findings and recommendations to the government.
Known as the East Midlands Gateway, the project will include 10 warehouses along with a rail freight terminal suitable for 750m freight trains and it will have direct connection into the National Freight Network.
In addition it would also store containers. The site is centrally located in the Midlands next to J24 of the M1 and East Midlands Airport. Nottingham is 13 miles to the North East, Leicester 20 miles to the south and Derby 14 miles to the North West.
ON its website Roxhill says: “East Midlands Gateway would provide large-scale warehousing together with an intermodal rail freight interchange. This would provide the facilities to enable large volumes of freight to be transferred to and from road vehicles and freight trains. In simple terms, it would operate as an inland port. It would therefore directly support a wide range of economic sectors within the UK, and form part of increasingly significant flows of international cargo movements. The proposal is expected to generate around 7,000 direct jobs once operational, and including training opportunities and integrated public transport facilities, as well as further employment through the construction phase.”
