In the meantime, we have been informed that EMA are intending to progress their own application for the land that they own north of Hyams Lane although no formal planning application has yet been made.

In a further twist, the SEGRO application includes the land that EMA currently owns and if their DCO is approved by the Planning Inspectorate this would include Compulsory Purchase Order rights over land that they require. Quite how that fits in with EMA’s plans, we do not yet know.

OUR THOUGHTS

You’ll remember that the land involved was included in the Freeport plan at the very last minute, without consultation, in a completely undemocratic process. (Confirmed by our Freedom of Information requests). However, everyone, including a government minister and the Freeport Chair, had said that despite the designation, the planning decision would remain with NWLDC.

       We suspect that SEGRO saw early drafts of the NWLDC Local Plan, realised that the Planning Department already had concerns about the impact on Diseworth, and decided to hide behind a central government process that gives the NWLDC Planners the status of consultees, but gives them no power over the planning process itself. SEGRO simply have to persuade the Planning Inspectorate.

The Planning Inspectorate is an executive agency of the Department for Levelling Up – you can’t make this stuff up!!

We are currently taking legal advice over a Judicial Review of the Secretary of State’s decision.

More positively, we have already taken preliminary specialist advice about the situation overall. Although the fact that the DCO process is being used means that it is more likely that something will happen on the land, there is still everything to fight for, particularly in terms of mitigation. There will be a proper examination into the planning issues, and we have the right to be heard through lawyers and whichever consultants are relevant and affordable, so our joint efforts are even more important.

Apart from these technicalities, there is a much wider political issue here and so we are exploring how best to get this story of how Freeports and their friends in Big Business actually work, to a wider audience in this general election year.

You have every right to be extremely angry at these developments with SEGRO, the Freeport, EMA and the Government. Quite how best to channel that anger is something about which we’ll be seeking to provide guidance once we have seen the detail of any specific application .