'Warehouse plan poses a danger to life'

Residents from a village in Leicestershire say they fear that plans for a new warehouse could put lives at risk.

The site's owners hope to create the warehouse on what used to be a data centre on Packington Hill in Kegworth.

Angela Pritchard, whose house backs onto the site, is concerned because the only access is on Pritchard Drive, a residential road along which children walk to school.

Leicestershire County Council previously advised that the plans should be refused but now says the impacts on highway safety "would not be unacceptable" following changes to the original proposals.

Pritchard contacted BBC Your Voice with her fears about the plans.

"The time when the lorries are mainly going to be operating we're told is between eight and nine in the morning and that's the very time when all our kids are going to school," she said.

"The thought of lorries turning in and out when all this is going on, I really do think it's a danger to life."

The planning application has attracted more than 180 public comments on the North West Leicestershire District Council website.

Planning documents show the existing gatehouse would be demolished and a commercial unit built on the site with offices and parking.

The site is owned by Hobden Estates (Kegworth) Ltd, with the application submitted by the owner's agent Coltham.

The BBC contacted both organisations and the architect for comment but received no response.

Hobden Estates has revised its original plans, reducing the footprint of the building and the number of HGVs that it proposes would access the site.

Those revised planning documents suggest 58 HGVs would arrive at the site and 60 HGVs leave it daily.

Peak times would be between 08:00 and 09:00 and then 17:00 and 18:00.

Kegworth resident Keith Leake has been driving HGVs for about eight years and also believes the site is unsuitable.

"With the best planning in the world, you'll always get where you get more than two HGVs turning up at the same time," he said.

"You look at your filter lanes, you're not going to get more than one HGV in there waiting to turn right. Before you know it, you're going to be backed out onto the main road.

"Adding HGVs to the edge of a housing estate is just asking for trouble."

Concerns have also been raised by Kegworth Parish Council as well as by ward councillors on North West Leicestershire District Council and Leicestershire County Council.

Andrew Priestley, chair of the parish council, said: "The primary issue is that this development brings HGVs within the village boundary through a whole load of really quite unsuitable junctions."

The district council said in response: "The matters raised by the parish council will be fully considered in forming the recommendation to the council's planning committee."

The application is likely to go before the committee in June or July, although that is yet to be confirmed.

Although a final decision will be made by the district council, the county council is the local highway authority and advises on applications with a potential impact on the local highway network.

In August 2025, it recommended that planners consider refusing the application because "the applicant has failed to demonstrate that safe and suitable access for all users would be provided."

But following changes to the original proposals, the authority said in April that "the impacts of the development on highway safety would not be unacceptable" and "the impacts on the road network would not be severe."

Updates to the plans include the reduction in the number of HGVs, realigned kerbing and the removal or relocation of pedestrian refuges.

Some residents have also questioned the need for another warehouse in addition to those already built nearby, with a cluster across the M1 next to East Midlands Airport.

Kegworth resident Debbie Moody said: "We've got enough warehouses up the back which I look out on every day now that weren't there when I moved into the village 22 years ago.

"The amount of lorries coming in would be horrendous for all the kids that are around this area."

A spokesperson for East Midlands Airport said, "We take an active interest in and make representations about planning proposals in the areas around the airport and are aware of the proposals being put forward in North West Leicestershire's draft Local Plan.

"We expect to review the relevant schemes in the context of airport operations, aerodrome safety and other potential limitations."

As we filmed with Pritchard in her back garden, she learned that Leicestershire County Council no longer considers the plans unacceptable.

"It's bad for the locals, very bad for the village," she said.

"We seem to be powerless to fight it, it's very sad.

"But we will push back, we will be putting more objections onto the site and saying that we don't think this decision is right."

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