Visitors centre plans lodged

BUILDING NEAR COLLIERY SITE TO BE USED FOR EDUCATION AND BASE FOR PARK STAFF

PLANS have been lodged for a visitors centre in a National Forest country park, near the site of a soonto-be-built Aldi distribution centre.

The facility, in a clearing at the Interlink South Country Park, would include two indoor classrooms and an outdoor covered classroom, as well as two external toilets for visitors.

The base would also have a small kitchen and offices.

Planning documents filed with Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council said that “the building will act as a resource for the park and its visitors for educational uses, as well as a base for park staff and management”.

The base would be joined with the established network of footpaths within the green space.

CCTV cameras from a neighbouring warehouse unit would monitor the centre.

The site is to the west of the Nailstone Colliery site, where Aldi is to create a new hub with 1.3 million sq ft of warehousing with 140 lorry bays, and a waiting area for more than 200 HGVs.

The warehouse would be around 100ft high with solar panels on the roof.

The borough council granted planning approval for the industrial hub in 2020 subject to a number of conditions.

These include that none of the buildings are more than 33m (around 108ft) high, any contamination of the land is addressed and nearby residents are not affected by dust, smell, noise, smoke or light pollution during construction.

Workers will be on site 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on a three-shift pattern.

During a typical peak morning period between 8am and 9am, some 89 cars and 105 HGVs will access the site.

In the peak evening period, from 5pm, that could be 79 cars and 94 HGVs.

The large base will also have two floors of offices.

You can comment on the visitors centre application on the borough council website.

The site is to the west of the Nailstone Colliery site, where Aldi is to create a new hub with 1.3 million sq ft of warehousing