West Midlands Interchange granted development consent

This week, Monday 4 May 2020, the application for the West Midlands Strategic Rail Freight Interchange has been given development consent by the Secretary of State for Transport.

Development consent has been given for the development of a new Strategic Rail Freight Interchange and other supporting infrastructure works near Junction 12 of the M6 motorway in South Staffordshire District.

The application was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for consideration by Four Ashes Limited on the 03 August 2018 and accepted for examination on 24 August 2018. Following an examination during which the public, statutory consultees and interested parties were given the opportunity to give evidence to the Examining Authority, a recommendation was made to the Secretary of State on 27 November 2019.

The Planning Inspectorate’s Chief Executive, Sarah Richards said:

“This is the 84th nationally significant infrastructure project to have been examined and decided within the timescales laid down in the Planning Act 2008. The Planning Inspectorate is committed to giving local communities the opportunity of being involved in the examination of projects that may affect them. Local people, the local authority and other interested parties were able to participate in a 6-month long examination. The Examining Authority listened and gave full consideration to local views before making their recommendation.”

The decision, the recommendation made by the Examining Authority to the Secretary of State and the evidence considered by the Examining Authority in reaching its recommendation is publicly available on the National Infrastructure Planning website.