Wigan councillors are being asked to formally oppose Tritax’s proposed Intermodal Logistics Park North, a vast 500-acre rail freight terminal planned near Lowton, on the Wigan, St Helens and Warrington border.
The scheme would create an 8.2 million square foot strategic rail freight interchange on farmland between Lowton, Culcheth and Croft. That is an impressive amount of logistics, though perhaps less impressive for anyone hoping the surrounding fields might remain fields.
Campaigners say calling the development a rail interchange risks glossing over the likely road traffic involved. Their concern is that the site could generate up to 1,200 HGV journeys every day, bringing heavy goods vehicles through communities that already have enough traffic without adding an industrial convoy.
ILP North describes the project as nationally significant and says it would help move freight from road to rail. It also claims the terminal would deliver significant economic benefits for Wigan, Warrington, St Helens and the wider region, potentially supporting up to 6,000 jobs.
Those jobs and wider economic benefits are the strongest argument in favour of the plan. However, residents are entitled to ask how much of that benefit would be felt locally, and how much of the disruption would simply be parked on the doorsteps of Lowton, Culcheth, Croft and nearby communities.
Wigan Councillors Dane Anderton and Jenney Gregory have put forward a motion for debate at full council. It notes that Wigan’s revised local plan has taken action to protect green belt land from inappropriate development, including removing land west of Winwick Lane, Lowton, from proposed development.
The motion argues that the Tritax rail interchange would affect land in both Wigan and St Helens, with the greatest impact felt in Lowton and surrounding areas. It says the development would have a significant effect on local communities while offering insufficient direct benefit to justify losing protected land.
Wigan Council had previously included the section of the site within its boundaries in its draft local plan. That allocation was removed in the latest update, with the council saying it could meet the borough’s employment needs without using the land.
Gareth Edwards, a member of the Lane Head South Residents Group, said the main concern was that the project would function as a road-to-rail interchange rather than simply transferring freight between trains. He warned that traffic impacts could extend up to 10 miles away, describing the scale of the proposal as enormous.
There is clearly a case for cleaner freight transport and new employment, but that does not make every green field a suitable building site. A project branded as rail-led still needs to explain its road impact properly, rather than hoping the word “rail” does all the public relations heavy lifting.
ILP North is classed as a nationally significant infrastructure project. The Planning Inspectorate will evaluate the plans, with the final decision to be made by the minister for transport. Further public consultation is planned for 2027.
Wigan’s full council is due to debate the motion on Wednesday, September 23.