Save Ulverscroft’s Nature

05/09/2026

🤖🌳 AI, ROBOTS AND J22 - ARE WE PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE, OR DESTROYING WHAT THE FUTURE MAY NEED MOST?

Recent comments from Elon Musk about AI, humanoid robots and the future of work raise a much bigger question about developments like the proposed J22 industrial and logistics scheme.

Musk has predicted that advances in AI and robotics could eventually make much human work optional, with robots increasingly capable of carrying out physical and industrial tasks.

Whether his exact timescales prove right or wrong, one thing is already clear:

The AI and robotics transition has begun.

Warehousing, logistics, manufacturing and transport are among the sectors where automation is developing rapidly.

The J22 proposal is promoted as providing or supporting over 1,000 jobs.

But the warehouses themselves could remain for generations.

So surely we should be asking:

What will logistics employment actually look like in 2, 5 or 10 years?

Will buildings of this scale still employ the numbers anticipated today?

Will automation, robotics, autonomous vehicles and AI fundamentally change how these sites operate?

That does not mean there will be no jobs. Technology will undoubtedly create new roles too.

But when employment benefits are used as part of the justification for permanently developing countryside, those assumptions should surely be tested against the economy we are moving towards - not simply the employment model of today.

And there is another side of this future that we should be talking about much more.

🌳 As technology becomes more dominant in our lives, genuinely natural, peaceful and green places may become more important , not less.

We are moving towards a world where more activity may be automated, digitised and undertaken through technology.

In that world, people will still need places to walk, breathe, recover, exercise, spend time with their families, connect with nature and escape increasingly technological environments.

Our need for nature does not disappear because technology advances.

Arguably, it becomes even greater.

That is why prematurely destroying valuable countryside today - particularly in a distinctive rural landscape such as Ulverscroft and the wider Charnwood Forest area - raises a profound question about what we are leaving for future generations.

You can build another warehouse.

You cannot simply recreate an established landscape, mature trees, historic field patterns, habitats, tranquillity and centuries of relationship between people, heritage and place.

Once major development takes place, much of that change is effectively irreversible.

So what is genuinely future-proof?

Covering more green land with concrete because today’s economic model predicts a particular level of logistics employment?

Or protecting particularly valuable landscapes while directing necessary development towards the locations where environmental and community harm can be minimised?

Economic development is important.

Jobs are important.

Technology and innovation are important.

But so are human wellbeing, nature, heritage and the places that allow communities to remain connected to the natural world.

The future should not be an argument for sacrificing those things.

It should make us value them more.

If AI and robotics transform employment as dramatically as many technology leaders believe they will, future generations may look back and ask why, at the very moment society was entering one of the greatest technological transitions in history, we continued permanently industrialising precious green landscapes on assumptions that could rapidly become outdated.

That is why decisions such as J22 need to be genuinely long-term.

Not five-year thinking.
Not today’s jobs alone.
Not today’s technology alone.

Planning should consider the world our children will actually inherit.

Because technology can change incredibly quickly.

🌳 But once a special landscape has been lost beneath concrete and industrial development, getting it back may simply not be possible.

That is the part of “future-proofing” we cannot afford to forget.

Elon Musk recent interview: https://youtu.be/H0Ap25IOWr8?is=i6EJ7RIxZvoNz_1u

Robot working in a warehouse: https://youtube.com/shorts/i6-8jvptysQ?is=xui1u60p7vG_lOgh

05/09/2026

🌳 OUR ULVERSCROFT – WHAT DOES THIS AREA MEAN TO YOU? 🌳

We want to hear directly from people across Ulverscroft, Copt Oak, Markfield and the surrounding Charnwood landscape.

Ulverscroft is not simply “land near Junction 22”.

It is part of the Ulverscroft Wooded Valley, Charnwood Forest and the National Forest — a landscape of woodland, hedgerows, fields, ponds, wetlands, historic lanes, wildlife corridors, heritage properties and long-established rural character.

Around us we have Ulverscroft Nature Reserve, Ulverscroft Priory, Stoneywell National Trust, historic cottages, important geological features and some of the most beautiful countryside in this part of Leicestershire.

The Ulverscroft Corridor Club describes the valley as a connected ecological landscape, linking woodland blocks, hedgerows, farmland margins and water features. Its evidence records 51 priority and indicator species, excluding plants and bryophytes, within the Corridor Club area, together with ponds, wet woodland, lowland meadows, heathland, fen, deciduous woodland and mature and ancient trees.

The Local Nature Recovery Strategy also identifies the Ulverscroft Valley as an area with the potential to become of particular ecological importance.

This is why the future of this landscape must be considered from every angle.

Yes, warehouse development may benefit from access to a motorway.

But planning should also consider nature, heritage, wildlife, tranquillity, dark skies, walking routes, tourism, wellbeing, rural character and what we leave behind for future generations.

Could the future of this area instead build on what already makes it special — through nature recovery, walking, heritage, responsible rural tourism, small-scale holiday accommodation, wellbeing, wildlife projects, education, sustainable farming and the developing Charnwood Forest Geopark identity?

Once a long-established rural landscape is fundamentally changed, it cannot simply be recreated by mitigation. Newly planted trees do not immediately replace mature trees. Newly created habitats do not instantly replace long-established ecological networks. And once the character of a place is lost, it may never return in the same form.

❤️ SO WE ARE ASKING JUST ONE QUESTION:

What does Ulverscroft, Copt Oak and the countryside around Markfield mean to you — and why do you believe this landscape should, or should not, be protected for future generations?

Please tell us about the walks you take, wildlife you see, views you love, memories you have, heritage that matters to you, how this countryside makes you feel, and what you would like this area to look like in 25 or 50 years’ time.

There is no “right” answer.

We simply want to hear the real voice of the local community.

Please comment below and share this post with neighbours, walkers, families, local businesses and anyone who knows and values this area.

🌿 Ulverscroft is more than a site on a planning map. It is a living landscape, a place of nature, heritage, community, memory and wellbeing.

🌳 Let’s record what makes it special before decisions are made that could shape it for generations.

31/08/2026

31/08/2026

‼️Regulation 19 is now open - your final chance to comment on the proposed Local Plan, including MARK004 / the J22 employment development/ “redevelopment”. Please read the attached guidance, complete your response and submit it by 5pm on 21 September 2026 - help is available using the details on the posters.

Please also see below the drop in times to meet with a councillor and get any assistance you may need.

Markfield Parish Council is holding local drop-in sessions to help residents find information, understand the proposals and take part in the consultation. More detailed information will be available about the proposed J22 strategic employment development, with help also available for residents wishing to understand the housing allocations or other Local Plan issues affecting Markfield.

Saturday 5 September – 1pm – 3pm

Thursday 10 September – 12pm – 2pm

Tuesday 15 September – 6pm – 8pm

These are Parish Council information sessions and are separate from HBBC’s formal consultation events. The Parish Council cannot submit your Regulation 19 representation for you. Your formal response must be sent directly to Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council.

30/08/2026

❓DID YOU KNOW? There may be much more history beneath the fields of Ulverscroft than we realise…

Most people know Ulverscroft Priory. But how many have ever wondered how far its historic landscape once extended?

There is a fascinating connection worth exploring.

Cottage Lane was historically part of a through-route connecting with Priory Lane, before later road construction severed that old route. Alongside it are the fields now proposed for major warehousing development - fields containing surviving historic ridge and furrow, old field boundaries and a landscape that has remained remarkably rural for generations.

And immediately beside them stands the centuries-old Weavers Cottage ( believed to be over 400 years old).

So it raises a fascinating question:

Could these fields, Cottage Lane and the land around Weavers Cottage once have formed part of the wider landscape, routes or lands associated with Ulverscroft Priory?

At this stage, that connection should not be presented as proven fact. But neither should the possibility simply be dismissed without proper historical investigation.

Old maps, tithe records, estate records, deeds and archaeological evidence may still have more of this story to tell.

That is exactly why Ulverscroft is so important.

Heritage isn’t only a ruined building or an ancient stone wall. It is the landscape around it. The old lanes. The field patterns. The ridge and furrow. The cottages. The routes people travelled for centuries - and the relationship between them.

Once hundreds of acres of that landscape are covered by roads, concrete and enormous industrial buildings, we cannot go back later and ask what we failed to understand.

🏛️ What if the landscape surrounding Ulverscroft Priory is itself part of the story?

Perhaps it is time we looked much more closely before allowing that story to be permanently changed.

Ulverscroft still has secrets to tell. We should understand them before we lose the landscape that holds them. 🌳

30/08/2026

These photos of Cottage Lane and the fields beside the proposed Junction 22 development speak for themselves.

After some rain, the ditches are already full, water is running across the land, and the surrounding fields are doing exactly what natural ground is meant to do - absorbing, holding and slowing enormous volumes of water. They are the sponge.

Now imagine hectares of that permeable countryside covered by vast warehouses, roads, yards, parking and hardstanding.

The question is simple: where will all that water go?

Drainage systems, attenuation ponds and engineering calculations may be proposed, but they do not change the fundamental fact that replacing open fields with extensive impermeable development radically changes how rainfall moves across a landscape.

These photographs are taken, before the proposed mega-shed development, and show the existing conditions around Cottage Lane during wet weather. This should be looked at extremely carefully before any decision is made to industrialise these fields.

Once these natural flood-storage areas are concreted over, we cannot simply put the sponge back.

This is exactly why residents are asking for the cumulative flood and drainage consequences of the Junction 22 proposal to be scrutinised properly - for Cottage Lane, neighbouring homes, the surrounding countryside and everyone downstream.

Look at these photographs and ask yourself: if this is what happens while the fields are still here absorbing the rain, what happens when they are covered in concrete?

30/08/2026

This is critical for the future of the J22 warehousing proposal - we must act now. Please read the poster, submit your Regulation 19 response and share it widely so as many residents as possible have their say.

30/08/2026

JUNCTION 22: ONE COMMUNITY. ONE VOICE. STILL STANDING.

For more than a year, residents across Ulverscroft, Copt Oak, Markfield and the surrounding area have stood together with one clear message:

THIS IS THE WRONG PLACE FOR WAREHOUSE MEGA-SHEDS AND LARGE-SCALE INDUSTRIALISATION.

That message has not changed.

3,449 verified petition signatures.
Close to 500 written objections.
And objections are still growing.

For a small rural area, that level of community response speaks volumes.

Residents have read the documents, followed the process, submitted objections, gathered evidence, attended meetings and supported one another every step of the way.

They have stood together to protect:

🌳countryside
🌳wildlife
🌳heritage
🌳dark skies and tranquillity
🌳the character of Charnwood
🌳the wellbeing of families
🌳and the environment their children will inherit

This is not opposition to development for the sake of opposition.

It is a consistent message:

THE RIGHT DEVELOPMENT MUST GO IN THE RIGHT PLACE.

Residents believe this landscape is the wrong place for massive warehouses, extensive hardstanding, industrial traffic, lighting and permanent change to the rural character of the area.

They also question whether a site that requires mitigation after mitigation after mitigation is truly the right site in the first place.

Young trees cannot instantly replace mature landscapes.

New planting cannot immediately recreate established habitats.

And some things, once lost, cannot truly be restored.

This area sits within an extraordinary landscape close to Charnwood Forest, Bradgate Park, Ulverscroft Nature Reserve, Stoneywell and Ulverscroft Priory.

Residents believe that nature, heritage and the connections between these places deserve protection, not irreversible change.

But above everything else, this is now about community voice.

When thousands sign.

When hundreds formally object.

When several communities stand together for more than a year.

When people keep speaking, researching, questioning and supporting each other…

Will that voice be heard?

Planning decisions may not be decided by numbers alone, but residents have every right to expect their concerns to be properly considered, their evidence examined and the reasons for any decision clearly explained.

And whatever happens next, one thing is already clear:

THIS COMMUNITY IS NOT DISAPPEARING.

We have stood together.

We are still standing together.

And we will continue to stand together — whatever decision is made.

For our countryside.
For our heritage.
For our wildlife.
For our homes.
For our children.
For future generations.

🌳 3,449 VOICES. CLOSE TO 500 WRITTEN OBJECTIONS. ONE COMMUNITY MESSAGE.

HEAR US. RESPECT US. PROTECT WHAT CANNOT BE REPLACED.



You can support us by signing our petition here ✍️ https://c.org/ktpZfdxs6h

Thank you 🙏

Save Ulverscroft and Markfield’s Nature from Industrialisation

30/08/2026

A very important article in The Herald, and one that reflects why so many local residents remain deeply concerned about this proposal.

For me, the fundamental issue has never been whether we need jobs or investment. Of course we do. The question is whether industrial-scale warehousing and mega-sheds belong in this particular landscape. In my view, they do not.

This is countryside at the gateway to Charnwood Forest, close to homes, wildlife, established landscapes and heritage. If it is industrialised, the landscape that exists today cannot simply be recreated. Planting schemes and screening that may take many years , even decades to mature cannot replace an established countryside landscape overnight. Calling something sustainable should mean much more than destroying what is already there and then attempting to mitigate the consequences afterwards.

I am also deeply concerned about the people who would have to live with this development every single day. Some neighbouring homes would effectively be sandwiched between major warehouse development and associated infrastructure. These are not dots on a planning map, they are people’s homes.

I believe much greater consideration must be given to residential amenity, wellbeing and human rights, including the potential effects on children, older residents and people who have chosen to live in this rural environment. Watching countryside disappear and potentially being faced instead with large industrial buildings, lighting, traffic and activity is not a trivial change. The potential effects on stress, wellbeing and quality of life deserve serious consideration alongside economic arguments.

I also remain concerned about whether the significance and settings of nearby heritage properties have been given the weight they deserve, and whether the experiences and evidence of those living immediately beside the site have been sufficiently reflected in the decision-making process.

And surely there is a wider question here: when a proposal requires mitigation after mitigation, revision after revision and further measures simply to try to reduce its impacts, should we not be asking whether this is fundamentally the right site in the first place? Mitigation can reduce harm, but it does not automatically make every location suitable.

Development should be directed to the right place, following robust assessment and genuine consideration of the environment, heritage, infrastructure and the people who will live beside it.

Once this countryside is industrialised, we cannot simply put it back.

In my view, this is the wrong location for development of this scale, and it should not be allowed to proceed at the expense of the landscape, nature, heritage and the communities who already call this area home.

✍️ If you agree, sign our petition here: https://c.org/ktpZfdxs6h

Thank you 🙏

01/08/2026

Our beautiful Ulverscroft is more than just open land, it is a living landscape where history, wildlife, woodland, ancient footpaths and peaceful countryside come together.

Cottage Lane is a cherished public footpath, walked by families, cyclists, dog walkers and nature lovers. It connects people with the heart of this remarkable landscape, offering space to breathe, reflect and experience the beauty of the National Forest.

Every season tells a different story here: ancient oaks, birdsong, wildflowers, hedgerows and breathtaking views that have shaped this special place for generations.

This is not the right location for industrial warehouses. Once this landscape is lost, it cannot simply be recreated elsewhere.

Let’s protect what makes Ulverscroft unique - for our wildlife, our heritage, our children, and future generations.

Help us preserve the wildlife, heritage, and tranquillity of this remarkable place. Sign our petition against the proposed warehouse development in Ulverscroft.

https://c.org/ktpZfdxs6h

🌿 Save Ulverscroft’s Nature.
💚 Keep Cottage Lane peaceful.
🌳 Nature belongs here, not warehouses.