Eastleigh hosts freeport business roadshow amid HGV traffic concerns
As Hampshire Highways predicts up to 1,200 extra daily HGV movements
Artists impression shows multiple HGVs Solent Freeport will hold a business roadshow in Eastleigh this October as part of a regional tour aimed at showcasing investment opportunities and supporting local business growth. The drop-in session will take place at Eastleigh Football Club on 21 October from 8am to 1pm, and is one of five events across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight designed to gather feedback from business leaders and help shape the Freeport's policies around skills, international trade, decarbonisation and innovation.
Brian Johnson, Chair of Solent Freeport, described the roadshows as a chance to "take the business temperature" and hear directly from SMEs, which he called "the lifeblood of our region". Eastleigh lies within the boundary of the Solent Freeport and is home to the Navigator Quarter site, a designated tax zone next to Southampton Airport that could deliver up to 3,000 jobs. A hybrid planning application for the site was formally submitted to Eastleigh Borough Council last month, proposing 92,000 square metres of employment space alongside road and infrastructure works.
While the Freeport, a Liz Truss era legacy project, promises high-skilled jobs and long-term economic benefits, questions are being raised about the impact on local roads and air quality. In a response outline planning application, Hampshire Highways has forecast that Navigator Quarter alone could generate more than 1,200 HGV movements a day, with much of the traffic expected to pass through the A335 Southampton Road and Wide Lane - areas already under pressure. Although Bishopstoke Road is not intended to serve as a freight route, concerns remain that it could become a cut-through for lorry drivers, adding to congestion in the town centre.
Eastleigh Borough Council has recently proposed revoking some of its Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) after several years of compliance, but new national air quality targets due by 2028 are likely to be far stricter. Current data shows that large parts of the town centre would not meet these future standards, with Southampton Road and other key routes consistently recording some of the highest nitrogen dioxide levels in the borough. Eastleigh is facing cumulative pressure from multiple sources: alongside Navigator Quarter, Southampton Airport continues to push for a fivefold increase in passenger numbers, and a new county waste site planned for Chickenhall Lane is expected to draw in HGVs from across Hampshire.
Eastleigh Borough Council, which is the local planning authority for Navigator Quarter, is also a stakeholder in the Solent Freeport and has invested GBP50,000 into the project.
The council, which stands to benefit from retained business rates within the Freeport area, is also the planning authority.
The planning application can be viewed here[1] - application number O/25/99506.
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- ^ viewed here (planning.eastleigh.gov.uk)