Plans for nine warehouses near Old Stratford rejected after four-hour planning meeting
West Northamptonshire councillors defied officers' recommendation, citing harm to wildlife and the impact of the industrial units on nearby homes after almost 3,500 public objections
Plans to build nine warehouses and a new country park on green space near a West Northamptonshire village have been rejected after a gruelling four-hour planning meeting.
The 40-hectare site is located above the A5 between Old Stratford and Cosgrove, stretching across four large fields which include the former Furtho Pit gravel works.
Protestors gathered outside the West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) planning meeting, held at the Towcester Forum, raising concerns about the increased traffic, height, and visual impact of the units, and the loss of green space and damage to habitats, culminating four years of opposition to the warehouse plans.
Proposals for the large employment site, which the applicant Frontier Estates branded as Frontier Park, consisted of almost 70,000sqm of floorspace, with the largest industrial shed coming in at 36,287sqm and a height of 18.9m.
WNC said that the plans received nearly 3,500 objections from members of the public. However, councillors were recommended by planning officers to approve the warehouse site, giving significant weight to the ‘substantial’ economic benefits, the creation of 955 jobs and the allocation of the site for employment use in previous years.
Dominic Woodfield, a professional ecologist speaking in objection to the plans, told the committee that the area is a designated local wildlife site which would be “completely destroyed” by the sheds.
“You have clear and abundant reasons for refusal,” he said, “A scheme that is non-compliant with an outdated allocation cannot outweigh or justify the destruction of a rare habitat of at least county and arguably regional importance.”
Ward councillor for the area on WNC, Ian McCord, claimed the officer’s recommendation of approval was “tunnel vision” and failed to consider all factors together. He said this included the lack of a roundabout which was requested in the employment allocation, the loss of the wildlife site, and the lack of mixed-use employment.
He concluded: “Alone, none of these issues may be fatal. But, add them up, and you’re miles away from what the policy requires.”
South Northants MP Sarah Bool also spoke against the application, raising concerns that it is a known flood zone and the effect of the industrial sheds on heritage features.
“As should just be clear from the over 3,400 objections, this application fails to meet the requirements of the local and national planning policy and therefore should be rejected,” she said.
Planning agent Peter Frampton, representing the developers, told members that the application should not be determined on the number of objections it had received, but whether they have “substance”.
He added: “This site is allocated for employment development in an adopted development plan. The framework would require significant weight to be given to developments supporting economic growth, the scheme will provide almost 1,000 jobs when fully occupied.
“There are no sound or clear cut objections overriding these benefits. The economic benefits are massive and should be encouraged at a time when economic growth in this country is urgently needed.”
The meeting also heard that the applicant had received interest from an organisation wishing to occupy the largest unit, which they said would fund the complete build out of the entire warehouse park in one phase, lasting around 15 months.
After adjourning the meeting for a short while to come up with the exact wording for their reasons for refusal, councillors overwhelmingly voted to reject the application – with eight in favour of turning down the scheme and one against.
The reasons given were the loss of the ecologically diverse wildlife on the site – and concerns about the proposed mitigation to move it to the country park – and the impact of the large warehouse units on nearby homes on Stratford Road.
Developers have a right to appeal the decision to the planning inspectorate if they choose.