Corby's abandoned Northbank steelworks tip finally gets green light for employment regeneration plan

A former Corby steelworks tip site is set to become home to an employment park after plans were finally given the nod after years of delays.

The contaminated 20-hectare site is thought to be the largest remaining piece of unused steelworks land in Corby, and was once used as a tip for some of the most toxic substances produced by the works.

The Tata-owned land off Napier Road is now set to be redeveloped by Storefield Plant Group, which is owned by Corby-born Dougie Wright.

His family firm has battled to get permission on the land for several years and his two-part scheme to remediate the land and to to build small industrial units was finally given the nod by planners earlier this month after a wrangle over biodiversity was settled.

Now the wasteland, which is part of the Rockingham Enterprise Area, will be levelled-out and will eventually be converted to house an estimated thirteen business units as well as more than 800 car parking spaces. The details of the buildings will come before committee again before they are constructed.

The site was originally quarried to provide iron ore for the steelworks and was latterly used as a tip for dangerous substances produced during the steelmaking process. To its west are seven lined cells that were used to dump liquid effluents from the tubeworks until the mid 2000s. They were closed, emptied and cleared in 2010.

To its east are old de-watering lagoons used to dump blast furnace slurry produced by the steelworks until it closed in 1980.

Some of the waste there is still buried in situ as Tata’s permit did not force the capping-off of the tipped waste or the raising of the ground level. The developers will use 686,000 cubic metres of inert material to backfill parts of the site and create a level platform on which to build. It will mean there will be up to 52 loads per day delivered to site via a back entrance in Steel Road.

Under the outline permission granted unanimously by North Northants Council’s Planning Committee North, the groundworks could take up to five years to complete, with potentially 18 months of building construction to follow on afterwards.

Access will be via Napier Road, and there will also be a spur onto the unused Corby Northern Orbital Road roundabout, which is currently under private ownership.

Eventually, the site will have 43,000 sq m of industrial use – mostly with small and medium-sized business units perfect for start-ups or growing businesses.

At the meeting, agent for the applicant, Alison Mitchell of Wardell Armstrong said: “The proposal places development in the right place

The development will deliver significant job creation, apprenticeships and contribute to the economic development in the area both in the short and the long term.

“It’s a derelict brownfield site surrounded by commercial and industrial development. The nearest residential properties are 700m away.

“The site was partially remediated at the closure of the works. The proposals include the creation of an engineered development platform formed from imported clean materials regulated by the environment agency.

"The platform will effectively cap the site, minimising the risk of any residual contamination reaching the surface.”

The land contamination is currently closely monitored by Tata’s Environment Department and monitoring will continue at decreased intervals once the land is developed. No work will be carried out until a comprehensive contamination remediation plan is agreed. There will also be significant biodiversity offsetting carried out by the developer.

Surface water will run into the Willow Brook and there will be attenuation ponds to regulate flooding. Pollution control will be in place during the works phase.

A S106 agreement will compel the developer to make contributions of £30,000 to upgrade the path to form a cycle route along Phoenix Parkway towards the town, £11,000 to the Steel Road improvement scheme and air quality mitigation contribution of £120,000.

During the meeting, Cllr Simon Rielly (Lab, Oakley) asked whether the Section 106 agreement monies would be paid before the commencement of building and officers said this would be worked out at contractual stages.

Cllr Kevin Watt (Con, Corby rural) asked about protection of the deer that live on site and was told that the issue would be considered at a later point in time.