Corby MP Tom Pursglove gives update on controversial warehouse development

Corby’s MP Tom Pursglove has provided an update on the controversial warehouse development on the old Weetabix site saying that an urgent investigation had been initiated.

Work began on a new 160,800 sq ft warehouse on the former Weetabix site in November after a planning application was approved by North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) in 2022.

As part of the approval process, planning officers needed to consult residents who might be affected by the plans. But instead of going to Hooke Close – which is right next to the construction site – NNC went to Hubble Road, a street near the other Corby Weetabix site.

This error was apologised for by the leader of NNC, Cllr Jason Smithers, but in his statement he also said that the planning remained lawful because although they had consulted the wrong street, they did place a notice at the site and a press advert was published, fulfilling the statutory part of the process.

However, it then came to light that the site notice may have been put up in the wrong place, potentially meaning there could be a case to say that two out of the three criteria that had been used to determine the lawfulness of the decision and planning permission granted by the council have not been met.

Tom Pursglove (Cons), Cllr Mark Pengelly (Lab), and residents met with the leader and chief executive of North Northamptonshire Council to discuss the situation that has arisen.

Posting to his website yesterday (Tuesday, February 27), Mr Pursglove said: “Further to my earlier update relating to the situation involving the former Weetabix site in Corby and the seemingly very serious failings of the planning notification process around this, particularly affecting Hooke Close, I wanted to provide a further update.

“Following my initial representations, I, along with residents and Councillor Mark Pengelly, met with the Leader and Chief Executive of North Northamptonshire Council to discuss the completely unacceptable situation that has arisen, and we all emphasised with one voice the need for proper answers as to how we have arrived at this point, that proper consideration of potential remedies needs to happen, and that we and the wider public require concrete assurances that something like this could never happen again.

“We were told that an urgent investigation had been initiated to definitively get to the bottom of what has happened and it was agreed that we would meet again once the outcome of the investigation was known.

“As things stand, we are set to meet again later this week, and I shall share any further updates as I have them.

“I am also assisting a number of residents individually in raising the specific impacts on their properties that have materialised from the development - and with that in mind, if you are affected and could do with some help, do please let me know via [email protected], and I will gladly assist you in any way that I am able.”