Corby residents furious at warehouse approval - after bungling council consulted wrong street instead of them

Those living near the construction site for a new Corby warehouse are furious after bungling council officers consulted the wrong street instead of them.

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

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.

Now residents of Hooke Close are waking up to a view entirely obstructed by a rather large warehouse.

According to the developer Block Industrial, the groundworks at Earlstree 160 are now completed and significant progress has already been made in the above ground construction works. The development is on track to achieve practical completion in the third quarter 2024.

Residents are up in arms that they were not properly notified of the massive new warehouse that will dwarf their homes.

Georgie Wallis, a resident of Hooke Close, said: “If they’d consulted and said ‘we’re going to put a 160,000 sq ft warehouse there that’s going to block your view’ I would have obviously objected to it, but they didn’t. How can you get that so wrong?

“How can you make such an error and wonder why no-one has objected?

“It’s enormous. Once the shell goes in it, that’s going to be a complete eyesore, and it already is, it’s awful.”

Georgie is not only worried about the effect the warehouse is having on her view and level of natural light, but she’s also concerned about the constant noise the construction is causing as well as her privacy regarding security cameras potentially being installed on the warehouse.

She’s also had to deal with internet connectivity issues and some of the tiles in her bathroom have begun to crack which she claims is because of the vibrations.

About 30 people turned out for a street meeting at Hooke Close on Sunday, January 28.

Lloyds councillor Mark Pengelly (Lab) said: “The council (NNC) have admitted they consulted with the wrong streets on this application. Incredibly the North Northants planning officers consulted with homes next to a different Weetabix site.

“My constituents are furious and would have objected to how close the buildings are to their homes.

“We have asked North Northamptonshire Council to explain why they made the mistake and what can residents do about it and we have also asked the developers to meet with residents so they can understand how the development will affect their homes.”

Labour Parliamentary candidate Lee Barron, who was at the meeting, said: “I have worked with several residents on this especially about the noise and vibration during construction.

“It is brilliant how Corby people work together to support each other and how local councillors can support them.

“We will do what we can to support residents who have been let down by the council.”

Cllr Jason Smithers (Cons), leader of North Northamptonshire Council, said: “North Northamptonshire Council has recently been made aware of an error which impacted upon our planning consultation process for the proposed redevelopment of an industrial site on the Earlstrees Industrial Estate in Corby and resulted in letters about a planning application being sent to residents in Hubble Road, Corby instead of Hooke Close, Corby.

“We understand the frustration caused to neighbouring residents of the development site and apologise for the error.

“We have investigated the cause of the error, which occurred through the incorrect identification of one of two Weetabix factory sites that are both located on Earlstrees Road and have introduced additional workflow processes to minimise the risk of this happening again in the future.

“As part of this process, we have considered whether this error has impacted the lawfulness of the decision and the planning permission granted by the Council. We can confirm that the permission remains lawful as a notice was placed at the site and a press advert was published - which fulfils the statutory part of the process.

“We apologise again for the error and residents can be assured we are doing all we can to ensure a similar issue doesn’t happen again.”

The applicant has since asked NNC for permission to raise the height of the building by a further 20cm which residents can object to if they search ‘NC/24/00026/NMA’ in the Corby section of the NNC planning portal.

To view the original application search ‘NC/22/00198/DPA’.