North Northamptonshire Council approves plans for 'colossus' warehouse close to homes in Corby

A proposed logistics warehouse that some neighbours said would be an unwelcome ‘colossus’ has been given the go-ahead.

North Northamptonshire Council’s (NNC) strategic planning committee was initially asked about the project on land north of Gretton Road in Corby in February.

But it deferred the decision, asking for further changes to be made to the project’s biodiversity.

Developers Mulberry came back once it had made amendments which they said were its ‘very best compromise’.

The site will be used by multinational company CEVA Logistics.

About 50 lorries will be expected to enter or leave the site every hour during peak times.

Graham Stray, secretary of the Priors Hall Park Neighbourhood Association, told the committee the building would be a ‘colossus’ and the ‘wrong design in the wrong place’.

He said residents in Kestrel Road, Lake Drive and Hobby Drive, all close to the site, would be particularly badly affected.

But Tom Burn from Mulberry said it had come up with a design that meets the needs of CEVA ‘whilst listening and reacting when possible to all the concerns raised’.

Increased screening around the site will include nearly 1,400 saplings or semi-mature and mature trees, he said.

Weldon Parish Council’s Michael Page, who was opposed to the plan, said he understood the site had been earmarked for commercial development.

But he felt the size of the building ‘doesn’t feel right’.

Five committee members approved the plan, two opposed it and one abstained at a meeting last Wednesday.