Thrapston warehouse plan turned down by committee, but North Northamptonshire Council must now defend its decision at appeal

The large logistics site was referred to the planning inspectorate earlier this year after NNC failed to resolve the plans for three years.

Whatever decision the government-appointed inspector makes will trump the authority’s refusal notice, but it will serve as important evidence in the inquiry.

The plans for the employment site, submitted by applicant Equites Newlands (Thrapston East) LTD, would see 200,000 sqm of warehousing space built on farmland known as Castle Manor Farm, alongside the A14.

Councillors hearing the plans on Wednesday (June 11), many of whom were sitting on their first meeting since being elected in May, were met with intense public scrutiny.

Local residents had made more than 800 comments, most objections, on the plans.

Campaigners attended to see how their elected members would vote.

An officer’s report published ahead of the meeting recommended that councillors notify the inspectorate that they would have approved the plans had they been the determining body.

‘Chunks of the Northamptonshire countryside will be lost forever’

Alan Mayes, from the Northamptonshire Campaign to Protect Rural England, raised concerns to members that the plans were not in a preferred or identified site for logistics and distribution, which should be located in ‘growth towns’ such as Corby and Rushden according to NNC policy.

He added: “If as members you do not heed these policies then you are setting a clear precedent for massively intensifying the growth of warehousing along the Nene Valley and the A14.

“Large chunks of the Northamptonshire countryside will be lost forever. Future generations will not thank us for the impact of massive warehouses on the horizon.”

An emotional plea was also read out on behalf of resident Kylie Chapman, who said her house would be destroyed if the plans went ahead.

“I am the most affected by this, my family will be made homeless,” she wrote.

“We have been in the village for generations and my dad farmed this exact farmland when I was a child.

"This is an unallocated site in your plan, yet it is a strategic development for the tallest warehouses in Northamptonshire.”

Iain Scotland, speaking on behalf of campaign group Staunch (Save Titchmarsh, Thrapston and Upper Nene Valley Countryside & Habitats), claimed the officer’s report was not balanced and questioned the methodology used to show demand for logistics in the area and the impact on highways.

He implored members to go against their recommendation and refuse the plans.

‘State of the art logistics development’

Speaking for the applicant, Newlands Developments, Jack Haddow said: “As acknowledged by the council, there is a significant shortfall of industrial and logistics space across the area and our development is well placed to assist in meeting that need.

“This will be a state of the art logistics development, with all buildings constructed to the highest sustainability standards.

"The proposed buildings will be lower in height than those found on the existing Haldens Parkway industrial estate next door and they will be visually screened with landscape bunding and planting around the perimeter.”

They estimated that the site would create around 2,700 high-quality jobs and more than £4 million in annual business rates.

The panel of councillors ultimately decided that they could not support the plans and went against their officer’s approval recommendations.

Labour councillor William Colquhoun said: “I think it’s very heavily weighted in favour of developers, with very little consideration being given to the local environment and the residents affected by it.

“I think as a councillor I have a moral obligation and duty to put the residents and constituents way beyond commercial and possibly foreign interests.”

During the debate, members received warnings from officers that the planning inspector would not judge their decision on how many reasons for refusal they submit, but how strong and well-evidenced they are.

The committee boiled their rejections down to the contravention of their core strategy which puts forward allocated growth sites, there already being enough jobs to satisfy the East Northants plan employment targets, the visual impact of the warehouses on the countryside, and the impact on the highway network and protected species.

Head of Planning at NNC, Alex Chrusciak, said that they would need to seek legal advice on how to fight the appeal.

He requested ‘flexibility’ that where the council might not be able to substantiate a reason for refusal, and where it could have financial implications, they would be able to vary or remove reasons.

The development, which sits to the east of the Haldens Parkway industrial estate, has a confirmed tenant in the first 50,000 sqm warehouse – DHL.

If the planning inspector rules in the development’s favour, detailed plans for the larger storage and distribution zone with buildings up to 24m tall – which Newlands says would be set down 10m from the level of the road – would come forward at a later date.

The future of the site is now in the hands of the planning inspectorate.

The public inquiry is scheduled to begin on July 22 in the Thrapston council offices.