Public WILL be consulted over plan to let Little Stanion developer off £2m payment

A new community in Corby is to be consulted over whether a developer should be forced to pay a £2m bill to go toward local educational facilities.

The money had been due to be paid as a condition of the original developer's planning permission.

The Northants Telegraph revealed earlier this month that JME Developments, which owns Little Stanion, had asked Corby Councillors to let it off a £11,000 roof tax on each home it sold on the final phase of the 1,000-home development near Corby.

The council's development control committee was due to make a decision that evening over whether to allow JME to tear up the agreement because the firm said it couldn't afford it if it wanted to make a profit on that part of the development.

Instead, JME wanted to be allowed to build 189 homes on the final plots without making any financial contribution to the local authority.

Officers at Corby Council were recommending that their members push through the agreement, and delegate authority to allow the council's head of planning Iain Smith to deal with the finer details directly with the developer.

But local people were upset that they hadn't had a say in the proposals, and said they had only discovered them when they read about them on the Northants Telegraph website.

An eleventh-hour objection from Northants County Council which funds education in the county and has already forked-out for the building of the primary school at Little Stanion, meant councillors voted to defer their decision at their meeting on July 8.

But now, it can be revealed that the authority will hold a public consultation after all to allow local people to have their say.

A letter from the authority sent to those who have objected states: "Corby Borough Council are under no obligation to undertake public consultation in these circumstances.

"Notwithstanding this.. the application was deferred by the Development Control Committee.. and we will be undertaking a public consultation exercise."

Now all local people will get to have their say on the proposals before they return to the committee.

A statement from Iain Smith, Head of Planning and Environmental Services, to the Northants Telegraph said: "We are currently awaiting additional information in response to the objection lodged against the application by Northamptonshire County Council.

"Once the additional information has been received and reviewed, a public consultation exercise via letter with Little Stanion Parish Council and the residents of Little Stanion will be undertaken.

"This is due to the public interest shown in respect of the original committee report although there is no legislative requirement to do so.

"Details of how to view the submitted information and when to respond will be included within this letter of consultation. Representations will be able to be made via letter and online via public access in the normal way.

"I cannot confirm at this time the date when the public consultation will commence."