Plans for six-storey flats on Corby Co-op site will be debated again - but council haven't said why
A planning application to build 150 homes on a derelict Corby town centre Co-op will go back to the planning committee tonight (Wednesday, November 4) after members wrongly refused plans in October.
An application to build 150 homes on a derelict Corby Co-op must go back to the council’s planning committee to make a final decision after members initially refused plans in October.
North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) members will scrutinise the scheme once again. The documents outline plans for three blocks of apartment buildings up to six-storeys high on the former Alexandra Road Co-op, which has been derelict since 2016.
The existing supermarket building would be knocked down to make way for the large block of flats, which would include 73 one-bed flats, 76 two-bed flats, one three-bed home and more than 2,100sqft of commercial floorspace. Blueprints show the building reaching a maximum of six storeys fronting Alexandra Road and gradually stepping down to two to three storeys to the east.
The NNC planning committee initially weighed up the plans on October 30 this year, ultimately deciding that the high-density flats would constitute overdevelopment and impact nearby residents. After spending more than an hour debating, councillors voted to refuse the plans.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has asked North Northants Council why the application is being visited again, but has received no response.
There is no mention of why the meeting is being re-run in the meeting agenda but this newspaper understands that there was an error in vote counting and that one member of the committee may have voted twice.
The application received 43 letters of objection in total, including one lodged by the local MP Lee Barron. The issues raised included the overbearing nature of the tall buildings, the loss of privacy of existing residents, increased traffic and parking issues and the impact on local services.
At the last meeting, the director of Glenrowan Homes told the committee: “We love Corby. We started a housebuilding business because we care, we want to look after our people, we want to create jobs and we want to create homes we would like to buy ourselves.
“Corby needs housing. We share the vision of the council in that a signature building should be built on that site.”
A final decision on the application will be made this evening (Wednesday, December 4), by the same North Planning Committee meeting at the Corby Cube.