Sixth housing plan unveiled for derelict Pluto pub site in Corby

Another scheme for a former pub site in Corby that has been disused for more than 20 years has been brought forward.

The Pluto was shut down in 2004 after it became a magnet for criminal gangs and, since the building was demolished, the site has lain vacant.

Five previous planning applications for housing have stalled.

Now a sixth set of blueprints is before North Northamptonshire Council planners which have been put together by consultancy Design : Midlands.

Owner Jak Leese, a director at the town’s Star Cars cab firm, wants to put 36 flats on the site in three blocks called Pluto Place.

There will be 13 one-bed flats, 22 two-bed flats and one three-bed unit plus a cafe on the ground floor open to the whole community and a lawned area for residents.

There will also be wheelchair adapted flats as well as a sedum roof and solar panels. All flats will have a balcony and the blocks will be linked by bridges.

A statement to planners reads: “It is the applicant’s view that what is being put forward is a robust urban design intervention that will enhance the local area and positively contribute to the long-overdue regeneration of this neighbourhood.

"The proposal will significantly enhance the quality of the area and it is hoped that it will become a catalyst for the regeneration of the wider context given its proximity to the evolving town centre. The proposal is respectful of its neighbours and has also found a creative way to reconnect the site to its valued history, thereby, returning an important missing piece of Corby’s story to its home.”

Council rules say that a development of this site should include 10 affordable homes.

However, an outside consultancy firm has produced a viability assessment stating that the cost of bringing the entire development forward would cost £7.8m. But the final sales value of all the flats if affordable units are included is likely to only be about £6.82m including a profit for the developer of £233,000.

The developer is requesting Pluto Place be exempt from the council’s affordable homes rules to to ensure they make their target return of £1.2m.

The Pluto – named in honour of Corby’s role in building the WWII Pipeline Under The Ocean – was owned during the early 2000s by local brothers Gerry and Charles Furey who grew up close by. It was raided in 2003 and cocaine was found on the premises, with five arrests made.

It shut down the following year and the Fureys eventually applied for permission in 2006 to build 32 apartments and eight houses. That application was refused over worries about layout and parking.

Similar plans were considered again in 2007 and then in 2008, when local residents living in Bonnington Walk started a petition against the scheme which they said could cause flooding.

Then the site was sold to Gainsborough Park Developments for £65,000 and a further application was considered by planners in 2016, when a 21-home scheme was proposed on a site that had to be made slightly smaller because of a land ownership dispute uncovered during the previous planning application process. The scheme stalled when it was deemed to be unviable.

In 2020, ownership of Gainsborough Park Developments was transferred to businessman and football club director Paul Glass, and another small portion of the land was purchased for £10,000, which led to the submission of another planning application proposing a block of 40 two-bed flats.

In January this year, Mr Glass’s Gainsborough Park Developments was signed over to Mr Leese for £225,000, leading to this sixth application. Mr Leese describes himself in planning documents as a local resident and entrepreneur.

You can view and comment on the application here.