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Council will not fight warehouse planning appeal

Nadia Lincoln
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Google The entrance to the garden centre, showing the road narrowing as it passes trees on either side and opens out into a car park. There is a Bell Plantation sign to the left, with the names of different businesses on site, and a smaller sign to the right. Buildings are visible in the background.Google
The business zone has been planned for land next to Bell Plantation garden centre in Towcester

A council said it would not defend its decision to reject a warehousing scheme at an upcoming appeal hearing.

West Northamptonshire Council refused permission for an 11-acre (4.4-hectare) business and logistics zone on the edge of Towcester, Northamptonshire, last November.

The developer launched an appeal, leaving the application in the hands of a government inspector.

However, council planning officers said the result of a similar appeal on an adjacent site would make it difficult for the local authority to win the case.

The developer Alban Mann LLP said its project near the Bell Plantation garden centre would include more than a dozen small to medium-sized buildings and generate about 500 full-time jobs.

West Northamptonshire Council's planning committee threw the plans out, saying there would be too much extra traffic and the buildings would spoil the local area.

Alban Mann launched an appeal, but the council has since decided to withdraw its objections.

It followed the result of an appeal that found in favour of a DHL development proposed nearby.

DHL was told by the council it would not be able to build a 79-acre (32-hectare) logistics hub, but a planning inspector quashed that decision after a public inquiry earlier this month.

Alban Mann LLP Aerial picture of the A5/A43 junction north of Towcester. The existing Bell Plantation is visible to the west of the A5, shown as a cluster of rectangular buildings. Further to the west is a large green area showing part of the Alban Mann development.Alban Mann LLP
The Alban Mann LLP site would be to the north and west of the garden centre

At a recent meeting of the council's strategic planning committee, planning officer Daniel Callis told members that the DHL and Alban Mann sites formed part of the same employment zone allocation and had "very significant crossover" regarding reasons for refusal.

The committee was told that following the decision on the DHL appeal, the authority's objections regarding visual impacts and highways matters were "no longer sustainable".

Laura Coffey/BBC A modern council chamber with white walls and a mezzanine floor with metal railing. Members of the public are sitting in pink seats towards the back of the room. There are councillors arranged around wooden desks towards the front, many of them in suits with ties. Some are looking through reports. There is a monitor screen high up on a wall to the left.Laura Coffey/BBC
The council lost a previous appeal after a planning meeting threw out proposals for a DHL logistics hub

All members voted unanimously for the authority to withdraw its reasons for refusal from the appeal and make no submissions against the plans.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, it was anticipated that the public inquiry would still proceed but with a greatly reduced timetable.

It would likely focus on hearing from members of the public and discussing conditions for the development.

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