Warehousing proposal to be assessed by government

Plans to build an 11-hectare (27-acre) business site that includes warehousing and other commercial buildings are to go to appeal after being kicked out by a council.

Proposals have been put in place for land next to the Bell Plantation garden centre in Towcester, Northamptonshire, close to the A43 and A5.

Applicant Alban Mann LLP said 500 jobs would be created by the development and it would add about £16m to the local economy each year.

However, concerns have been raised by highways chiefs against "severe cumulative impacts" on the road network and more than 70 objections were made by members of the public. The final decision will be made by the government's Planning Inspectorate.

Members of West Northamptonshire Council rejected the plans against the advice of its officers, who recommended the site be approved.

According to the indicative masterplan, the site would contain more than a dozen small to medium-sized buildings.

An Alban Mann spokesperson shared concerns at a November council meeting that its application was being "tarred with the brush of DHL" - another warehousing scheme that received more than 1,000 public objections and was refused by the same committee just months prior.

He argued the site provided "the exact type of employment development that was originally envisaged" for the area and that it should be a "straightforward" approval for members.

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