Victory for campaigners against rural warehouses

Campaigners against warehouses in a rural area are celebrating a victory against a major distribution company.

A DHL plan for a logistics hub on the outskirts of Towcester in Northamptonshire was rejected by councillors.

Protesters said the site was totally inappropriate.

DHL said it was considering an appeal against the decision.

The completed development would have covered an area of farmland equivalent to 45 football pitches.

DHL described the plan as offering "the highest standards of sustainable development" and over 1,200 new jobs.

The proposal included one warehouse and development land for buildings with a maximum height of 21.5m.

Campaigners said buildings at the hub would "dominate the landscape, they will absolutely tower over everything" and would also generate a lot of new traffic.

The Conservative-controlled West Northamptonshire Council's Strategic Planning Committee met for five hours to discuss the plan on Tuesday.

They heard from the local MP, objectors and representatives of DHL.

Planning officers told the committee the economic benefits of the scheme outweighed any harm it would cause.

But councillors decided by 11 votes to one to reject the proposal because its size and scale would have caused visual harm and created too much extra traffic.

The local Tory MP, Sarah Bool, spoke at the meeting and said afterwards that she was "thrilled that the committee has listened to the many local voices of concern by refusing the DHL warehousing application".

She added: "This is a good decision for the future of Towcester."

Isla Whitcroft, the co-founder of the "Save Towcester Now" campaign, said the result had "taken three years of a lot of work from a lot of people.

"We've been bowled over by the 1,100 people who objected [and] the parish councils who've unanimously voted against it."

Graham Meller, from the nearby village of Shutlanger, said he had objected to "that monstrosity" because of the "traffic and pollution" the hub would have generated.

Geoff Hillman added: "Towcester does not need this, there's better placed on motorways [or] on better trunk roads."

Alex McMahon, the development manager for DHL, said: "I'm surprised that they voted against the recommendation of the officer, considering the fact that there were no statutory objections to this - very disappointing.

"We will probably be submitting a letter of intent to appeal."

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