Furtho Pit: Warehouse plan is 'the wrong project', say campaigners

Campaigners against a plan to build nine warehouses and a country park say the development is "the wrong project".

Frontier Estates want to develop land at Furtho Pit at Old Stratford in Northamptonshire.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) says a date is yet to be confirmed when the application will go before its planning committee.

"We're not being 'Nimby's'," said Wayne Evans from the Furtho Development Objection Group.

The campaigners say that more than 2,000 objections have been raised about the proposed site and say it will "substantially increase traffic congestion" locally.

"It [the development] doesn't comply with the local plan that has been agreed for the area," said Mr Evans.

He added: "The proposed usage for the site was a mixed use of offices, light industry and warehousing and now we've got nine very large warehouses.

"Simply they aren't in the right place. There are enough warehouse jobs in the region. This is simply the wrong project."

Andy Bush, from the campaign group said: "They're building nine warehouses in a flood zone."

The developer accepted that the site could be liable to flooding in severe circumstances, but said its scheme would not have any "negligible effect" on flooding in nearby Stony Stratford.

The land, between the A5 and the A508, was the site of the former Furtho Pit, where "hoggin" or gravel was excavated until the 1950s.

Michael Mansell, director at Frontier Estates - the property developers behind the scheme - said: "I can happily justify what we are doing, but I can appreciate that there are always people who don't want something new built next to their house - I wouldn't.

"But it's part of our day-to-day business." he said.

Mr Mansell also defended the proposed access - a single T-junction - and said that National Highways and council highways had considered it as "the most efficient" option available.

It comes after separate campaigns in the north and south of Northamptonshire were organised against "inappropriate" rural warehousing.

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