Council rejects plans for 500-job business site

The employment zone was earmarked for land behind the Bell Plantation garden centre near Towcester, with direct access to the A5

Plans for a business site that were rejected by a council had been "tarred with the brush" of other similar applications nearby, a developer said.

A masterplan, submitted by Alban Mann LLP for fields near the Bell Plantation garden centre at Towcester, Northamptonshire, included more than a dozen small to medium-sized buildings, generating about 500 full-time jobs.

But West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) dismissed a request to defer the application over concerns about prejudicing a nearby DHL warehouse development appeal.

The applicant spokesperson, Jason Tait, said: "We are massively different. This is a completely different scheme."

Objections were also submitted by six local parish and town councils, along with 70 letters of objection from members of the public.

Greens Norton parish councillor, Chris Bowmer, objected to the business site proposal, saying: "I cannot tell you how angry I am."

“The reason we’re here is because of the cumulative impact of the traffic and the impact on our village," he said.

An overview of all the employment site developments planned to the north of Towcester

The logistics giant DHL had applied to build a 32-hectare employment site directly above the Bell Plantation proposals - but was rejected just months before due to the impact on traffic and visual amenities.

Councillors argued that the plans were intrinsically linked and that making a decision on the smaller site could impact the DHL planning inquiry, due to be held in February.

'Cumulative impact'

The application by Alban Mann LLP, which had been two years in the making, had been recommended for approval by the council's strategic planning board on 19 November.

But concerns were raised by local highways against "severe cumulative impacts" on the road network in the future if all the proposed employment sites were approved.

Ward councillor Maggie Clubley said concerns about the height and size of the buildings "will change Towcester from a sleepy historic market town into warehouse and big logistics hub which is not what is required".

Mr Tait added: "This application should be a straightforward proposal.

"What we seem to be doing is getting this application tarred with the brush of DHL.

"Don’t throw the good site out because of the cumulative impact of something that’s bad."

The committee voted to refuse the employment site plans due to the cumulative traffic impacts predicted by 2031 and the sighting, scale and mixture of the buildings.