New retail park in Daventry given planning permission

Building work on the new retail park could begin in early 2018

A new retail development with six shops, three restaurants, a pub and a hotel has been approved for Daventry.

Planning permission has been granted for "Site Five" on the Ashby Road roundabout, north of the town centre.

Daventry District Council said big-name shops would help the town compete with places like Rugby and Northampton.

But some businesses have warned it will drive customers away from the town centre, and Waitrose said it could threaten the viability of its store.

Waitrose said it feared it could lead to a 14% drop in trade at its supermarket in Bowen Square.

The council, which has driven the project in partnership with Henry Boot Developments, said building work could begin in early 2018.

The plans include six shops, three restaurants, a pub and a hotel

Dawn Branigan, from First Light Photographic on High Street, said: "It won't be very long before it's a case of 'will the last person in the High Street please turn the light off' and we'll count those tumbleweeds rolling down the street."

But Colin Poole, the Conservative councillor in charge of economic redevelopment, said the development was needed "purely and simply to stop people leaving Daventry".

He said: "We have the perfect example of the B&M store which opened recently, where people used to have to travel to places like Rugby just to go to that store.

"But you can't get into the Bowen Street car park in peak hours, which proves it hasn't taken trade away from Tesco or Waitrose."

Daventry District Council said the development will draw shoppers back from other towns