National Highways drops concern over DHL Towcester warehouse

Towcester campaigners said "people are angry" about the plans

National Highways has dropped concerns over plans for a warehouse in a rural area.

The roads agency previously blocked an application for the DHL development near Towcester, Northamptonshire, and asked DHL to provide more information.

It has since published documents saying that it has no objections to the plans, and recommended a few conditions.

Local campaigners said "people are angry" about the plans for green space on the town's northern edge.

The site, accessed from the A5 near Bell Plantation, is expected to create about 1,200 new full-time jobs.

Several other applications for large warehouse employment zones in the area are also awaiting planning permission from West Northamptonshire Council.

Plans outline a further 91,000 sq m of employment space, a new roundabout and land for Towcester Town Football Club

Isla Whitcroft, co-founder of campaign group Save Towcester Now, said: "People are angry. They endure on a weekly basis huge delays and queues in and out from Towcester. As soon as there's any issue on the M1 there's just chaos everywhere - it's a misery to live with.

"Towcester is a historic town and it brings tourism to the region. Who's going to want to come and look at a town that is surrounded by warehouses? They will be monstrosities.

"They will dominate the landscape; they will absolutely tower over everything, and that's apart from the traffic."

'Disastrous decision'

Hundreds of objections have been submitted to the council and via a Save Towcester Now petition.

Dame Andrea Leadsom, Conservative MP for South Northamptonshire, shared a letter to the council and National Highways to stress her concern about objections being dropped.

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She wrote that the latest update was a "disastrous decision for Towcester" and requested an urgent meeting with those involved.

Victoria Lazenby, acting regional director for National Highways, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "We will be responding to Dame Andrea's letter in due course and would welcome an opportunity to speak further so we can explain our position and our reasons for raising no objections in principle to this application within the context of national planning policies."

No date has been set for the plans to go to the strategic planning committee but the council said it would not be on the agenda for the next meeting on 23 April.