Corby warehouse development approval questioned again due to site notice placement

North Northamptonshire Council’s decision to grant planning permission to a controversial warehouse development in Corby has been called into question again after it was discovered that another error may have been made in the planning approval process.

Work began on a new 160,800 sq ft warehouse on the former Weetabix site in November after a planning application was approved by North Northants Council (NNC) in 2022.

As part of the approval process, planning officers needed to consult residents who might be affected by the plans. But instead of going to Hooke Close – which is right next to the construction site – NNC went to Hubble Road, a street near the other Corby Weetabix site.

Now residents of Hooke Close are waking up to a view entirely obstructed by a large warehouse and are furious they were not consulted.

This error was apologised for by the leader of NNC, Cllr Jason Smithers, but in his statement he also said that the planning remained lawful because although they had consulted the wrong street, they did place a notice at the site and a press advert was published, fulfilling the statutory part of the process.

“As part of this process, we have considered whether this error has impacted the lawfulness of the decision and the planning permission granted by the council. We can confirm that the permission remains lawful as a notice was placed at the site and a press advert was published - which fulfils the statutory part of the process.”

However, at a meeting on Sunday evening (February 11) between residents and Lloyds ward councillors Mark Pengelly (Lab) and William Colquhoun (Lab), it came to light that the site notice may have been put up in the wrong place.

At the meeting, which the Northants Telegraph attended, it was revealed that one of the residents had asked NNC for proof of the site notice, to which they obliged by sending a picture.

The picture sent to the resident shows the site notice tied to a lamp-post, that lamp-post being L7UD with the final character obscured by the notice.

After the meeting our reporter and Cllr Pengelly went to Earlstrees Road to see where this lamp-post is situated.

There is a lamp-post that matches this description on Earlstrees Road. Lamp-post L7UDV is situated on Earlstrees Road, approximately 450 metres away from the development entrance, across the road, outside the entrance to Weetabix 2, Corby’s other Weetabix site.

Google Maps’ 2022 history shows that this lamp-post did in fact have a North Northamptonshire Council notice on it in November 2022.

There is potentially now a case to say that two out of the three criteria that have been used to determine the lawfulness of the decision and planning permission granted by the council have not been met.

North Northants Council was asked to provide a comment regarding the lawfulness of the decision and planning permission granted by the council, in which Cllr Smithers said: “We have been made aware of the alleged issues in relation to the placement of the site notice and we are currently investigating the matters that have been raised. We are unable to comment further before concluding our investigation.”

A meeting between Corby MP Tom Pursglove (Cons), Hooke Close residents, Cllr Pengelly, the director responsible for planning at NNC George Candler, and NNC chief executive, Adele Wylie, was held today (February 13) to discuss what will happen moving forward.