Villagers launch hard-hitting campaign to stop gigantic warehouse development that would be seen for miles over Northants countryside

Concerned villagers have joined forces to form their own protest group about ‘blot on the landscape’ plans to build an enormous warehouse development

The proposal is for nine warehouses, five storeys high and totaling 700,000 square metres of floorspace, at the A5/A508 roundabout between Cosgrove and Old Stratford.

And the surrounding 24 hectares of land would then be ‘re-profiled’ into a county park, say the applicants Frontier Estates. This would make the entire development as big as Old Stratford village itself.

Frontier Estates say the large new country park will create a “mosaic of habitats” including wetland zones, ephemeral pools and channels, wet woodland scrub areas and grassland.

The park will be bounded to the west by the Grand Union Canal and to the south east by the River Great Ouse. The north boundary will be the A5.

The planning authority that will make the final decision is West Northamptonshire Council and hundreds of objections have been posted their planning portal, along with concerns raised by the Environment Agency, National Highways and local parish councils.

Residents have formed The Furtho Development Objection Group (FDOG) and launched their campaign this week with a giant banner on the Old Stratford roundabout saying ‘Stop 3000 Trucks Here’.

They have a website called Stop300Trucks.org and also a Facebook page. They choose the name because they say the proposed 96 HGV loading bays at the warehouses could generate 3000 truck movements per day on the A508,A5 and A422.

The group has even launched a crowdfunding page to raise £5,000 to pay for a professional campaign. You can view the crowdfunder here.

A spokesman said: “We think the warehouse development will be detrimental not only for Cosgrove and Old Stratford, but also for Stony Stratford and other surrounding towns and villages, plus anyone who uses the A5 roundabout to access or exit Milton Keynes.

"This massive development and related infrastructure will negatively impact on traffic using the A5, the A508 and the A422. It will cause air, light, noise and environmental pollution and destroy land inhabited by protected species. It shows no concern for those who live within a five mile radius who will be most impacted by the development.”

A new traffic lighted T junction planned on the A508 - 350m from the roundabout – will make matters even worse, say the objectors.

And loss of soakaway in a WNC Flood Zone could lead to the risk of more flooding in Stony Stratford and downstream in Newport Pagnell, they say.

Another concern is potential river pollution and the destruction of wildlife habitat.

The planning application can be viewed here. Although the date for comments has officially closed, views can still be sent up to when the application is considered at the Planning Committee, says the residents’ group. The date for the meeting has not yet been confirmed.

Residents are hoping that, due to the number of objections and unanswered questions raised, the application could be amended and re-opened for comments.