Nine day inquiry into controversial plans for a huge DHL warehouse in Northamptonshire begins

Logistics giant DHL applied to build a 32-hectare employment site on the northern edge of Towcester, stretching across what is currently two agricultural fields. More than 1,000 letters of objection were submitted by residents to West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) throughout the planning process.

The authority turned the plans down at a tense planning meeting in September 2024. DHL said the warehouse would generate around 1,300 new full-time jobs and increase local wage generation by approximately £50 million per year.

However, concerns came pouring in about the “traffic chaos” that could arise from the development, the immense scale of the buildings next to the historic town and questioning the demand for warehousing in the area.

The inquiry event will be held in public at the Forum in Towcester over two weeks, ending on February 28. It is also being livestreamed online on WNC’s own YouTube channel.

Three parties, the appellant DHL, West Northamptonshire Council and campaign group Save Towcester Now, will give evidence to Planning Inspector Malcolm Rivett throughout the inquiry.

On the first day, he told the meeting that he would consider the main issues of whether the warehouse plans align with the local development plan, the effect on the landscape, character and setting of Towcester and the proposal’s effect on the operation of the highways network.

Speaking on behalf of the appellant DHL in the opening remarks, Paul Tucker KC argued that the application should have been approved by WNC and that there was a “severe” lack of strategic warehousing across West Northants.

He said: “This is an appeal scheme which is entirely in line, we say, with an allocation made in the local plan. The weight and the importance of permitting schemes which are in accordance with employment allocations and highlights the stark failure of the council to have done so.

“The council have failed entirely to deliver any of their employment allocations thus far through a mix of delay and refusal. The appellant will submit that this reflects the council’s members having failed to grasp the reality that their local plan sets them.

“If the 1,200 to 1,600 full-time equivalent jobs which this scheme will generate are not secured at a time when Towcester’s residential stock is poised to significantly increase the effect to do so will be to exacerbate the out-commuting issues the council’s local planning inspector highlighted. We say this is a much-needed economically beneficial scheme which will deliver the aspirations made in the local plan.”

Saira Kabir Sheikh KC, advocating for WNC, made the authority’s case for refusal and accused DHL of “shutting its eyes to the risks” of severe impacts rising from the plans.

“This appeal should be dismissed,” she said, “It causes significant landscape and visual harm and takes an unreal and flawed approach to the impact of the proposal on the highway network.

“A site allocation does not give carte blanche to shoehorn oversized commercial operations into small communities that cannot support them. Nor is it a licence to disregard oppressive visual impacts or unsustainable strain that’s placed on transport infrastructure.

“While much appears to be made of the officer’s recommendation to approve the scheme, this was by no means a ringing endorsement of the proposal. It was made in view of the fact that West Northamptonshire Council Highways had felt obliged to withdraw their opposition to the scheme despite their serious concerns.

“Ultimately members decided that they could not turn a blind eye to these issues and exercised their role in the democratic process to object the scheme in the public interest.”

Save Towcester Now also managed to crowdfund legal representation at the appeal from public donations.

Speaking for the campaign group, barrister Daniel Stedman Jones said DHL was trying to “cram the appeal site with the largest scale of development possible”.

He added: “Policy AL1 aims to deliver a mix of employment development which will reflect the need for diversity and resilience in the local economy.

“The proposed development instead seeks to provide an unwarranted distribution centre that will do nothing to provide for the employment needs of the local community in and around Towcester.

“Save Towcester Now represents that community in this appeal, acting on behalf of more than 6,000 residents who signed Save Towcester Now’s petition against the application.”

The appeal process will have the power to overturn the council’s decision and approve the application, if the inspector sees fit. The planning inquiry is set to continue until Friday, February 28.

The inquiry will continue to be live streamed on the WNC YouTube channel.