'The roundabout on the A5/A508 is already at capacity,' says south Northants councillor about new planning application

An application has been made for planning permission for the erection of nine units for storage, distribution and offices on land that sits between the A5 and A508 at Stony Stratford, with new vehicular access from the A508.

The plans outline nine units, car parking, lorry parking and a pedal cycle area and with the land next to it to be developed into a country park.

Councillor McCord’s objections highlighted the size and scale of the proposed development and claims it is not in keeping with the council’s local plan, which states the allocation of this land is for small to medium sized units.

Whilst the plan has not defined small and medium sized units, the council has given guidance of these sizes to previous prospective applicants and Cllr McCord claims that these proposed units are much larger.

Cllr McCord also highlights the issue with traffic on the A5/A508 roundabout and added: “It is well known that the roundabout on A5/A508 is at capacity. Work done to upgrade this a few years ago, arguably made it worse, but it is difficult to see any improved flow. How this development with hundreds of additional traffic movements per day will integrate with existing loads is not shown.”

He also commented on Gafton Regis and said: “This is an historic village with many listed buildings, built before the invention of foundations. With a massive increase in HGV traffic, I fear for the fabric of these historic cottages. The Local Highways Authority must take measures to limit the HGV traffic on the A508.”

The application states that there are to be more than 300 pedal cycle spaces on the site. Cllr McCord added: “This may be an attempt to try to argue that there will be reduced car movements on the overloaded roundabout, but there are no safe cycle routes in this area. Having a site that attracts cyclists in such high numbers in close proximity to heavy goods vehicles will be very dangerous.

“The applicant needs to outline, and provide necessary safe cycle routes to the site. These routes need to extend far beyond the site.”

Hours of operation have also been noted in his objection and he said: “The application seeks 365 days per year 24 hrs a day operating hours. Whilst I can appreciate that this may be required for the mega sized unit one, it is unacceptable for those units that overlook residential properties on the Stratford Road.”

The development, which proposes an outline for a county park on site, was also commented on by Cllr McCord, who said: “The addition of the country park does raise some issues. Who will own this going forward? How will it be maintained? Will there be ongoing budgets to pay for the continued management?”

Frontier Estates, the developers who have put forward the application said: “The site is identified in the adopted local plan as suitable for development for employment use, including the creation of a new and openly accessible country park area for the benefit of the local community."

The planning documents for this application can be found here on the West Northamptonshire Council website where comments can be made.