DHL warehouse development near Towcester rejected
Around 100 people stood outside the council building to protest against the plans
In what campaigners have called a ‘David and Goliath’ battle, plans to build a massive warehousing development on the edge of a rural Northamptonshire town have been rejected after years of uncertainty.
Proposals for the 32-hectare DHL employment site on the northern edge of Towcester went to West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) strategic planning committee yesterday, Tuesday, September 10.
Though the controversial development was recommended for approval by the council’s planning officers, it was met with hoards of objections from over 1,000 local people, parish councils and even the South Northamptonshire MP.
Around 100 people stood outside the meeting room in Towcester in protest awaiting the fateful decision that would conclude three years of fighting against the developer’s plans. Crowds chanted ‘No no to warehouse hell’ and held up banners as councillors and officers walked into the building.
Protester Julie Barrie told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) outside the meeting: “The warehouses should be on the M1 where the others are and where they’ve got quick access.
“We should be having high-tech industries there like they have at Silverstone. We’re selling our kids short.
“They will have to bus people in so the local economy won’t benefit from workers coming in, we will just have the downside to it.”
Residents were counted by security as they crammed into the Forum to keep watch over the planning meeting, with some being told to watch it on a screen downstairs due to the number of people.
Committee members were told by planning officers that the ‘residual harm’ of the DHL development was, in their view, outweighed by the significant economic benefits it would bring to the region. Documents suggest the employment space would create 1,300 jobs which would increase local wage generation by approximately £50 million per year.
Many of the complaints from objectors and echoed by councillors on the panel related to the “traffic chaos” that could arise from the development, the immense scale of the buildings next to the historic town and the demand, or lack thereof, for B8 employment in Towcester.
Traffic lead for the local campaign group Save Towcester Now, Mike Wood, addressed the committee: “On traffic alone this application should be refused.
“National Highways assessment is that between 2025 and 2031 the Tove roundabout will not cope. They also say some form of strategic mitigation will be required- nobody knows what it is, the cost, who will pay and when it will be delivered.
“DHL claim economic benefits mainly through employment- as of May 2024 Towcester has an unemployment rate of about 1.5 per cent. DHL is not creating 1,300 jobs it’s creating 1,300 vacancies.
“It’s a complete waste of a finite resource- valuable employment land. It will irrevocably change Towcester and South Northants affecting generations to come.”
Nigel Ozier, speaking on behalf of CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) said: “The warehouse development is against an open countryside background next to the A5 and on the gateway to the town.
“No amount of buffer or landscaping, although we say we have to wait 15 years even to cover some of that building, will actually avoid the starkness of that building when you approach Towcester.
“The scale of the development and that amount and that height of shed will be absolutely detrimental.”
Speaking on behalf of DHL, planning director James Guthrie said: “There is a critical and unmet need for a strategic logistics force base in the area. This lack of delivery against evident need must change.
“We have always acknowledged the highways network needs investment. We remain the only site proposing any meaningful highways or landscape mitigation.
“DHL will provide significant investment into the Tove roundabout, mitigating the impact of our development at peak times by a significant increase in the capacity of the roundabout reducing queueing and delay.
“We are keen to set the bar for how a high-quality logistics development can contribute positively to its surroundings.”
Speaking to the rest of the committee, Cllr Charles Manners said: “The buildings proposed are really disproportionately large. In terms of traffic modelling, it seems to be an absolute mess.
“Fundamentally this is a strategic application for a non-strategic site. It should be on a strategic arterial route, ie. very close to a motorway.”
Cllr Bob Purser agreed, calling it a “simple decision” to oppose the proposal.
“What we are doing here is squeezing it into a marginally suitable site. It isn’t going to serve the needs of the local community,” he added.
The panel voted to refuse the DHL plans 11 to one. They cited the size and scale of the application causing visual harm and the severe cumulative traffic impacts predicted by 2031 as reasons for refusal.
Speaking after the decision, Geoff Carverhill, chair of CPRE Northamptonshire told the LDRS: “We’re happy that the committee made, in our opinion, the right decision. It’s the best decision for Towcester.”
Co-founder of Save Towcester Now Louise Croft said: “I’m absolutely elated because this is the best day and the best news for Towcester. We were under threat but we’ve resisted it. I know it’s banded about a lot ‘David and Goliath’, but that’s what we’ve done today.
“DHL is a huge multinational company and we have told them through the strategic planning committee that Towcester was not the place to put this development.”
Fellow lead Isla Whitcroft commented: “If this application had gone ahead it would have changed everything beyond recognition for us and for generations to come.
“In the last few years there’s been a lot of talk of big business bullying and getting their way and we have shown actually that doesn’t have to be the case and actually you can take these people on.”