Agenda and minutes

Proposed Development

*4.1     Outline Application: Outline: Erection of an industrial manufacturing and warehouse building (Use Class B2 and B8) together with ancillary office accommodation and associated access at Weekley Wood Avenue (land at), Kettering for I M Kelly Holdings Limited & The Buccleuch Estates Limited

            Application No: KET/2020/0303

Speaker:

Adam Riley attended the meeting and addressed the committee as a third party objector to the proposed development raising issues associated with an inadequate ecological assessment which failed to locate a number of different breeds on the site included amber listed and red listed birds. Mr Riley also raised concerns regarding the presence of great crested newts and asked for the proposed development to be deferred or refused.

Frankie O’Dowd attended the meeting and addressed the committee as a third party objector to the proposed development stating that the application should have been refused in the best interest of local people. Reference to a petition with 20,000 signatories was made in objection to the proposed development. Objections were also raised due to an inadequate ecological survey and due to the absence of a masterplan and that a major percentage of the site was outside of the Kettering North allocation. Concerns were also raised as the application was in contravention of Policy 4 of the Joint Core Strategy.

John Padwick attended the meeting and addressed the committee as a third party objector to the proposed development stating that a comprehensive masterplan was needed and agreed by the Local Planning Authority and that there had been no progress since the item was deferred in August 2021. It was stated that the proposed development should be refused or deferred.

Chris Carlisle attended the meeting and addressed the committee as the agent on behalf of the application stating that the proposed development would benefit the local economy by employing an additional 150 employees which included a mix of warehouse, production and office staff. It was stated by the agent that the site was allocated for employment use and that there was an up to date ecological assessment including increased ecological mitigation which had been accepted  by the local authority’s ecological advisor.

Decision

Members received a report about a proposal for which outline planning permission was being sought for the erection of an industrial manufacturing and warehouse building (Use Class B2 and B8) together with ancillary office accommodation and associated access.

The Planning officer addressed the committee and provided an update which stated that an additional third party objection had been received which in summary related to matters of policy (including coverage of the site by local and strategic policies) and the lack of a masterplan.

Member heard that the majority of the site (approximately 91%) was covered by the JCS Policy 36 allocation. However, the application site, as a proportion of the overall allocation (40 hectares), represented around 4% of it which was relatively minimal. As the report stated the Masterplan was coming forward as part of a wider application for Kettering North. Approval of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 110.