Declares that residents of Raunds and Stanwick wish to oppose the planning application Ref.16/02119/FUL for a proposed development of two distribution buildings, on land South of Meadow Lane; further that at a meeting in the town and at the town Council there was very strong support for refusal of this development; further notes that the grounds for refusal include that this is a protected open space listed in the proposed Neighbourhood Plan; further that the plans are contrary to the aims of the Nene Valley Nature Improvement Plan recently adopted by East Northamptonshire Council; further that the proposed development is close to a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest; further that the transport assessment has calculated there will be daily just under 800 HGV movements as well as employees’ cars, including during the night with significant pollution effects and that the increase in traffic to the site and along the A45 will have a detrimental effect upon local air conditions; further that reversing alarms, loading and unloading and vehicle movements will cause significant noise pollution day and night; further that light pollution will inevitably increase especially with a 24 hour operation; further that there is a considerable hydrology and flood risk; further that the development will create an industrial feel to anyone walking down Meadow Lane, which could not be mitigated by any planting due to the height of the proposed building and earth formed platform approaching 29 metres above ground level; further that as employees at the current site near Northampton are to be given inducements to move their work place to Raunds there would be minimal employment opportunities for local people; further that the proposed large visually solid buildings will have a detrimental effect on the setting for Stanwick Lakes as they will be clearly visible from this country park and will also have considerable impact on the setting for Raunds and Stanwick; further declares that the submitted Neighbourhood Plan seeks to protect-this area of land from development, to protect the rural character of the area and those who regularly use Meadow Lane to connect to Stanwick Lakes; further that allowing this development will seriously undermine the Neighbourhood Plan objectives and will be against the wishes of the local community.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to urge East Northamptonshire Council to refuse the planning application Ref. 16/02119/FUL for a proposed development of two distribution buildings, on land South of Meadow Lane.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Tom Pursglove, Official Report, 8 March 2017; Vol. 622, c. 911.]
[P002026]
Observations from the Minister for Housing and Planning (Gavin Barwell):
East Northamptonshire Council is responsible for the day to day planning of its area. The Government’s policy is not to interfere with the jurisdiction of a local planning authority unless it is necessary to do so. This is because local authority councillors are elected to represent the views of local people and, in the main, it is these councillors who are in the best position to decide whether a development should go ahead. In determining a planning application the local planning authority is required to have regard to all material considerations including the development plan, national policies and views expressed by third parties. It is, of course, for local planning authorities to provide whatever justification that may be appropriate to give for their decisions and procedures.
Following the receipt of a separate third party request to call-in the application the Secretary of State has considered whether to intervene on this application, having regard to the development plan, national planning policies and his call-in policy. This policy gives examples of the types of issues which may lead him to conclude, in his opinion that the application should be called in. The Secretary of State has decided, having had regard to this policy, not to call in this application. He is content that it should be determined by East Northamptonshire Council.