Controversial Corby warehouse application processing did not comply with the law, review finds

The processing of a planning application for a huge Corby warehouse which was built after a consultation blunder did not comply with the law, a review has found.

North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) has announced a series of recommendations for their planning process after an internal investigation was carried out into what happened on the former Weetabix site.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that work began on a 160,800 sq ft warehouse on the site, despite locals not being properly consulted. Permission for the site was first granted by NNC in 2022, but it was only after the 60ft metal frame was built and furious residents complained that the council noticed their blunder.

Planning officers must consult residents who might be affected by the plans as part of the permission process. Instead of asking the people of Hooke Close, which backs onto the warehouse site, bungling NNC officials went to Hubble Road – another street in Corby near the other Weetabix site.

Leader of the council, Cllr Jason Smithers (Con), presented a report to the council on April 25 surrounding the monumental mistake and suggested “a significant step change” was needed within the planning process.

He told the chamber: “As leader, I made a commitment when I met with some of the residents that surround the development that I would present a paper at council detailing what has happened and what we are planning to do to improve matters so that such an occurrence doesn’t happen again.

“I want to also apologise again for the errors that were made. I recognise that we have a lot of hard-working officers across the teams, however, there is no doubt in my mind that there is still lots more to be done so we have in place an exemplary planning service.

“I hope you can see the importance I’m putting behind this improvement plan and I’m committed to ensure we continue to strive to be the very best we can as an organisation and that we learn from any mistakes that are made.”

An internal review of the case highlighted where expected controls had failed and suggested actions to ensure planning processes are robust. Immediate actions included the introduction of a site protocol visit, all future applications to have a detailed list of all consultees including residents and for northings and eastings of the identified site to be on all planning forms.

The location of site notices should also be clearly recorded and reviewed as part of the sign-off process and officers will be reminded of the importance of confirming and cross-referencing all records including location. The report also acknowledged that in the processing of the Weetabix site application there had been non-compliance with the law.

The review proposed the council adopt a new planning improvement board (PIB) to address issues identified in the process and explore any wider improvements that could be implemented across the planning service. The membership will be made up of four Conservative councillors and three representatives from each of NNC’s other political groups.

Cllr Anne Lee (Lab) expressed concerns about the new board, asking how it was more than a “face-saving exercise”. She asked what elected members could really do since they don’t have direct supervision of internal planning processes and raised worries about the monetary and time cost to the council of such meetings.

Cllr Smithers responded that the funding was already within the in-year budget and would constitute no extra costs to the authority.

Fellow Labour Cllr Mark Pengelly welcomed the report and praised it as a “very good” internal investigation.

He added: “We have to do something. We now have to look at the failings of our planning department and put them right.”

NNC voted in favour of the planning improvement board and the other internal recommendations. The board’s first meeting will be in May 2024 and it will report updates to the full council every six months.