Agenda item

Report of Head of Planning

(copy herewith)

The Head of Planning submitted an application in respect of application no. N/2012/0122 and noted that a holding objection had already been sent to East Northamptonshire pending the Committee’s views. He commented that the the amount of retail space created would be larger than Corby, Kettering, or Wellingborough town centres. The site at Rushden Lakes was approximately 10 minutes drive from Great Billing. He referred to paragraph 2.1 of the report that set out the objections to the application summarising the principle concerns as being that no sequential testing had taken place, the retail conflict with Northampton Town Centre and sustainability in terms of the site only being accessible by car. In answer to questions the Head of Planning commented that the status of the Council was that of a consultee; that the application was contrary to national and local advice and contrary to the North Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy; if the application were to be approved it would be a departure from the North Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy and the Council would approach the Secretary of State to have the application called in; and to date Kettering Borough Council and WNDC had objected to the application. The Head of Planning referred to the Addendum that set out a summary of a letter sent to the Chair from the applicants seeking a deferral of the Committee’s consideration and the Officers response. He noted that in the final sentence of the first paragraph of the Officers response the word “not” should appear between the words “does” and “respond”.

The Committee discussed the application.

RESOLVED:   That East Northamptonshire Council be informed that that  Northampton Borough Council very strongly objects to the application for the following reasons:

·        The Retail Assessment submitted with the scheme failed to pay adequate regard to the impact of the development upon Northampton Town Centre, Weston Favell District Centre or Riverside Retail Park.  The application site is within 13km (8 miles) of the eastern edge of Northampton and the catchment area of a development of this nature and scale would clearly cover Northampton and the residential areas served by its town centre.  The Retail Assessment currently submitted made an unrealistic assumption regarding the catchment area of the proposal and thus, failed to pay adequate regard to the requirements of the National Planning Policy Framework in terms of the retail impact and the sequential approach (paras 24- 27);

·        Northampton was within the catchment area of the proposals and its town centre should therefore be considered in the assessment of sequentially preferable sites.  NBC, along with its partners, was currently in detailed discussions with Legal and General (the key landowner) relating to a major town centre redevelopment incorporating a substantial increase in retail floorspace at the Grosvenor Centre, along with other key interventions within the Town Centre as a whole.  Northampton was identified as the Principal Urban Area within the East Midlands Regional Plan/ Milton Keynes South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy and, therefore, was a sequentially preferable site.  The Development Plan, including the emerging Northampton Central Area Action Plan, provided the basis for the proposed expansion and regeneration of the Town Centre.  The applicant had failed to take account of the Development Plan hierarchy, or the opportunities provided for expansion within Northampton Town Centre.  Therefore, an inadequate sequential assessment had been undertaken and the application should be refused as required by the NPPF (para. 27);

·        In addition, a full assessment of the retail impact of the scheme on Northampton Town Centre, Weston Favell Centre (a designated centre in the saved Northampton Local Plan and a proposed District Centre in the emerging West Northamptonshire Core Strategy) and Riverside Retail Park should be provided, including an assessment of the cumulative impact of the proposals alongside other approvals/ commitments.  In the absence of this information, the proposal fails to comply with the NPPF (paras 26 & 27); and

·        An independent retail assessment of the impact of the Rushden Lakes proposal, conducted on behalf of the North Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit (NNJPU) by GVA Grimley Ltd, identified that the proposal would have a significant negative impact upon Northampton Town Centre resulting in a cumulative trade diversion of between 9 and 15% of turnover at 2016.  Therefore, it was considered that the proposal would have a significant detrimental impact upon the vitality and viability of the Town Centre and make planned investments within the centre significantly more difficult to achieve.  Where significant retail impact on existing centres is anticipated the NPPF directs that applications should be refused (para. 27).

·        The proposal was considered to be an unsustainable form of development by virtue of its location to the major highway network and poor accessibility in relation to non-car based modes of travel.  The nature of the proposal and the likely catchment area was such that the scheme would result in a significant increase in the level of vehicular traffic movements, contrary to the aims of paragraph 34 of the NPPF.