The Wrong Development in the Wrong Place

A group of concerned residents have got together to oppose the planned warehouse development at the A5/A508 roundabout between Cosgrove and Old Stratford. The proposal is for a 750,000 plus sq ft development of 9 warehouses, 5 storeys high. The land was earmarked, several years ago, for development as a light industrial zone offering employment and in keeping with the local area. Our view is the development meets none of the above criteria.

This massive development and related infrastructure will negatively impact on traffic using the A5, the A508 and the A422. It will cause air, light, noise and environmental pollution and destroy land inhabited by protected species. It shows no concern for people who live within a five mile radius and who will be most impacted by the development.

We chose the name Stop3000Trucks for our campaign based on the developer’s original plan for 96 docking bays x 1-2 movements per hour x 24 hours (a truck can comfortably be unloaded in 30 minutes. Faster if it’s automated).  So 3000 was a conservative estimate of the site's potential.

In the latest plans dated 15th August 2023, the number of bays has been reduced from 96 to 59.  This works out to potentially 2800 trucks per day. This number could easily be revised upwards as there is no WNC requirement to limit the number of bays, or the number of truck movements, or the hours in which they operate!  In addition, automated unloading is becoming the norm in warehouses across Northants and nationally. This means a lorry can be unloaded in 7 minutes rather than the standard 25 minutes.

We need your help to stop the A5/A508 junction Warehouse Development leading to massive traffic issues in an already congested area.