Council's £170k bill revealed for warehouse appeal

A council is facing a bill of almost £170,000 after losing an appeal over a warehouse plan on the edge of a town, it has emerged.

West Northamptonshire Council's planning committee refused permission in September for a DHL site on the edge of Towcester.

The firm appealed and a planning inspector overturned the council's decision in April after a public inquiry.

The council said the bills would be covered by its annual legal budget.

Protesters opposing the building of a logistics hub with a 18.5m (60.7ft) high warehouse on the edge of Towcester claimed victory when councillors went against their officers' advice and threw out DHL's plan.

More than 1,100 people had written to the council to express worries about an increase in traffic, the look of the buildings and noise and light pollution.

The logistics firm appealed, and a nine-day hearing in the town resulted in a planning inspector allowing the development to go ahead.

Following a Freedom of Information request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the council revealed the cost of external consultants and external legal counsel and fees was approximately £169,999.53 (including VAT).

This figure does not include internal costs such as work by planning officers, the council's legal team and administrative staff.

The bill for printing documents, paper and filing has also been left out of the total.

The council was under Conservative control when the appeal was heard, but was taken over by Reform UK following the election on 1 May.

A spokesperson for the authority said: "West Northamptonshire Council has an annual legal budget that can be used to defend planning appeals and seek legal assistance.

"It was used in this case for an appeal which received widespread community support where the council acted overwhelmingly in the public interest.

"The council's new administration will be prioritising work to put in place a cohesive and robust Local Plan for our area to protect our communities from inappropriate development."

Since the appeal, the council announced it would not contest a separate warehousing appeal for land next to Bell Plantation in Towcester.

Planning officers said the sites had "very significant crossover" and that the reasons for refusal were no longer sustainable when looking at the DHL appeal result.

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