Council consulted wrong homeowners before building 60ft warehouse on doorstep

Residents are suffering from “sleepless nights” while a “monstrosity” of a warehouse is being built just outside their back doors, after a council mistakenly consulted the wrong street before its development.

North Northamptonshire Council consulted residents on a street half a mile away from Hooke Close in Corby, where construction of a 60ft high metal warehouse is currently close to completion.

The site just behind Hooke Close was home to a former Weetabix factory – as was a site next to Hubble Road.

Local labour councillor Mark Pengelly told i he had “no complaints” during the consultation period.

“Normally in consultation, what happens is that people send me letters. But no one had been sending letters … Next thing we knew the building work started. They [his constituents] are furious.”

According to Councilllor Pengelly, groundwork began in October, with neighbours at first believing developers were constructing new housing.

However, one neighbour spotted metalwork being put up earlier this year and noticed it was “encroaching further and further” onto their view until it was “directly behind Hooke Close”.

Local resident Hayley, who would rather we not use her last name, has an autistic son. She told i he was “petrified” when building began, sending vibrations through their home.

“He doesn’t like enclosed spaces,” she added, “and with it being so close to my garden, in the summer he will feel like a fish in a bowl … It is right up against my fence.”

Katina Chapman, a 75-year-old retiree, said residents’ “mental health” was suffering from “stress and sleepless nights”.

“It is a monstrosity,” she said. “The value of our properties is going down and I cannot believe they built it without consulting us. We are very devastated.”

Meanwhile, Georgie Wallis, 29, is unable to work from home. The senior recruitment consultant said her internet connection has been badly affected by the building work, adding, “I have lost all of my privacy.”

Local homeowners have said they will take legal action against the council as the developers claim the facility is scheduled for completion later this year.

An advert on Rightmove already publicises the building as a “new and modern” distribution warehouse to lease.

Councillor Jason Smithers, Conservative leader of North Northamptonshire Council said: “We understand the frustration caused to neighbouring residents of the development site and apologise for the error.

“We have investigated the cause of the error, which occurred through the incorrect identification of one of two Weetabix factory sites that are both located on Earlstrees Road and have introduced additional workflow processes to minimise the risk of this happening again in the future.

Councillor Smithers maintained the decision remains lawful as a notice had been “placed at the site and a press advert was published” before construction began behind Hooke Close.

i has contacted the developer Block Industrial for comment.