West Northamptonshire Development Corporation’s Planning Committee has approved plans for a major commercial development that will bring up to 600 new jobs to Northampton.

Located at on land off Saxon Avenue, Grange Park, the 348,000 sq ft scheme is being led by Evander Properties Ltd and BA Pension Fund Trustees. It includes the creation of a distribution centre and an office development, which will breathe new life into the brownfield site that was previously used for industrial sand extraction.

The planning permission is subject to a number of conditions, including completion of a section106 agreement and a further consultation period with key stakeholders on amendments to the application.

Adrian Arnold, Director of Planning Services at West Northamptonshire Development Corporation said: “This scheme has a high quality, environmentally friendly design, and will bring up to 600 new jobs to the area. It represents a fresh start for a brownfield site in a key part of the town and is the latest in a series of high profile commercial developments that have come to Northampton”

Neil Dickinson, Director of Evander Properties Ltd said: “We’re very pleased to have secured planning committee approval for the Grange Park development. Situated near the M1, it is in an excellent location and has a particularly high quality design. We look forward to concluding the planning process and securing an occupier for the building”

The eco-friendly development is designed to achieve an EPC ‘A’ rating and an ‘excellent’ rating from BREEAM, which are the leading assessment methods for the environmental performance of buildings. It will have a number of low carbon design features, including solar water heating and use of recycled materials in the construction process.

Northampton has become firmly established as a leading location for cutting edge, environmentally-friendly distribution facilities. This includes Sainsbury’s award winning zero carbon distribution centre at Pineham, one of the most environmentally friendly buildings of its kind in Europe. In January 2011, WNDC granted planning permission for a BMW distribution centre at Pineham, a similarly eco-friendly building, that will bring 200 jobs to the town.

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4. WNDC to determine Grange Park
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