Car storage depot plans for East of England Showground to be reviewed

Councillors are to take a second look at plans to operate a car storage depot from the East of England Showground.

The retrospective application for a five year change of use for the depot, which is run by DHL and employs about 160 people, was refused by Peterborough City Council’s planning committee last October.

But in a bid to save jobs, the depot was allowed to keep operating while Showground operator AEPG had talks with council officers to find a compromise after residents objected to the plans because of traffic congestion on nearby residential roads.

Residents had claimed that car transporters used to bring vehicles to the Showground blocked roads and caused congestion.

As a result, DHL was told to stop using the Dunblane Drive access to the Showground and was allowed to use Joseph Odam Way in Orton Northgate.

But this has caused problems for residents in nearby Arena Drive and from January 8, transporters will only use an entrance to the Showground at the top of Joseph Odam Way that does not require the transporters to drive close to any homes.

The plan application is timetabled to go back before the planning committee on January 23.

Councillor Julie Stevenson, one of the area’s representatives on the council, said: “This whole debacle has caused great distress to residents of Orton Northgate and Orton Southgate who have been affected, which is most of them, and many continue to feel very aggrieved that the operation has been allowed to continue without planning permission.

"To that I would say that it's clear the planning system is failing to protect the interests of communities.

"We should not have to spend months battling with the council or business to ensure the safety of local residents but this is exactly what we've been faced with for almost a year.

"Even though the issue of how the transporters access the site may be resolved to the satisfaction of most people there are many who are still unhappy about what DHL is doing on the site and I expect they will raise these concerns at the planning committee.”