Document Date
04/03/2026
Created by
Parish Clerk
Category
Meetings
Wollaston Parish Council
Wollaston Parish Council
Document Date
04/03/2026
Created by
Parish Clerk
Category
Meetings
WOLLASTON PARISH COUNCIL
Tel: 07856 203260
Email: clerk@wollastonparishcouncil.gov.uk
Web: wollastonparishcouncil.gov.uk
MINUTES OF THE EXTRAODINARY MEETING OF WOLLASTON PARISH COUNCIL HELD AT THE VILLAGE HALL, HIGH STREET, WOLLASTON
ON WEDNESDAY 4th MARCH 2026.
PLANNING APPLICATION NN/24/00021/WASFUL – 30-50 DODDINGTON ROAD WOLLASTON. PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT OF AN INDUSTRIAL/COMMERCIAL BUIDLING FOR THE PURPOSE OF PLASTIC, PAPER AND METAL RECYCLING.
PRESENT: Cllr Alvis (Chair), Atkinson, Gay, Goldsmith, Jones, Mitchell, Savage, and Threadgold. Mrs S Grant (Clerk and RFO).
IN ATTENDANCE: Six members of the public attended.
1 – OPEN MEETING
Speaker 1 expressed her thanks for the hard work of the Parish Council and the awareness that has been raised, in particular praising the success of the library drop-in sessions.
Speaker 2 requested information on the previous history and what actions the Parish Council had undertaken (see point 7 – Timelines, Cllr Mitchell). Speaker 2 also asked whether the objections raised to date were visible to the public and what the deadline date was. The Council advised that the Minerals and Waste online portal does not currently allow this functionality. The deadline is 31 March 2026.
Speaker 3 asked who owns the land. Cllr Mitchell reported that the land was sold by Anglian Water to Daks/Monoworld soon after the NHP was adopted in 2016/17, which resulted in a pre-application submission from Monoworld in 2018.
Speaker 4 stated that if Monoworld were a reputable company, they would have extended an invitation to visit their Rushden plant and also sent representation to this meeting. Speaker 4 also advised that if the application proceeds to the next stage of planning, the best chance of preventing it would be to place restrictions on their operating hours and procedures.
2 – TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies received from Cllr Barber, Cllr Carter, Cllr Farman, Cllr Hodson and Cllr Seager.
3 – DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
None relating to business on the agenda.
4 – WELCOME – BRIEF EXPLANTION OF THE PURPOSE OF THE MEETING TO DISCUSS NN/24/00021/WASFUL PLANNING APPLICATION (Cllr Steve Atkinson)
To formally record the Parish Council’s approach to the Mineral and Waste application – NN/24/00021/WASFUL, the work undertaken to date, the professional advice received, and the remaining tasks to be completed during the month. Councillors were also informed about the legal representation that has been sought to support the parish council’s response.
5 – CURRENT SITUATION/ 6- FEEDBACK
Councillors have received the timeline from Councillor Mitchell covering the Parish Councils history and background on the application up to the latest application.
Communication with the village and receptors by the applicate has practically been non-existent with only a very small, printed newspaper notice that in today’s technological age is frankly appalling. Local residents remained mostly unaware of the application until the first leaflet distribution by the parish council. This commenced following the 18th of December 2025 meeting. It was very important to raise this awareness as quickly as possible as the original closing date was the end of January 2026. At the January parish council meeting the Chair informed councillors that the Duchy, Kier Highways, Sarah Bool (MP) and Summer Leys had been informed and the clerk had corresponded with the nearby parishes. It was nice to see the support we received from Sarah Bool on the Facebook video clip supporting the objection. Awareness via social media and posters was underway as well as checks with the Fire and Rescue consultee. It was felt that external assistance of a Barrister or a professional in this area would be appropriate for any future public consultation. At this stage we had approximately 150-200 objections. Due to the request by the NNC for a more up to date Noise survey, the closing date was extended until the 31st of March 2026. This provided the Parish the additional time to continue to raise awareness with a 2nd revised leaflet, informing residents of the revised completion date. At least 25 number appendices containing a considerable quantity of data have been reviewed over the last couple of months and several inconsistencies have been identified. The clerk has been extremely busy contacting the nearby parish councils, distributing, printing, continually questioning NNC, attending library sessions and having to do her normal work for the parish. So, thank you so much for your help. It is very much appreciated by us all. Throughout January and February, the parish has continued to provide residents with the opportunity to raise their own objections via visits to the library. I should point out that this was to help those without computer access to navigate to the on-line section of the portal and for those individuals to fill in their own objections. At present we have 518 objections. During February councillors have held a couple of informal meetings to discuss the project. A petition was discussed and this has been implemented in locations around the village. Additional leaflet distributions and the document reviews were also discussed. At the last parish council meeting on the 19th of February, it was unanimously agreed that Legal advice should be sort. A sum of money was ringfenced for this. Currently this advice is being reviewed and commented on with additional queries raised. Some residents have also been in contact and have provided us with additional advice and support. We are currently collating and reviewing the information provided. Meetings and discussions to raise awareness have also taken place with Wollaston School and the local industries. I would comment that half of the village may still think that they are getting the old recycling centre back and they see this as a positive move. They are still unaware of the scale and disruption this industrial scale facility will have on the village. We are working on raising awareness on this with a final leaflet with visuals. The parish has continued and will continue to inform the residents, local businesses, neighbouring parish councils, schools and societies and we will continue to have drop-in sessions at the library for individuals to file objections online. This will continue until the closing date on the 31st of March 2026.
We would like to thank everyone for their input and for their continued support with this.
7 – TIMELINES (Cllr John Mitchell)
Background and History
Wollaston Neighbourhood Plan spanned 4 years in making 2012-2016, an early call went out to landowners within the Parish inviting land to be nominated for consideration for development. Anglia Water put forward the land at Doddington Rd with a request to allocate within the plan for industrial use. This was granted and approved through consultation and became Policy E1 of the plan. Anglia Water subsequently sold the land to Daks Property.
In 2018 DAKS Property Ltd submitted a pre-application request to the Borough Council Planning Authority to develop the site for industrial use and received feedback from the Borough Council Planning Officer Debbie Kirk on August 29th, 2018. The report listed many issues the applicant would need to overcome. The pre app identified policies to which the application would need to be tested and in particular WNHP Policy E1.
Record of related correspondence
July 24th, 2019, a formal application was submitted by Daks to BCOW ref WP/19/00417/FUL
August 7th, 2019, WPC submitted an objection letter and requesting the application be withdrawn. The application was withdrawn but only after a letter from NCC advising the Borough Council that all Minerals and Waste applications needed to be submitted to the County authority and could not be handled locally.
Sept 4th, 2019. the applicant submitted a new application (with some amendments) to North Northamptonshire Council ref 20/00017/WASFUL.
7th May 2020 Wollaston Parish Council (WPC) re- submitted its objection letter to NNC Minerals and Waste Planning Authority (Peter Moor).
12th July 2020 RPS (applicant agent) addressed to all the consultee’s objections and requesting NNC be minded approving the application.
WPC was advised in November 2021 (18 months later) that the NNC Strategic Planning Committee will rule on the application at its meeting on 31st January 2022. Ahead of this meeting in a letter dated 8th December 2021 WPC reinforced its objections by writing again to the Strategic Planning Committee.
It was only on 15th November 2022 (10 months later) that a NOTICE OF REFUSAL WAS ISSUED based on failure to meet flood risk guidance and mitigation from the Environment Agency.
It was reasonable to think that was the end of it until the current application NN/24/00021/WASFUL was submitted on 13th August 2024 validated by the Minerals and Waste planning authority on 25th July 2025, at which time the application was put out for 4 weeks public consultation.
14th August 2025 WPC repeated its strong objections to Peter Moor / Minerals and Waste Planning Services.
10th December 2025 WPC received a letter from Claire Spokes newly appointed Principal Development Control Officer NNMW Planning Services together with a letter from AC Environmental Consultants (on behalf of DAKS/Monoworld) addressing all WPC’s objections and requesting WPC withdraws its objection.
December 18th, 2025, Parish Council meeting it was resolved NOT TO WITHDRAW OBJECTIONS and begin a campaign of community awareness.
8 – BANNERS AND PLACARDS
Councillors were reminded that the Parish Council, as a statutory consultee under the Local Government Act 1972, may not use Precept funds for banners or publicity that is political, campaign-based, or go beyond material planning considerations, and public funds cannot be used for activism. Members of the public who wish to display banners must ensure that permission is sought from Highways.
9 – POLICY DETAILS
Cllr Atkinson reported that, of the 25 appendices attached to the application, many were out of date or inconsistent. This information is currently being collated, together with a letter from the Parish Council’s barrister and additional information obtained from other sources, to form a final statement of objection demonstrating that the site is not suitable for this purpose.
Cllr Mitchell then read out an extract from the Wollaston Neighbourhood Plan.
Policy E1. Land adjacent and to the rear of the Recycling Centre, Doddington Rd.
Land at Doddington Road, as shown on the Policies Map, is allocated for employment (B1, B2 and B8 uses). Proposals must:
10 – COUNCILLOR ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS
Cllr Savage asked how long after 31 March a decision would be made by the Planning Officer at NNC. It was advised that this will depend on whether the application proceeds with Officer recommendations and the frequency of Committee meetings, which may be held approximately every three months.
Cllr Goldsmith stressed the importance of the potential risk to residents’ health due to microplastics and the effect of the prevailing winds over the village.
11 – NEXT STEPS TO 31ST MARCH 2026
12 – CLOSE
The Chair thanked Councillors for their attendance. The meeting was closed at 7.50pm.
Chair……………………………………………….. Date: ………………………………