Despite resistance from surrounding businesses, a council has approved an F1 team’s ambitions to expand its site.
At a meeting on Wednesday, the West Northamptonshire Council authorized the extension of the Brackley-based plant.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas intends to move its main employee entry point from Lauda Drive to St. James Road, which is a dead end street that is home to a number of tiny businesses.
It would result in “significant economic development benefits” for the community, according to the council.
Local companies, however, warned that traffic on the road would surge and might even multiply tenfold.
The F1 team based in Northamptonshire has plans to grow over the next five years, increasing its employment from 1,400 to 1,900 people, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
According to council officials, during morning and evening rush hours, the number of cars entering St. James Road would rise from 57 to 528, and from 50 to 297.
At the new entry, a security gatehouse would also be installed. Speaking as an objector at the meeting, Simon Wheeler, managing director of Canonbury Products, located on St.
James Road, expressed his disappointment that Mercedes had not contacted them to discuss their intentions. “Ourselves and the other businesses along St James Road feel completely sidelined in the planning process,
” he stated. “We do not believe there has been sufficient information provided by Mercedes to justify the use of St James Road, other than to provide a more attractive landscape campus for their employees.
“Mercedes traffic volume alone will undoubtedly result in line-ups and disruptions. “In our experience, we are likely to lose valuable employees if this occurs.
” An official from the massive construction company Travis Perkins, which is situated on the industrial estate, also spoke to express the company’s disapproval and voice worries with Mercedes’s lack of communication.
Ian Smith, the development manager for Mercedes-AMG F1, said the gathering that while the business had considered a variety of access route possibilities, it had been decided that the “best operation” was to split access between the former Lauda Drive entrance and St.
James Road during peak hours. He continued: “Our current site does not meet the future ambitions of the company moving forward.
“To ensure that we not only draw in the best employees but also draw in and keep sponsors, we must invest heavily in our location and build a top-notch campus.”
