Heywood, Lancashire-based transport and logistics provider Yearsley Logistics has said it is “confident” its planning application for a new 35m high cold store in Peterborough will be approved.

The 385,000ft² site, which it plans to establish in the Great Haddon Employment Zone and is intended to provide around 300 jobs, has drawn criticism from two local parish councils recently.

The most vociferous, Hampton Parish Council, claimed the latest plans for the site bore no comparison to the original plans, since two separate structures had become one with twice the number of loading bays originally envisaged.

Yaxley Parish Council, meanwhile, suggested the planned height of the building was excessive.

Positive thinking

Responding to the claims, Yearsley Logistics MD Harry Yearsley admitted that some of the design details had changed over time but told Motortransport.co.uk the scheme was “still in accordance with the outline permission” previously granted and that he was “confident the outcome will be positive”.

The move to a single building would reduce the external surface and thus heat gain through the walls, making the site more sustainable, stressed Yearsley. The number of loading bays, meanwhile, had actually decreased from 45 across the two original buildings to 43, he said.

A noise assessment undertaken at the site showed there would be “no noise impact” on Hampton, he added. “The site is 1.3km from housing and further buildings will be located between the cold store and Hampton in the future,” he said.

A spokesman for Peterborough City Council said he could not confirm how soon the planning committee’s final decision would be announced.