‘It is APPALLING,’ locals say as Silicon Valley-style Mercedes F1 HQ gets green light with plans for 10x more cars
LOCALS are “up in arms” as Mercedes received the green light to expand its Formula 1 campus.
The automotive giant’s F1 arm, Mercedes-AMG Petronas, won permission for the redevelopment of its HQ on Wednesday from West Northamptonshire Council.
The planned site on St James Road in Brackley is where the race cars are currently designed and built.
Mercedes wants to bring all its principal staff into the Silicon Valley-like campus with the redevelopment and extend the cul-de-sac into its redeveloped campus.
Sketches show the hub with lots of trees, a cycle hub, and parking spaces with solar panels.
There will also be a gym, yoga space, and a ‘wellbeing hub’ for Mercedes employees.
The council believes it will bring in “millions of pounds” of economic benefit and another 500 jobs up to 1900 jobs on the site in five years.
But, council officers have estimated that the number of cars turning into St James Road will increase from 57 to 528 during peak morning hours, and similarly increase from 50 to 297 in evening peaks.
Mercedes received unanimous backing from the council’s Strategy Planning Committee and worked through issues with the Local Highway authority which the authority then supported.
However, locals objected to the redevelopment centering their concerns on the additional traffic to the area and saying they found out about the plans late.
Simon Wheeler, managing director of Canonbury Products located on St James Road, told the BBC businesses were “up in arms”.
He said: “Ourselves and the other businesses along St James Road feel completely sidelined in the planning process.
“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.
“The sheer volume of Mercedes traffic will inevitably cause queuing and disruption.
Wheeler says his business will likely lose staff as they struggle to get to work.
One local said to the council: “It will bring large volumes of traffic to the area at times when the road is already at its busiest.
“It seems that Mercedes are planning to make their own area around their offices vehicle-free while directing all of their traffic past our offices, this is not acceptable.”
Another neighbour said: “It is APPALLING that we have only found out about this application by accident today.”
A third said: “Increased traffic flow on St James Road will result in various problems that directly affect the operation and viability of the local businesses.”
A Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team spokesperson said: “Throughout the planning application process, we have gone through all appropriate channels including a period of public consultation.
“In addition, we have had lengthy consultation with both the Local Highways Department and the National Highways Agency who have audited and verified our independent traffic surveys.
“We have also agreed a plan of road, footpath, and cycle path improvements to aid traffic flows.
“As a major employer in Brackley, we always endeavour to maintain good relations and dialogue with our stakeholders and to maximise our positive impact in the local area.
“We thus appreciate the concerns raised by two of our local neighbours at the strategic planning committee meeting. We are committed to an ongoing dialogue as we progress with our plans.”