A new plan for the M3 junction 7 site near Dummer swaps two big warehouses for a 24-hour parcel hub with space for 743 vans. Comments close on 5 December.
The first plot of the approved Oakdown Farm warehouse park at junction 7 of the M3 would become a 24-hour parcel delivery hub with parking for 743 vans, under a new planning application.
The application, 26/02169/FUL, was validated on 5 November. Comments are open until 5 December.
The applicant is Equites (Basingstoke) Limited. Its agent, Avison Young, says the building has been designed for a known occupier. The application does not name it.
What changes
Oakdown Farm, on the A30 near Dummer, already has planning permission for a logistics park, application 23/03120/FUL. The developer calls it Basingstoke Gateway. Plot 1 was approved for two warehouses.
The covering letter and the environmental statement summary set out the new plan for Plot 1:
- one warehouse of about 12,219 square metres, in place of two with about 44,600 square metres between them
- a building 16.45 metres high, down from 18 metres
- storage for 743 vans, with a covered canopy for loading them
- a staff car park with 223 spaces, 12 of them for disabled drivers
- a vehicle maintenance building with 19 spaces for vans being serviced
- solar panels on the roof
- open 24 hours a day, seven days a week
A parallel application asks to take Plot 1 out of the existing permission and keep the rest of it. Plots 2 and 3, with six smaller warehouses, stay as approved.
The transport assessment says the whole park would shrink from 85,478 to 53,097 square metres, about 38% less.
Smaller building, more vans
A smaller building does not mean less traffic. The planning statement says a last-mile hub brings “increased van movements and altered activity patterns” compared with the warehouses already approved.
The transport assessment describes how the site would work:
- drivers arrive, swap their own car for a van and leave on a set route
- vans are loaded in waves, every 20 minutes, from 72 loading bays
- up to 216 vans can leave in any one hour
- drivers return about 10 hours later and swap back
It forecasts 454 two-way vehicle trips from Plot 1 in the morning peak hour, 8am to 9am, and the same again from 5pm to 6pm. Of those, 22 are lorries. That is the developer’s own worst case, which assumes every driver arrives by car in the peak hour.
Across the whole park, the assessment forecasts 582 trips in the morning peak hour and 569 in the evening. The van trips were modelled separately from lorries, spread according to where people live.
Hampshire County Council’s highways team asked for more evidence on the trip forecasts at pre-application stage in July, the planning statement says. National Highways said the method “appeared reasonable”.
Jobs
The developer’s economic statement, by Savills, estimates about 710 full-time equivalent jobs. That is 180 in the building and 530 delivery drivers.
The driver figure is an estimate from the number of van spaces. It assumes 80% of the vans go out each day, and Savills counts the drivers as employed directly by the hub. Neither figure is a commitment by an occupier.
Building work would support about 230 jobs a year. The environmental statement summary says construction would start in 2027, with the hub’s first full year in 2029.
What stays the same
The new plan keeps the site-wide works already approved, the planning statement and transport assessment say. They include:
- the new roundabout on the A30
- improvements at Southwood Corner
- walking and cycling links along the A30
- up to £1.6 million towards a bus every 30 minutes between the site and the town centre
A long-fought site
Oakdown Farm has a long planning history. Two earlier warehouse schemes were refused, one in October 2021 and a 2022 plan with Lidl as the named occupier, before 23/03120/FUL was approved.
The developer held a public exhibition at Basingstoke Golf Club in Dummer on 13 July. Its own statement says 31 people came, and their feedback was mainly about traffic, landscape, wildlife, building work and jobs.
A separate plan for up to 57,000 square metres of warehouses near junction 7 is also with the council. We reported that application on 2 November.
What it means for you
- If you use the A30 or junction 7, the hub’s van traffic would add to the trips already approved. The transport assessment is on the application file.
- If you want to comment, do it on the council’s planning page for 26/02169/FUL by 5 December. The council’s target date for a decision is 25 February 2027.
- If you are looking for work, no occupier or recruitment has been announced.
For more applications across the borough, see our planning news page and our roadworks and travel page.
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