What is in the future for Northampton?
Walking along Abington Street 10 years in the future, it is noticeable there are fewer empty shops, a new street surface, the awful plastic benches have gone and the skateboarders who once made the street their home have moved to a purpose-built facility on the edge of town.
Walking further down the street to the entrance of the new Grosvenor Centre, which opened in 2018, a fresh new mall comes into view.
The ultra-modern centre, which is packed with shops and the region's biggest John Lewis, is currently causing a crisis in nearby Milton Keynes, where the town's residents are complaining nobody visits their dated shopping centres any more.
After strolling through the centre and seeing environmentally-conscious shoppers getting onto buses at the centre's new bus terminal along Lady's Lane, we pass into the Market Square which, although it still retains its historic nature, now has a range of independent shops around the outside and an entertainment space which is regularly full with specialist markets and entertainers.
Walking on, past the Guildhall Road cultural quarter, we enter the posh end of town.
Gold Street's pound stores and kebab shops are long-gone, replaced with an upmarket hotel and a range of specialist shops which greet people as they enter the town from the railway station.
At the station, commuters pack into the massive glass building, fighting for room among the shoppers and office workers at the new complex.
Beyond the station, new housing developments are seen stretching out towards Sixfields.
With new roads, shops and medical facilities, the houses have created communities which fit into Northampton and, despite being well served with local facilities, still encourage people to shop and work in Northampton town centre.
This vision may seem a little far-fetched at the moment, but the people in charge of the town have insisted the change is needed.
The leader of Northampton Borough Council, Councillor Tony Woods (Lib Dem, St Davids) said the town centre in particular had fallen behind the times in the past few decades.
He said: "Northampton is clearly behind the pace. And it's the failure of the council to ensure the redevelopment of the town centre over the past 20 years that has led to the problems we've got now."
Claiming the town's main shopping street was in need of urgent help, he added: "Abington Street is looking tired, it's time to upgrade it.
"During the day, the town centre is quite busy and lively, but I think we need to improve what's on offer and get something a bit more unique in the town.
"It's a little bit down at heel at the moment and it does need some love and care, but if we can re-do the railway station and take the town centre down to the riverside, it creates a bigger town centre and its appeal is better.
"I think it's actually an exciting time for Northampton. Just in terms of the housing that's going to be built, we've got between six and 10 billion investment over the next 20 years.
"If we can't make something out of that then we're not doing our job."
As part of its work to help drag the town centre up from its current position, the council has stepped up its relationship with the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC), which was set up by the Government to oversee the town's expansion.
Councillor Woods, who this year joined the WNDC's board, said over the coming years, working with the group would be vital for the town's future.
His view has been backed by WNDC chairman Keith Barwell.
He said: "The town centre at the moment is incredibly poor. But it's got the structure to be great if the right people come up with the right plans.
"You've only got to look at the plans for the Grosvenor Centre and ask, why are Legal & General who own it going to spend half a billion pounds on the place? It's because they know Northampton is going to be the place to be."
Gold Street
THE West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC) announced in February last year its plans to invest almost 6 million in the restoration of Gold Street.
The plans will see the street updated with better pavements and road improvements.
Work is due to start on Gold Street soon and is expected to be completed by November this year.
Following the completion of work in Gold Street, work is expected to move onto Abington Street and then the Market Square.
It is hoped the scheme will encourage a better class of shops to move to Gold Street.
Already the plans have encouraged the owners of the Grand Hotel to put together a scheme to improve their building.
Grosvenor Centre
PLANS for the redevelopment of the Grosvenor Centre were first revealed in July 2000 amid hopes the new centre would be ready by 2005.
The plans included a new department store, seven 'flagship outlets' and 50 smaller shops built in an extension the size of seven football pitches.
But as early as 2002, members of the public were asking why no development had begun and questioning whether the scheme would ever go ahead.
Despite their concerns, the centre's owners, Legal & General, insisted a completion date of 2005 was 'still achievable'.
Now, eight years after the development plans were first revealed, talks are still ongoing with Northampton Borough Council about the development.
No date is now known for when the centre is due to be completed, but experts have said it will be at least three years before planning permission is granted and up to 10 years before the expansion is completed.
It is known the now slightly dated plans which were revealed in 2000 have been scrapped.
The new plans, which were first discussed by the council in 2006, are now thought to be more modern and reflect the latest thinking on shopping centre design.
Despite the plans being drawn up, nothing has yet been published by Legal & General.
It is believed however that the new look Grosvenor Centre would feature a range of larger stores, a new 'street layout' inside the centre, shops stretching over towards Lady's Lane and a redesigned entrance from the Market Square.
The plans do still include the demolition of the Greyfriars bus station.
The bus station would be taken down so new shops could be built on the land. A range of new bus facilities would then be created along Lady's Lane, while a new bus depot would be created in the Sixfields area.
The original Grosvenor Centre was built between 1969 and 1975. A 16 million revamp of the centre took place from 1989 to 1991.
Railway station
PLANS to redevelop Northampton's tired railway station were first revealed in 2004 and it is hoped work on the scheme could start as soon as next year.
The scheme would see the current station demolished and the area as far back as Spencer Bridge Road redeveloped.
The West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC) revealed plans for the scheme during an international development conference in the South of France in 2007.
The scheme would see a major multi-storey office building built at the front of the site together with a new railway station, bus station, a hotel, offices and housing.
It is estimated the complete scheme could take up to 10 years to complete, but work on the first section, a new multi-storey car park, could begin as soon as the end of 2009.
It is hoped the large office building at the front of the development could be used as a headquarters for a major international firm.
But some people have expressed concerns about the impact the development could have on the remains of the Northampton Castle site, where the current station stands.
New roads
A 9 million, three-mile road stretching from Upton Way to Weedon Road is due to open in October.
The road, which will be known as Upton Valley Way, has been designed to open up land on the west of Northampton to enable about 5,000 new houses to be built.
The road will include three bridges and its builders say it has been designed to work as part of the town's flood defences.
The single carriageway road is part of a new stretch of highway to run from Upton Way round to Harlestone Road near Duston, effectively creating the western arm of the town's ring road.
Other road schemes have seen traffic lights put on the St Peter's Way roundabout and work is currently being carried out to improve the Horsemarket and Marefair area around Sol Central.
Cultural quarter
Plans are due to be released soon to create a new cultural quarter for Northampton at the back of County Hall.
The plans, which are still in their very early stages, would see the area around the back of Northamptonshire County Council's offices completely redeveloped.
It is hoped a range of new cafes, bars, exclusive shops and a top hotel would draw people into the town centre at night time and catch people leaving the Royal & Derngate theatres.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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