Campaigners join forces to fight 2,000 new homes plan
An alliance of neighbours fighting plans for new developments on the edge of Northampton has joined forces to lobby planning authorities to protect existing communities.
Collingtree Park Residents' Association, which was set up after Bovis Homes announced plans for 2,000 new homes, has expanded to address concerns of nearby residents to the Joint Planning Unit, which will determine future growth in the area.
Owen Coop, chairman of the association, attended the first meeting of West Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit on Tuesday and in a letter to the Chron, outlined the guarantees the group was seeking from developers.
He said: "A lot depends on how they are going to deal with it and If you think about 2,000 houses and 2,000 cars, it's a bit mind-boggling. We are very concerned about it.
"I thought some of the comments were quite positive and I would support their views and expressions but clearly, we have got a bit of a problem. We certainly feel that what they want to do would be to the detriment of the residents.
"There were a lot of people from various surrounding areas and we formed an alliance including East and West Hunsbury, Wootton and Spyglass Hill.
"We expanded because it is not just about Collingtree Park, it's about a wider audience so we have done that and we have been waiting for this development corporation to get up and running."
Mr Coop said the biggest concern about future expansion would be flooding, which caused problems for some residents in Collingtree Park earlier this year.
The group of residents has also set up a 'challenge fund' to support the cost of any legal action and has appealed for help from Northampton South MP, Brian Binley, to follow plans for development.
Bob Boulter, a member of the association who also attended the JPU meeting, said: "It's a massive thing they are trying to do. They all seem to make it clear they had to get this right and they wanted to do it in a quality way.
"We want to monitor what's going on rather than going back to them and saying, 'how have you got that conclusion?'"
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