Housing plan will ‘end up in the dustbin’
CONTROVERSIAL plans to build thousands of new houses around Northampton, Daventry and Towcester will ‘end up in the bin’, one of the area’s MPs has claimed.
As well as plans to build 11,000 new houses around the edge of Northampton by 2026, details published by the West Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit (JPU) have suggested 2,500 new houses should be built on the edge of Daventry as well as 1,500 near Towcester and 1,760 around Brackley.
But the MP for South Northamptonshire, Andrea Leadsom, has claimed that despite their recent publication, the plans will soon be wiped out by new planning policies due to be introduced by the Government. She said: “I absolutely reject the JPU presenting this to us as some kind of done deal.
“The problem is, their plans won’t see the light of day once the new localism bill comes into force.
“It will all end up in the bin, I’m absolutely certain of that, and all the money that’s been spent on it will just go down the drain.”
Despite dismissing the JPU’s plans, the MP admitted elements of the plans for Towcester may be welcomed by some residents.
The Towcester plan includes building 1,500 houses around the southern edge of Towcester, and it is hoped the long-awaited Towcester bypass could be part of the development.
Mrs Leadsom said: “There is a desperate need for a ring road in Towcester. Having lorries thundering through the middle of the town at the moment is a real issue, so getting a ring road is a key part of the deal and I would see that as an acceptable trade.
“But it should be for the residents of Towcester to decide if they want this or not.”
The expansion plans also suggest 16,000 new jobs could be created across the area by 2026. Members of the JPU will meet at the end of the month to discuss the proposals, when it is expected they will put them out for a period of public consultation.
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There are 5 comments to this article
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Common sense
Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 10:45 PMThere's one for the book--Northampton BNP and Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom of like minds. Bring back John Prescott--all is forgiven! You couldn't make it up!
Northants BNP
Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 05:06 PMIf the plans are not going to be discussed, why waste time discussing them and the subsequent consultation. Why are councillors getting paid extra for sitting on the JPU to talk about these plans that won't see the light of day, may as well scrap the JPU now and save some council tax to be spent on something more worthwhile.
Common sense
Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 09:28 AMThe only people who think these plans are controversial are the thacks at the Chron
Common sense
Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 09:28 AMThe only people who think these plans are controversial are the thacks at the Chron
Common sense
Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 09:18 AMOnce upon a time John Prescott told the Councils how many houses to build and the Conservatives told the Councils they would change things and let them build as many or as few houses as they wanted. Great news for Local Councils except when the Local Councils put forward their plan Andrea Leadson , a Conservative MP , tells the Councils how many houses they should or should not build except for those she wants built of course in affluent cosy rural South Northants! So much for decentralisation and non interference from Gocernment! Who'd work in Local Government?
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