Hundreds turn up for protest talks over housing plans
An estimated 300 people packed into a village church to discuss fears about Northampton's housing expansion plans.
Harpole Church was so full of residents during the meeting on Monday that people had to stand in the porch and listen to the debate.
Among those who attended the meeting – where residents expressed concerns about the possible construction of thousands of new houses around Northampton, Daventry and Towcester – was the Conservative MP for Northampton South, Brian Binley.
He said: "It was amazing. The church was absolutely packed to overflowing and people's feelings were running pretty high. There's an awful lot of concern and people are worried their fears are not being listened to."
During the meeting, members of Harpole Parish Council recorded their official response to the planning proposals.
The authority agreed to raise concerns about the number of new houses planned, the need for work on junction 16 of the M1 and the impact any developments could have on the countryside.
Harpole Parish Council's vice-chairman, Marion Oliver, said: "We certainly got the impression people were very concerned and worried.
"The fear is that Northamptonshire, which has always been known as a rural county, could become something quite different."
Expansion plans were first published by the West Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit (JPU) at the end of June.
The group, which is made up of members of Northampton Borough Council, Daventry District Council and South Northamptonshire Council, put together the plans.
The proposals show possible development sites for 18,000 houses on land between Grange Park, Wootton and Little Houghton, 5,663 between Moulton and Overstone, 2,200 on the edge of Collingtree, 6,900 on the edge of Duston, more than 5,300 around Daventry and almost 5,000 in South Northamptonshire.
Public consultation on the plans runs until September 30.
For more details visit www.west northamptonshirejpu.org or call the JPU on Northampton 838681.
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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