Villagers rally to fight massive development
Scores more people from two villages have answered a call to fight controversial developments mooted for rural sites between Northampton and Daventry.
At the first meeting of Kislingbury Action Group last night, almost 100 residents from Kislingbury and Harpole met to discuss ways to prevent the expansion going ahead.
The plans were first published by Northamptonshire West Joint Planning Unit (JPU) this summer and could see more than 44,000 homes built on several sites around the county. They could also result in a warehouse and business park development built at junction 16 of the M1 near Kislingbury
At the inaugural meeting, protesters were warned not to "breathe a sigh of relief" after thousands of people responded to a consultation and pushed the plans back by several months.
Kislingbury resident Andy Clarke, a strategic planner, called for more people to get involved in the fight to "completely torpedo" the proposals.
He described the plans as "terrifying" and added: "These next months up until Christmas are of critical importance if we are to rally against the plans.
"Developing junction 16 is a terrible idea. Planners should not leapfrog open countryside to create these types of developments.
"Now is when we need to become very forensic about how we challenge this. The first objective of Kislingbury Action Group should be to fight to keep the buffer zone between Northampton and the village. The second should be to completely torpedo the plans to develop junction 16."
More than 6,000 people have so far responded to a public consultation on the plans. The result has meant the expansion proposals cannot be submitted by the proposed November deadline and are likely to be presented to Government in the new year.
Other areas which have already voiced their opposition include Quinton, Great and Little Houghton, Grange Park and Wootton.
Acting chairman of the action group, Les Kingston, said: "This is a cynical move by landowners and planners to turn the countryside into a profit bonanza."
Chairman of Northants Residents' Alliance, Roger Kingston, added: "The developers are leading the planners in a merry dance, and the planners are now leading the local people in a merry dance. These plans are ludicrously bad."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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