Warning that street protests will follow Northampton’s housing plans announcement
OPPONENTS to plans to build seven large new housing estates around the edges of Northampton have warned the proposals will lead to ‘protests in the streets’ by angry residents.
Yesterday, the Chron revealed the West Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit’s (JPU) plans to allow 11,000 new houses to be built in Northampton between now and 2026.
The JPU has now revealed the exact spots where it is planned those houses will go.
The plans include potential development sites which are already well known, such as Buckton Fields near Whitehills, Dallington Heath near Kings Heath, and land near Collingtree, but they also include a number of new locations such as land off Sandy Lane, near New Duston, and an area between Wootton and Hardingstone.
Roger Kingston from the Northants Residents’ Alliance, which opposes any overdevelopment of the area, said many of the development sites would become the ‘Grange Parks of the future’, as they would be populated by people who live near Northampton but commute to work and shop outside the town.
He said: “It seems they just want to wrap all this development around the edges of Northampton, but these areas will become the new Grange Parks.
“And I don’t think it’s right to build what is effectively a new town around the edges of an existing town.”
The plans published by the JPU yesterday showed where 21,500 new houses should be built in Northampton, Daventry and Towcester over the next 25 years.
With plans for 11,000 homes, the vast majority of the new houses are on the outskirts of Northampton, but Daventry would also take 2,500, Towcester would take a further 2,500 and Brackley would have 1,760.
The plans replaced ones which were released in 2009 and met with a massive public backlash because they included plans to build new houses around a number of villages in the county.
But opponents to the new plans have criticised the fact the houses now appear to have been ‘dumped’ on the edges of Northampton and questioned whether they needed to be built at all.
Mr Kingston said: “Places like Moulton and Kingsthorpe already have terrible traffic problems, and with these plans it looks like they’re going to get worse.
“And I still don’t understand the logic behind the need for all these houses.
“There are hundreds of houses for sale in the town and I can barely pick up the Chron sometimes for the weight of the property supplement.
“I suspect the truth of the matter is we’re still being used as the overspill area for people who really want to live in London.”
Announcing the plans yesterday, the leaders of the JPU, which is made up of members of councils in Northampton, Daventry and Towcester, pledged no development would be carried out without improvements to such infrastructure as roads, schools and shops.
But Mr Kingston said he believed many people who lived near the proposed development sites would consider them a step too far.
He said: “There are going to be a lot of people who are very upset about this and I’m sure as it goes on, they will take to the streets to let people know they don’t like it.
“We’re going to have to fight this all the way, because unless we attack the politicians who are planning this, it will happen, and it’s horrible what they’re thinking of doing to Northampton.”
Opposition to the suggested development sites has also come from a number of politicians who represent the areas where new houses could be built.
The deputy leader of the opposition on Northampton Borough Council, Councillor Phil Larratt (Con, East Hunsbury) represents an area of Collingtree which has been earmarked for 1,000 new houses.
He said: “If there is to be development in that area of Collingtree, the big question is exactly how many houses there will be.
“We certainly don’t want any more traffic pushed through East Hunsbury or Collingtree because the roads are already badly congested.”
Borough council member, Councillor Michael Hill (Con, Nene Valley), who represents Wootton and Hardingstone, where it is planned to build a further 1,000 houses, added: “I think people will be strongly against this, and I’ve always said I’ll not support any unsuitable form of development.
“The concern is not so much that the plan would join up Wootton and Hardingstone, but that the considerable expansion of Hardingstone would make the village lose its identity and its village feel.”
The figures published by the JPU yesterday suggest a total of 50,150 houses needed to be built in the Northampton, Daventry and Towcester area between 2001 and 2026.
The number is a significant reduction from the 2009 plan, when it was suggested a total of 62,125 new homes were needed.
Of the 50,150 which are now planned for the area, a total of 15,500 have already been built and planning permission has already been granted for more than 13,000 more.
The number of houses already built or in the pipeline meant the JPU has had to find sites for the remaining 21,500 new properties.
The leader of the JPU, Councillor Chris Millar (Con, West Haddon & Guilsborough) said: “Putting these plans together has been a long journey.
“We recognise the plans we have will have to be delivered, but we want sustainable communities, so the housing growth has to be supported by the new infrastructure we will also need.
“And without a plan like this, we would be subject to speculative planning applications by developers, so it’s very important we have a plan in place.”
The expansion plans are due to be discussed by members of the JPU on January 31.
It is expected that they will then be put out for public consultation by the group between February and March.
The West Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit (JPU) has identified seven possible expansion sites for houses around the edge of Northampton.
If the plans go ahead, the new homes would be built between now and 2026.
In total, the seven sites would accommodate about 11,000 new houses.
The sites are:
South of Brackmills:
An area of land off Newport Pagnell Road. The development of 1,000 new houses on the site would link up the villages of Wootton and Hardingstone.
Northampton South:
The expansion of Collingtree would see the creation of 1,000 new houses.
Northampton West.
An area off Sandy Lane in New Duston would see 1,500 new houses built. Despite being on the edge of Northampton, almost half the site is officially classed as being in Daventry.
Northampton North:
An area of land on Kettering Road between Moulton and Overstone where 2,000 new houses would be built. Despite being on the edge of Northampton, the site is officially classed as being in Daventry.
Dallington Heath:
The area close to Kings Heath has been earmarked for development for several decades. The latest plans would see the development of 3,500 houses.
Sections of the site are owned by Northampton Borough Council and the Althorp Estate.
North of Whitehills:
The area of land above Whitehills, which is known as Buckton Fields, has been earmarked for development for some time.
The latest plans say 1,000 houses should be built there.
Despite being on the edge of Northampton, the site is officially classed as being in Daventry.
Upton:
The site on the west of Northampton is an extension to the new village of Upton.
The JPU has said a further 1,000 houses could be built on the site.
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Comments
There are 24 comments to this article
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here and there
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 06:58 PMMost of the planned growth is for natural population needs, with an ageing population being the main reason (maybe these NIMBYs are living too long). If you look at census data for Grange Park it is not simply full of 'people from London' with around 20% commuting to the capital. Having a plan that addresses strategic infrastructure requirements through planning gains and section 106 agreements is surely a better situation than allowing developers build in areas where they will make greatest profits because THAT will result in more isolated and dissconnected communities and short comings in infrastructure! And if you hate growth live somewhere in the country that is designated greenbelt!
lady muck
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 06:17 PMIf interest rates rise, so will the mortgage rate. Then we'll see problems. As for 'printing money' aren't we already doing so ?
Damocles
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 06:07 PMCount. The £ is down about 25% and house prices are 12% off their 2007 peak. Expressed in a harder currency such as Swiss Francs -(or even nearly the same in Euros) UK house prices are down well over 30% so far. But their greater fall is coming soon as unemployment and increasing interest rates bite.
Damocles
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 06:03 PMAll bubbles are fuelled by excessive lending . The south sea bubble was. The Tulip mania was and UK housing still is. In all those cases folk said high and increasing prices were due to shortages right up to moment when the lending stopped and the bubble burst. Some, who were slow to learn , still didn't see it and lost even more. Anyone contemplating buying a house with borrowed money today would be well advised to be very careful. The house will almost certainly fall in value. The debt won't. Its easy to test this theory - ask your lender or the house builder if they are prepared to underwrite the downside risk . If they won't then ask yourself why. If the risk was slight they would offer to share it. Quite a few developers offered cheap money in exchange for a share of the upside when prices were going up - none are offering the reverse. They are not silly.
TheCount
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 05:50 PMlady Muck "damocles I'm no economist, but if the banks led more"...the banks dont have any more to lend....if they invent more monmey to lend then the pound is toast, we will have HYPER-INFLATION and the country will collapse...if they down lend more and interat rates go up then house prices will drop to affordable levels and MOST of the country will benefit. However, this will have a bad knock on effect on the banks balance sheets and they will start making massive losses...so no bonuses for the bankers and their systemaic fraud will be revealed. As far as I can tell the country is being run for the elite bankers at the rest of our expense. However, you cant beat the system and we will get house price collapse one way or another, either in real or nominal terms. House prices are already down 70% in terms of gold and 40% in terms of the Euro....the only thing is they arent down in terms of the pound.. WHY NOT ?
kingsthorpelass
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 04:46 PMOf course the site at buckton fields (whitehills) is daventy council so all the problems with the extra traffic through kingsthorpe and the fact that the local council is going to build on the other side of the river therefore all the run off to the nene will stay where they are going to build houses is of no concern to them
bighead
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 04:18 PMwhat happened to the proposals of houses at Creaton?
lady muck
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 03:28 PMoops...not White, but Kingston
lady muck
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 03:28 PMoops...not White, but Kingston
lady muck
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 03:26 PMdamocles I'm no economist, but if the banks led more, then there will be a scramble for houses and prices will rise...surely the problem is simply that there are insufficient to go around. White's mistake is in thinking that because there are many houses for sale, there is no shortage of houses. in fact there is a shortage of AFFORDABLE housing and will be for many years. bobscrabby..you're right...I've lost the ability to count (now 63)
Common sense
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 03:17 PMDamocles--Same old wrong argument as yesterday...it doesn't matter how often you repeat yourself you will still be wrong. The present Government is not only critical of labour for not producing enough housing but are creating incentives for Local Councils to build even more to subsidise the cuts made to those Councils. In fact the more houses built the better for the Councils and local tax payers as it might keep rates down whilst preserving other services.
bobscrabby
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 02:52 PMOh dear same old contributors leaving usual inane comments . Hiccuping Chirpsy1, Lady muck (Happy Birthday) but you must be more careful Lady muck triple is three , Chirpsy1 quadruple posted , it is possibly an age thing or over excitement , lastly The Count (is his name misspelled) could do with chellspeck sorry I mean spellcheck before posting comments , hope you all have a nice day. XXXX Bobscrabby (who is obviously in a nice contented and happy mood).
Damocles
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 02:06 PMThe fact that those things are wrong doesn't make ruining the county right. Where are all these homeless folk in Northamptonshire. You can hardly walk down the street of any village without seeing encampments or any street with tripping over them can you ? The fact that housing policy of the last govt was to ramp prices up so houseowners felt rich by spending their equity is not a policy to be continued. The single most useful thing for young folk wanting houses is to get prices down and the way to do that is to stop lending more than three times incomes. Three times the national average wage is £75,000 -that plus a depost means that an average house should cost less than £100,000 - and they will if the banks lend sensibly like they used to.
TheCount
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 01:20 PMMaybe these peolpe should be out protesting about the banks and the deliberate inflation supported by the BOE and the government. Maybe they should be protesting about the cost of fuel. Maybe they should be protesting about the huge payouts and pensions some council staff are getting. Maybe they should have protested when house prices were spiralling out of control, enslaving millions to the banks and destroying the countrys finances..all that makes protesting against somem houses being build a bit silly.
TheCount
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 01:17 PM"What national shortage of house?"...errr...that will be the national housing shortage that is being manufactured to artificially keep house prices high and which is being put under massive strain by the government open door policy to immigrants, in order to keep the whole Ponzi scheme, that the banking system has created, going. There are yound immigrants out there living ten to a house. Down in Slough peole are trenting out their sheds !!! The answer isnt just more houses of course...a massive cut in immigrantion is needed.
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