Blueprints for the first 200 homes at Upton have just been given planning permission and building work is due to start in May, on the 43-hectare site on the south-western side of the town.
The creation of the urban village is the latest expansion of the town's boundaries into the green fields that surround Northampton.
The blueprints have angered campaigners who have maintained wasteland inside the town should be used before development spreads into the countryside.
Philip Hollobone, the secretary of STOP (Stop Over-development Plans for Northamptonshire) and Conservative MP for Kettering, said: "We are very concerned when any new development takes place on greenfield land before existing brownfield sites have been used up.
"There is a large quantity of brownfield land in and around Northampton.
"There is a housing shortage and STOP is not opposed to all development, but people are worried that the local infrastructure will be overwhelmed by up to 3,000 people moving in at Upton."
A total of 1,200 homes will be built at Upton village, which lies between Weedon Road and Upton Way, along with a medical centre, nursery, shops, playing fields, a country park and a main high street.
Upton will count towards the 370,000 new homes a Government study estimates there is capacity for in the Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes area up to 2031.
The planning process for Upton was a national first, because the chosen developers had to draw up their plans to match strict design codes enforced by English Partnerships and the borough council.
Peter Springett, the Northampton director for Government development agency English Partnerships, said: "Upton is a flagship development and we believe it will not only set new standards locally, but we hope it will act as a template for housing development on a national scale.
"The plans combine traditional style with modern building techniques, exceeding the challenges set by our working group."
The council's planning committee approved the first homes – a mixture of one-bedroom apartments, duplex units and town houses with a traditional exterior – at a meeting last Wednesday.
More than 22 per cent of the homes will be affordable housing and prices are expected to be in line with the current market in Northampton.

Fears town's voice will not be heard
FEARS are growing that Northampton will be under-represented on a powerful planning body being created to shape the county's future urban expansion.
The set-up of the West Northamptonshire Urban Development Corporation, which will oversee the Government's plans to build thousands of new homes, has been criticised for giving people in Northampton too small a voice.
While construction will affect Northampton more than anywhere, the Government is proposing equal representation on the development quango's board to that of areas which will be less touched.
The Government has suggested the UDC board is made up of one elected member each from Daventry, Towcester and Northampton, as well as one county councillor and others from business and private sectors.
David Alderson, the head of planning at Northampton Borough Council, said: "It is felt that the number of seats on the corporation available to the borough council is not adequate and proportional to the size of the population covered.
"Our figures show that 87 per cent of the population that will be affected by the boundaries designated (for development under the control of the UDC] will be within Northampton borough.
"Nine per cent will be within Daventry and about four per cent within South Northamptonshire. Yet both district councils each have one seat, like Northampton."
The Government is consulting on the structure of the UDC until the end of this week, before the places on the board are advertised so the body can be set up later this year.
Ruling councillors agreed last night that, in its response to the UDC plans, the borough would request that it had two elected members on the board, to reflect the number of people represented.
Councillor Liz Tavener (Con, Old Duston), the cabinet member for community safety, said: "We would not be doing our job if we did not fight for a greater role in this process."
The UDC will take over major planning decisions in Northampton, Daventry and Towcester from the councils that usually deal with them. It will also have compulsory land-buying powers.
This is so the Government's intention to build extra homes in Northamptonshire to relieve a housing shortage are realised.
Northamptonshire was earmarked as one of four key growth areas over the next 30 years.