900 homes could be built on countryside next to Northampton neighbourhood

Plans to build a whopping 900 homes next to a busy Northampton neighbourhood are set to be debated soon.

Developers Manor Oak Homes (MOH) plan on building 900 properties on land to the south and east of Grange Park.

The house builders will be holding a public consultation at Quinton Village Hall on Wednesday, March 1 between 4pm to 7pm and another public exhibition at Foxfield Pavilion, Grange Park on Thursday, March 2 between 4pm to 7pm.

A Manor Oak Homes spokesman said: "Stakeholder engagement is a key part of the development process and we are interested to hear residents’ views, ideas and concerns.

"Information about the proposals will be on display and members of the project team will be on hand to answer questions about the proposals.

"An online comments form, a PDF copy of the leaflet sent to nearby residents, and a PDF copy of the exhibition boards will be available on this website on March 1. Please submit any comments you may have by Friday, March 17."

The plans also propose vehicular access to the estate off Quinton and Wootton roads and land for a new school, a local centre, allotments, public open space, and an extension to the country park, according to MOH.

One disgruntled Grange Park resident said: "Does the whole of the south of Northampton need to be concreted over? Are there not enough houses already? There are fundamental issues here about sustainability, traffic, schooling, the environment.”

Plans to build houses on the land have been rumbling on for around four years now.

In 2019, Manor Oak Homes proposed to build 300 homes on the site but those plans were rejected on appeal by the now defunct South Northants Council.

The plans were rejected on the grounds that the proposal would result in 'heavy reliance' on private car travel; the open countryside location was 'inappropriate' for a large scale development; the site's proximity to the M1 would 'place future residents and children attending the proposed primary school at risk of exposure to high levels of air and noise pollution'.

MOH then came back in February 2022 asking for opinions on plans to build 900 homes on the same bit of land. The developer said at the time it was planning on submitting an application to West Northamptonshire Council to ask for permission to build the first 330 homes of the 900 – that never happened however.

And now, this new public consultation has been organised for March.

MOH has been contacted for comment but has not yet responded to this newspaper.

In other news in this area, the development of a new ‘state-of-the-art’ multi-modal logistics hub, which is expected to create around 7,500 new jobs, has achieved a number of key milestones this year and remains on schedule.

Main contractor Winvic Construction Ltd commenced construction work at SEGRO Logistics Park near Grange Park, a five million square feet modern, warehousing and logistics hub alongside a dedicated 35-acre Strategic Rail Freight Interchange, in early 2020.

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