Family business in Northampton hit by construction chaos STILL OPEN despite developers changing access road AGAIN

Sandy Lane Plants says developers working on the controversially delayed Sandy Lane Relief Road (SLRR) have once again changed the access road for customers to visit the business.

The access road has changed multiple times over the past 11 months since construction first started. The latest change has seen the south of Sandy Lane closed off and the north of Sandy Lane, via Berrywood Road, left open.

Sandy Lane, which sits between Duston and Harpole, has been closed to thousands of motorists since June 2023 for reconstruction works as part of wider plans to build hundreds of new homes in the area.

The road was initially scheduled to reopen on April 1 however due to a host of issues by developers working on the road – Miller Homes and Vistry – the road will not reopen until the end of June.

Owner of Sandy Lane Plants, Cheryl Barnett said: “It couldn’t have happened at a worse time of year for me as May and June are my busiest months, especially the May Bank Holiday weekend.

“I really needed the road to be accessible from both routes but I have been told by Miller Homes that this would slow down any required works and delay the re-opening of Sandy Lane to all traffic.

"I’m hoping with a bit of publicity we can counteract the lack of passing trade and confusion of access.”

Cheryl previously told this newspaper that her business ‘cannot sustain this kind of loss’.

Miller Homes apologised for the inconvenience caused with the latest change to access.

A Miller Homes spokesman said: “The access to the existing Sandy Lane is going to be closed so we can safely and swiftly complete the remaining works to the SLRR. Access will still be provided to both businesses from the north, via the new relief road.

“Once the remaining works to the SLRR are complete by all parties involved, the relief road will be connected to the existing Sandy Lane allowing access from both the north and south for the businesses in question.

“We apologise for the inconvenience caused but would like to assure all local residents and businesses that we are working tirelessly to complete the works and the solution shared with Sandy Lane Plants is a short term measure to enable the SLRR to open in full.”

Developers once again told this newspaper that any scenarios around compensation would be down to West Northants Council (WNC) because they gave the go-ahead to the plans.

This newspaper recently asked West Northants Council (WNC) if it will be penalising developers for the delays.

A WNC spokesman said: “The developers are not in breach of planning consent, and development of the road is actually ahead of the timescales set out in the planning approval, so there would be no enforcement action to take at this point.

“Day-to-day handling of access issues for businesses remain the responsibility of the developers but we continue working with them to open a route as soon as possible, to everyone’s benefit.”