Loss of park and ride scheme from Northampton housing development prompts concern over extra car journeys

Buckton Fields planning documents claim there is no need for a park and ride site and the money will be spent on the north-west relief road instead.

The plan to build the 1.9km north-west relief road bypass in the north of the town has been in the pipeline for more than 30 years - but on September 22, the council gave the project the go-ahead after more than five years of heated back-and-forth discussions.

In October new plans for 85 homes were submitted for planning approval on the park and ride location, off Welford Road.

The homes will neighbour a public open space and a smaller employment park on the land north-west of Buckton Fields, in Boughton, near Kingsthorpe.

The park and ride site was originally proposed back in the 1998 Buckton Fields master plan document, as well as a care home, which has now been scrapped because of coronavirus.

The county council has subsequently concluded that it is no longer an appropriate location for a park and ride site, prompting concerns from the Green Party about more cars in the area.

Steve Miller, the spokesman for Northamptonshire Green Party, said: "The funding for the park and ride was to support sustainable transport options and give residents an alternative to the car.

"That the county council now wants to use this funding to build a road that will demonstrably lead to thousands of extra daily car journeys shows exactly how serious they are about reducing car travel. It's a damning indictment of a county council on its last legs."

Planning papers say 'with the plans and route of the north-western relief road now finalised the county council has subsequently concluded that it is no longer an approproate location for a park and ride site, nor is it the most efficient use of the land.

'Accordingly, they are now proposing that the part of the site that was previously proposed to accomodate the park and ride now be developed as an employment use alongside the additional residential land.'

The council is now proposing that the part of the site that was previously proposed to accommodate the park and ride now be developed as an employment use alongside the additional residential land.

A spokesperson for Northamptonshire County Council said: “The County Council as Highway Authority has been consulted on the application that proposes residential development on the previously proposed park and ride site.

"We are still considering the traffic and transportation impacts of the revised development and associated documentation. We have noted the conclusions of Transport Assessment which indicates an overall reduction in movements compared to the consented scheme.

"However, we have not, as yet, responded to Daventry District Council on the matter, who will take due weight and consideration of all representations made when they determine the application in due course.”

Daventry District Council has been approached for comment.