3,000 home development in Northampton recommended for approval

Thousands of homes would be built in the new development

As well as the mass number of new homes, the major scheme would also see a new local centre built comprising a food store, six retail units, a restaurant, pub and takeaway, as well as a nursery, two primary schools and a secondary school.

The scheme also includes the controversial Northampton North West Relief Road (NWRR), which Northampton Borough Council and Northamptonshire County Council have both pledged funding to.

The supersize planning application, from Persimmon Homes, will go before members of Northampton Borough Council’s planning committee on Wednesday evening (October 31) at The Guildhall.

Officers have advised members to grant the scheme outline planning permission, subject to Section 106 contributions for infrastructure being arranged.

The site is bound to the north by the mainline railway and the Brampton Arm of the River Nene, and by Kings Heath residential estate to the south-east. The southern boundary comprises allotments, residential development and Lodge Farm industrial estate.

But some residents’ groups are calling on the council to refuse the application, or even to delay a decision on it altogether.

Among those calling for a delay in proceedings is the Whitehills and Spring Park Residents Association (WASPRA), which claims that the North West Relief Road that would be built as part of the scheme would dump 87 percent more traffic on Brampton Lane.

Angela Bartlett, a member of the group, said this would ‘cause misery for much of Whitehills, Kingsthorpe and the wider area’.

Charlotte Mackaness, a local critic of Northamptonshire Highways’ handling of the NWRR and North Northampton Orbital Road (NNOR) public consultation, added: “This road isn’t a bypass nor will it complete the ring road. It will simply funnel huge amounts of traffic onto Welford Road and Brampton Lane.”

Church with Chapel Brampton Parish Council has also raised objections on the grounds of ‘inadequate highways capacity to cope with the increased traffic without the NWRR, and the impact this would have on the villages of Church and Chapel Brampton’.

But a report by planning officers to councillors states: “The development of the site for up to 3,000 dwellings forms a significant and vital component of the borough council’s five-year housing land requirement and would contribute towards the Government’s aims of improving economic development and the creation of employment and training opportunities.

“The site is located in a sustainable location on the edge of Northampton, which will be adequately served by the necessary infrastructure and it is considered that the environmental and highway impacts can be adequately mitigated or reduced to an acceptable degree.”