Council explains why £40,000 has been spent on new hoardings to cover up long-abandoned building site in Northampton

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has explained why it £40,000 has been spent on hoardings to cover up a long-abandoned building site in Northampton.

The council has spent £40,000 paying for 330 panels of hoarding surrounding the massive, five-acre Four Waterside site in St Peter’s Way, according to its contracts register.

Explaining the expense, a WNC spokeswoman said: “Four Waterside is one of the largest vacant brownfield sites in the area, located on the main entrance route to the town from the railway station.

"The previous hoardings securing the Four Waterside development site were of poor condition which posed a significant safety risk to the public. This included rotted posts, plinths hanging adjacent to the site and boards breaking away from the structure.

"In order to prevent unauthorised entry and keep everyone safe, the council commissioned a local supplier to secure the area with new robust hoarding and carry out any essential repairs.

"As part of this work, the area will be fully secured to ensure no unauthorised access and the hoarding designs will elevate the visual appearance of this area.”

The council-owned site, once a gas works until its demolition in 2013, has languished in a state of abandonment for nearly a decade, with ambitious redevelopment plans in the making for just as long.

Google Maps photos from 2014 show that the now defunct Northampton Borough Council was advertising a major redevelopment on the site before its dissolution in 2021. Since its inception in 2021 after the former Northamptonshire County Council went bankrupt, WNC has taken over the reigns of advertising the project on the hoardings – totalling a minimum of nine years of hoardings at the site.

Currently, there is no advertisement on the hoardings despite the Four Waterside project reportedly reaching a “milestone” after announcing a developer to take on the project in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, October 10.

According to WNC, the regeneration project is forecast to start on-site work in Spring 2025 and is expected to be complete by Summer 2032. The council has secured £1.5 million from the Towns Fund and £7 million from the Northampton Waterside Enterprise Zone to deliver the project.

Once complete, the site will provide office space, a new hotel and ‘high-quality’ homes to the area, according to the council.