Go-ahead given for final 3,300 homes on Kettering's Hanwood Park development

The Hanwood Park estate, which was first given outline approval in 2010, has now been given the green light to build the final 3,383 homes and associated community buildings and infrastructure.

A total of 2,117 houses had already been approved by North Northants Council (NNC), with approximately 1,400 occupied, however new permission is required as the original outline consent has expired.

Plans for junction 10A between Barton Seagrave and Cranford have been in the pipeline for years as part of the 5,500-home Hanwood Park development.

Without the key infrastructure, a limit would be imposed on the amount of homes on site that could be occupied.

In March this year, the roads minister confirmed the new junction would be included in the third phase of the government’s road investment strategy.

Kettering MP Philip Hollobone told the Northants Telegraph that if the latest planning application for Hanwood Park was approved, the minister would ‘engage all gears’ to build the new junction.

A separate planning application will still need to be submitted for the access scheme, however the masterplan does highlight the associated land that would be used for the junction connection in the future.

With the renewed planning application approved, the ball has now been set rolling to deliver a range of community buildings and local centres to the current residents of Hanwood Park.

This will include a mixed-use district centre, local services and workspaces, hotel and leisure development, a health clinic, three local centres for retail and community use, a secondary school and three primary schools.

Fiona Banks, chairman of the Hanwood Park Residents’ Association, said: “Since moving to Hanwood Park in 2017 we have been working to build a thriving community.

"We have some major challenges that this planning application will help with.

“The two sections of Hanwood Park are currently not connected by any meaningful route, which causes a challenge in bringing our community together.

“I support this planning application which will help us to grow our already thriving community.”

The rest of the project will be built over two phases over a 10-year period, seeing the development completed towards 2035.

When the neighbourhood is finished, it is estimated to house 15,000 people as one of the biggest urban extensions in the country.

Concerns were also raised at the planning meeting about a lack of healthcare provision and the stress the increased families could put on nearby services.

Members were told that a Section 106 agreement, dictating funding that is needed to support the area, will be drawn up to go back to the committee for their approval.

Should it not be satisfactory, permission can then be refused for the whole application.

Trigger points and backstops for other important infrastructure and access points, such as the Weekley Warkton Avenue which will link the site to the A43, will also be set out within this.

Detailed Section 106 legal agreements and planning obligations must be agreed between NNC and the applicant, Hanwood Park LLP, by the end of July, 2024.