'No objections’ to North West Relief Road set to be raised by Northampton Borough Council

No objections are set to be raised by Northampton Borough Council against plans to build the North West Relief Road by its counterparts at the county.
The North West Relief Road (red) is part of a series of proposed new roads in the north of the town alongside the Northampton Northern Orbital road (blue)The North West Relief Road (red) is part of a series of proposed new roads in the north of the town alongside the Northampton Northern Orbital road (blue)
The North West Relief Road (red) is part of a series of proposed new roads in the north of the town alongside the Northampton Northern Orbital road (blue)

The planning application for the 1.6km bypass, which would link the the A428 Harlestone Road with the A5199 Welford Road, has been submitted by Northamptonshire County Council.

A section from the A428 to just south of the railway line has already been constructed as part of the Harlestone Manor development, while the remaining section would serve the 3,000-home Dallington Grange development between New Duston and Kingsthorpe.

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The single-lane carriageway would include two new roundabouts, and a transport assessment for the relief road states that it is ‘necessary to enable and unlock the future development of 6,600 houses and more than 3,000 jobs in Northampton’. It also adds that it will help relieve pressure on the existing roads in northern Northampton and nearby villages.

But a number of residents and parish councils have objected to the scheme, which is expected to cost between £25million to £40million. They argue that it will clog up areas like Welford Road and Brampton Lane.

Boughton Parish Council has formally objected to the scheme paid a an expert consultancy to go through the application’s transport assessment. Based on the findings they believe the evidence base used in the original transport assessment is ‘flawed and incomplete’.

Members of the borough council’s planning committee will hold an extraordinary planning committee meeting on Thursday evening (November 14) at The Guildhall at 5pm to discuss how it wants to respond to the application. The borough council does not have the power to grant planning permission, only to submit a view on behalf of the authority. Members of the county council’s planning committee will determine its own application.

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Councillors will determine whether they will follow the advice or whether they want to ignore that officer advice and formally submit an objection to the scheme. The borough council has however committed to pay up to £4.2million towards the scheme.

Government funding of £7.93million has been allocated from the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership Local Growth Deal, and developer contributions of at least £15million have also been identified.

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