Northampton campaign group will not fight North West Relief Road decision - but sets sights on Orbital Route

One of the strongest critics of the controversial North West Relief Road will likely not appeal against the go-ahead granted last week in favour of 'looking to the future'.

The plan to build the 1.9km bypass in the north of the town has been in the pipeline for over 30 years - but last week (September 22), the council greenlit the project after more than five years of heated back-and-forth discussions.

Now, one of the leading campaign groups that spent years calling for the road to be redesigned with fresh eyes and new traffic surveys has indicated it will not fight the decision.

Whitehills and Spring Park Residents' Association (WASPRA) co-chair Sean Brady told the Chronicle & Echo: "I think we've brought as much to the council as we possibly could. We don't really think much would come of appealing the decision."

Instead, Sean says the group will look to fighting for another major road scheme - the Northampton Orbital Road - to be built at the same time as the relief road.

Sean said: "In terms of what we think we can do to help residents of this area from the disasters we've said the road will cause, I think we're going to put out effort into a full Orbital Road.

"As we've pointed out several times in this campaign, building the NWRR will only offer lots of problems. But I think now it's time to focus on a more future-proof, ambitious project that will link business up, take traffic out of town and assist commuters."

A traffic survey commissioned by WASPRA in 2018 claimed that the NWRR - which would run between Harlestone Road and Welford Road - would eventually lead to delays of up to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Northern Orbital Route is a plan to complete a "ring road" around Northampton by linking Chapel Brampton to the A43 near Moulton Park.

WASPRA has campaigned in the past for the two roads to be delivered at the same time to take pressure off communities around the Relief Road.

However, at the decision meeting last week, a motion by Councillor Graham Lawman to hold off on the NWRR until the Orbital Route was also approved was voted down.

Sean said: "I think Graham did a fantastic and valiant job of trying to point out the common sense. But he was the minority.

"WASPRA has never opposed the road. We understand the need for housing and the benefits the project would bring. We're not agaisnt roads - we're against poorly-designed roads."

It has been acknowledged previously by the council that the second objective of the NWRR is to open up the surrounding area for housing.