Burger King, Costa Coffee, BP fuel station - Plans updated for shopping centre next to new housing estate on edge of Northampton

A public consultation has helped shape plans for a new local centre as part of a huge housing development on the edge of Northampton.

The consultation was launched in May of last year for Saxon Park at the Overstone Leys development between Overstone and Moulton.

The centre will be on land next to the A43 Kettering Road at the Sywell Road roundabout and would include new shops, a childcare nursery with outdoor play space, office spaces for local companies, a Costa Coffee shop and a Burger King restaurant.

A modern BP fuel station and local convenience store will also be provided, offering electric vehicle charging points and the capacity to utilise renewable fuel sources as environmental policy changes.

Before submitting the planning application, Rothstone Estates and Peveril Securities amended the plans following community engagement, which included virtual consultation and in-person exhibitions last year.

With an emphasis on greater open space, seating, landscaping, pedestrian access and enhanced circulation space, the developers says it aims to deliver 'a vibrant new local centre to serve the whole community'.

A number of significant improvements have been made to the proposals. After the first round of consultation a new central public boulevard with open space, seating, tree planting and landscaping was introduced.

Following a second round of consultation in the summer, this public boulevard has been further extended to create high quality public space at the heart of the site, enabling the community to meet and socialise.

In addition to more public space, the overall layout has been modified to improve the natural flow of the site, with the petrol station reconfigured to reduce its overall footprint, alongside further relocations of the nursery building, employment space and retail units, the developers said.

A Reserved Matters planning application has been submitted to West Northamptonshire Council and is available on the planning portal.

Mark Rothery, managing director of Rothstone Estates said: “I would like to thank everyone who has participated in our public consultations and provided comments to inform our development.

"We are delighted to reach this milestone in our plans to deliver a vibrant and high quality local centre, making Saxon Park somewhere all of the community can work, play, eat, drink and shop.

“It was clear to us through both rounds of public consultation that residents value open space and walking connections to and in the site. Our submitted plans respond to this request and if approved will deliver significant wider benefits including up to 200 new local jobs, employment units, a new nursery, new retail, and food and drink outlets.”

The Overstone Leys 'sustainable urban extension' was agreed in 2015, including 2,000 homes, a school, a supermarket, a care home and a local centre.

With plans now lodged and a planning decision expected in the coming months, if approved the first occupiers could be open by summer 2023.

A new Aldi near the housing estate is set to open next Thursday (February 17).