Thousands of new homes planned for towns and villages across West Northamptonshire
Thousands of new homes have been proposed to be built across West Northamptonshire, as the council has revealed details of the latest draft of its Local Plan.
Major changes to the makeup of the county’s residential and employment footprint have been proposed to meet the government’s new housing targets and set out the future of development.
The Local Plan is a required document which sets out how land will be used for housing, employment, green spaces, and infrastructure, while supporting regeneration and protecting the environment.
A consultation on an older version of the West Northants Council (WNC) draft plan took place between April and June 2024 but officers went back to drawing board after higher housing targets were introduced by the Labour government that year.
The current draft outlines plans for up to 47,300 new homes to be built in West Northamptonshire over the plan period 2025-2043. There is a requirement to deliver, on average, 2,503 dwellings per year – which would be a 25 per cent increase on the number of houses delivered on average over the last five years.
Northampton
The largest housing delivery allocation for the authority falls to Northampton. In total, the plan sets out just over 33,000 homes to be built in the town, across sustainable urban extensions (SUEs), regeneration sites, and smaller allocations.
According to the 2021 ONS Census, there were around 100,000 households in Northampton, meaning a 33 per cent increase in housing numbers for the town if all proposals are built out.
The plan also notes a priority to use brownfield sites, especially within the town centre, and marks a number of residential, hotel and leisure opportunities including Four Waterside, Greyfriars, Marefair Heritage Park, the Northampton Railway Station and Market Walk.
Daventry
Daventry will take on the next biggest share of the housing delivery, with allocations for at least 4,670 homes put forward and a potential growth of 40 per cent. This includes the Micklewell Park Extension, an allocation at Middlemore, and the largest development at the Daventry North East SUE.
Other proposals include the allocation of land to the north and west of the town centre to be protected as Local Green Space and the regeneration of the former council offices at Lodge Road.
Brackley and Towcester
Other growth is earmarked in Brackley, by 1,650 homes (a 25 per cent increase), and Towcester by 1,400 homes (a 28 per cent increase).
Other non-residential proposals suggest providing leisure, tourism and exhibition facilities at the Towcester Racecourse and the three large employment allocations at Bell Plantation, Woolgrowers Field and Tiffield Lane.
Long Buckby and rural
Another large residential scheme has been identified at land surrounding the village railway station, in Long Buckby. The council has allocated 1,000 homes and 4 hectares of employment land on the site.
This represents the largest increase of any settlement in West Northants, with a 50 per cent rise in the number of houses.
Approximately 3,800 homes will also be built across the rural areas of West Northants.
The proposals must first be discussed by the WNC planning policy committee at its meeting on January 8.
Full council will be asked to approve a public consultation – set to run for eight weeks – at an extraordinary council meeting on January 19.