Vote on South Northants Local Plan to proceed despite complaint against consultation with residents

The Local Plan Part 2 will effectively shape how the South Northants region is developed over the next decade, and will help determine what kinds of planning applications can be accepted or refused on specific parcels of land.

But a local resident of Caldecote, Terry Hearty, has had his call to defer next Wednesday’s vote on adopting the plan refused by the council.

Mr Hearty, a former parish council chairman and company director, has submitted correspondence casting doubts on the consultation with residents in Caldecote.

One major policy forming part of the Local Plan Part 2 sets out plans to build on green fields along the A5 between the Bell Plantation and Caldecote. The plan indicates that it would be earmarked for a mixed employment development together with some land for the creation of a home ground for Towcester Town Football Club.

Mr Hearty claims that it was only after a public meeting was held in September 2019 that Caldecote residents found out about the Local Plan Part 2 and its impact. He said: “There was a general disbelief that we didn’t know about it, but we were told it was too late to make any substantive changes.”

The 56-year-old, who has lived in Caldecote since 2015, submitted a number of Freedom of Information requests to the council. Among internal emails that were unearthed as a result, the council’s assistant director of planning Jim Newton appears to outline that although there had been three consultations held with members of the public since 2016, ‘ward members [councillors] do not appear to have engaged with the local people about the Local Plan’.

Caldecote is represented by two Liberal Democrat councillors, Councillor Chris Lofts and Councillor Catharine Tarbun, in the Towcester Mill ward. The Local Democracy Reporting Service has seen a copy of an email from Councillor Lofts to a Caldecote resident, in which the councillor says: “I do apologise and regret that perhaps the potential impact on Caldecote was not fully recognised.”

He goes on to say however that site-specific consultations would be carried out with residents once planning applications for any developments on the site were submitted.

Responding to the internal emails which were uncovered by his FoI, Mr Hearty said: “This admission is a bit of a bombshell given South Northamptonshire Council’s public stance regarding the full and extensive consultation they keep referencing. In fact, it is diametrically opposed to those comments. It is a letting down of the guard, albeit in an internal email, to admit that we had not been informed as should have been the case.”

Responding to Mr Hearty’s complaints, a South Northamptonshire Council spokesman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The council has received correspondence from a resident regarding the Local Plan Part 2. This is being reviewed by the council’s Monitoring Officer who will decide how it will be handled.

“The council has confirmed with the resident that the Local Plan Part 2 will come before the full council on July 22. The covering report for the Local Plan Part 2 sets out the local plan process, the consultation carried out, and the timescales and criteria for any legal challenge.

“Councillors will take all of these aspects into consideration when discussing and debating the Plan. In addition, the resident has submitted a question to the full council regarding the adoption of the Local Plan Part 2.”

Earlier this month, a Planning Inspector issued his final report following an examination of the Local Plan Part 2 that was held in public during June 2019. Despite recommending some small modifications, the Inspector found that it complied with national planning rules.