Spare land at back of Northampton primary school could be building site for 50 new houses

Up to 50 new houses could be built on a spare acre of land around the back of a Northampton primary school.
An acre-and-a-half of scrubland, outlined in red, has been proposed for up to 50 houses.An acre-and-a-half of scrubland, outlined in red, has been proposed for up to 50 houses.
An acre-and-a-half of scrubland, outlined in red, has been proposed for up to 50 houses.

Early plans to build on the space near Hunsbury Park Primary School, in Dayrell Road, Camp Hill, will be brought to the borough council at a planning meeting on November 21.

It will include a 35 per-cent allotment for affordable housing, improvements to nearby roads for access to the housing estate and "sweetener" payments towards the local community.

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But feedback from an ongoing consultation, which is open until July 21, is almost entirely made of objections from nearby residents.

The land out back of the Hunsbury Park Primary School could be used to build up to 50 houses.The land out back of the Hunsbury Park Primary School could be used to build up to 50 houses.
The land out back of the Hunsbury Park Primary School could be used to build up to 50 houses.

Many say the new houses would only add traffic to the "already congested area".

One person wrote to say: "I strongly object to this planning application in any way, shape or form.

"This is an area of outstanding natural beauty and should be preserved as such. The roads in this area are busy enough as it is and there is already a build-up of traffic during rush hour and regular accidents along the A45 Nene Valley Way."

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A report on the proposal points to the one-and-a-half acres of land outside the school as "scrubland and poor quality grassland".

The land out back of the Hunsbury Park Primary School could be used to build up to 50 houses.The land out back of the Hunsbury Park Primary School could be used to build up to 50 houses.
The land out back of the Hunsbury Park Primary School could be used to build up to 50 houses.

Another said: "Dayrell Road has long had issues with lazy parents and zigzags around the roundabout... The planners must be forced to improve this situation as a condition of consent."

West Hunsbury Parish Council also criticised the plans, saying: "Dayrell Road experiences high levels of traffic and the roundabout can be dangerous and congested.

"The nearby bridleway which runs inside the application site is currently overgrown, impassable and not signposted.

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"The proposed development would not include additional safeguarding measures."

The report says the developments are "acceptable" and are needed to tackle a "significant need for new housing within the borough".

It comes after Northampton Borough Council announced it would need to find space for 18,870 new homes by 2029 to meet its housing targets.

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