White vans for Northampton's Waterside campus block driveways in nearby streets, says resident

A homeowner living by the University of Northampton's new Waterside Campus says contractors have created "total gridlock" in his street.
By The Newsroom
Published 24th Oct 2017, 17:28 BST
Updated 12th Dec 2017, 12:38 BST
The view from on man's window after vans blocked his driveway today. "It's been going on like this for months."The view from on man's window after vans blocked his driveway today. "It's been going on like this for months."
The view from on man's window after vans blocked his driveway today. "It's been going on like this for months."

The fed-up resident says builders' vans and cars park along Thomas Chapman Grove, Cotton End, between 7am and 5.30pm "every day", and often block in neighbours' cars.

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The £350million project to rehome the university has pushed him to consider moving as "it will only get worse" when the campus opens in 2018.

"My car is trapped in my own drive," says the 41-year-old man, who asked not to be named. "There's an old man on this street with a mobility scooter who can't go on the pavements anymore because of vans.

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"It's been going on for months. They park on the grass verges and it's a nightmare to get out.

"We've had a couple of collisions in the past months too."

Waterside Campus, scheduled to open in September 2018, will be home to 14,000 students and 2,000 staff, with 1,000 students living on site in a new accommodation village.

There will be no on-site parking for students and will be connected to a £1-a-day park and ride scheme.

But the resident from Thomas Chapman Grove, who today (October 24) could not leave his home to visit family because of a van blocking his drive, said: "It's left me disgruntled. Some of us have started putting out traffic cones.

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"I don't know why there isn't enough parking for them at the site.

"I'm not looking forward to having Waterside nearby. It's making me want to move. It can only get worse when students and lecturers move in."

The two contractors building Waterside's student village and academic buildings, Kier and Bowmer & Kirkland, together offer 375 spaces of on-site parking "to avoid the need for off-site parking", a spokesman said.

Traffic marshalls from both contractors will be carrying out checks on local roads to enforce the no-parking message.

Related topics:NorthamptonNorthamptonshire