New Local Plan – Responses needed by 2nd June 2024
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) are in the process of preparing a new Local Plan for our region which will guide development up to 2041. The new Plan will replace current plans that cover West Northamptonshire and will form part of the development plan against which planning decisions are made. The Plan allocates land for housing and employment and contains a series of planning policies for these and many other topics such as leisure, transport, health and wellbeing, infrastructure and the environment, and where development can and cannot take place.
This is a key planning document that residents should pay attention to. The plan can be found here:
westnorthants.gov.uk/planning-policy/new-local-plan-west-northamptonshire
For residents living in villages along the A5 from Old Stratford to Towcester and the A508 to Roade there is welcome news that the proposals for the massive housing developments (6000+ houses) have been shelved. WNC should be commended for this decision.
Page 257 of the Regulation 18 Plan refers to : ‘Proposals for new development alongside canals at xxx villages within the settlement ….’ This refers to residential development and will be determined in the Regulation 19 version of this Plan. No action for now but something to keep in mind.
As mentioned above the new Local Plan replaces current plans, there are differences between the old and new plans and if implemented then there could be beneficial improvements. However, other changes will ease the passage of the Furtho Pit Development and if enshrined in the new plan they will make arguments against the development harder.
To date in the current plans the Furtho Pit Development is know as AL5 in the new plan it is referred to as EC4.
Site access via a roundabout on A508
The most telling change is the removal of the requirement for a roundabout to access the site from the A508. WNC’s position has moved from “Access from a new roundabout junction from the A508” in the current Local Plan to “Access to the site will be from the A508” in the new plan.
The developers have previously said that by removing the roundabout they can create space to build the massive Warehouse Unit that makes the whole project viable.
Parish Councils, local Councillors, the Furtho Development Group and individuals have objected to this proposal countless times and WNC have ignored them. Fatalities have occurred turning on and off the A508 yet WNC are ignoring this, it now appears that they are facilitating the development by removing their previous requirement that a roundabout is necessary from the new plan.
Employment
In WNC’s existing Local Plan 2 for this development, there is a clear requirement for a mix of employment types. However, in the emerging Local Plan 3 the requirement for B1 office space is no longer specified. The draft plan also says: ‘A variety of employment types will be sought to reflect the need for diversity and resilience in the local economy as expressed in the Council’s economic growth strategy'.
We do not see how a variety of employment types can be achieved with B2 units for (general industrial) and B8 (storage and distribution) use.
Ecology
The site in the new Local Plan relating to the Furtho Pit Development is referred to as ‘poor environmental quality' land. But the ecology report commissioned by FDOG caused The Wildlife Trust to change their stance from no objection to objection, with DEFRA’s map confirming the Furtho Pit field as an open mosaic. In view of this objection, the developers are undertaking a year’s worth of research into the rare flora and fauna at the site. It is simply false to say that the land is 'poor environmental quality'. If of course the survey discovers the site is of high environmental value, then WNC and the developers have a problem.
Flood Risk
The existing Local Plan 2 states: 'Parts of this allocation have been identified as being in Flood Zones 2 and 3 and a full flood risk assessment will be required for the site and agreed with the Environment Agency (EA) which includes information to show how the South Northamptonshire Local Plan (Part 2) 134 proposed development will not increase flood risk. Necessary mitigation measures must be
implemented'.
In the new plan the part about 'not increasing flood risk' has been dropped and simply states: 'Parts of this allocation have been identified as being in Flood Zones 2 and 3 and a full flood risk assessment will be required for the site and agreed with the Environment Agency (EA)'.
It may only be semantics but it appears once again that WNC are changing their previous adequate requirements to enable this development.
The Furtho Development Objection Group recommends that you send comments to WNC by the deadline of 2nd June.
We should all welcome the decision to drop spatial option 5b - the Milton Keynes North West (Old Stratford) Expansion which would simply have provided dormitory housing serving the needs of Milton Keynes.
- Support Spatial Strategy Policy S1 as it seeks to put housing development on brownfield sites in and around Northampton, and develop existing build allocations in Daventry, Towcester and Brackley. (Q10).
But we should all strongly object to the proposed changes in the new plan:
- The removal of the roundabout which will only serve to help the developers to the detriment of residents and other users of the A508. (Q36)
- The changes to the employment conditions which serve nobody but the developers. The new proposals for employment remove the requirement for office space. The Council should also set consistent floorspace policy for the EC4 development based on the Supplementary Planning Document and also the recommendations of the New Policy; a maximum unit size of 10,000 sq metres and up to 2.500 sq meters for small and 2,500 – 8000 sq meters for medium.
- Perhaps more importantly is – is there a need for warehousing on this site (EC4). The new plan allocates 58 hectares (ha) of land for commercial development and states only 9 ha are needed. Reallocating the 16 ha earmarked for Furtho still leaves a surplus and avoids building on greenfield sites, and notably the part of the site identified as Open Mosaic. There is no need to build on Furtho Pit which will have traffic, flood and environmental issues when space is available 8 kilometres away with better motorway access. (Q36)
- The change of use and damage to our flora and fauna especially in the Open Mosaic area.
- Flood risk. It is clear the development will increase flood risk, concreting over fields cannot do anything else.
You can have your say on the draft Plan by completing an online survey using the link here: westnorthants.citizenspace.com/planning/west-northamptonshires-local-plan-reg18/consultation/
If you need assistance to complete the online questionnaire, would like a copy of it in another format, or respond via an alternative method the contact details are as follows:
Email: localplan@westnorthants.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 126 7000
Postal address:
Planning Policy - Draft Local Plan
West Northamptonshire Council
The Guildhall
St Giles' Street
Northampton
NN1 1DE
You don't have to live in West Northants to have a say
Under 'Your details' you can select 'Other' from the options provided.
You don't have to comment on the whole Local Plan
The relevant section relating to the Furtho Development is within:
Chapter 11 for Economic Growth, point 36, EC4 Land at Furtho Pit - Old Stratford / Cosgrove. You can then select Agree or Disagree and add any comments in the box provided.
This consultation ends 23:59 Sunday 2 June 2024.
Website of The Furtho Development Objection Group
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