Campaigners speak out about revised local plan

Proposals to put 300 properties on a golf course have been removed from a Northamptonshire council's plan to build up to 47,300 new homes by 2043.

But a potential 1,000 homes are still earmarked for the village of Long Buckby, near Daventry, where residents fear the fabric of their community will be destroyed.

The local plan is set to go to the Reform UK-led West Northamptonshire Council's planning policy committee, which will decide on its future.

What are the significant changes and what do campaigners make of it?

A potential 300 properties could have been built on part of the course at Collingtree Park Golf Club near Northampton.

Residents feared losing views, and the plans would mean the course losing between three and five holes.

Oliver Hart, the golf club's general manager, said it would have to become a nine-hole course, which was "not viable".

The Collingtree plans have now been dropped from the latest version of the proposal.

The council report states: "Further consideration has been given to the impacts that this proposed allocation for approximately 300 dwellings at Collingtree golf course would have on this important green space and it is not carried forward.

"As a result of further consideration of the impacts of this site on an important greenspace, this is not included in the proposed... plan."

Conservative councillor Pinder Chauhan, who represents the Hunsbury Ward on West Northamptonshire Council, said suggesting the golf course for housing "should never have been an option" and would have resulted in the closure of the facility.

"I worked with residents and we put pressure on the council, so I am happy that it's been removed [from the draft plan] but the battle's not over yet," she said.

"However, I do recognise that housing needs in the area need to be addressed."

Long Buckby, near Daventry, has been earmarked for a possible 1,000 homes on land near the railway station.

Residents feared it would bring thousands more cars to a village "already struggling with traffic issues" and pointed to a lack of suitable amenities including GPs and schools.

It could also "take away the fabric of the village as it stands today".

However, the plans remain, with the council document stating: "Growth in this location provides an opportunity to provide homes in a sustainable location, increase patronage at this station and provide funding to contribute to the improvements needed at this station."

Emma Wagner moved to the village in 2023 and remains opposed to the plans.

Having 1,000 extra homes in the area would "fundamentally change the way I feel about living in the village", she said.

She was particularly concerned about increased traffic accessing the area and the impact on the local wildlife.

"It will choke the village - that's a whole new settlement - it will be a town and no longer a village."

She said she would continue to oppose the plans, adding: "Complacency never gets anyone anywhere."

There were plans to build nine warehouses and a country park at Furtho Pit at Old Stratford.

The site, between the A5 and the A508, was where gravel was excavated until the 1950s.

Campaigners opposed to the warehouse plans cited increased traffic and were concerned the site was a flood zone.

This proposal has now been dropped, with the council documents stating the decision was taken following "revisions to flood mapping and the designation of an additional local wildlife site".

"With these technical changes the site is now not considered to be deliverable."

Campaigner Wayne Evans said: "The Furtho Development Objection Group and our supporters are very pleased about this latest recommendation that 'the site is now not considered to be deliverable'.

"We are not over the line yet but it looks as if there is a new direction of travel.

"There has been a widely held view that the 3,000 plus objections, parish councils, ward councillors and our MP were not being listened to.

"So, we are very pleased that the WNC's planning department have taken into consideration the specialist reports that we and local parish councils commissioned, particularly on flooding and ecology."

West Northamptonshire Council's planning policy committee will consider the revised proposals later this month.

The recommendations include the option to reject and start again - if members do not agree with the proposals set out in the plan and consider significant further work is required, it would be necessary to cease work on the current local plan and commence a local plan under the new system.

The council did not wish to comment on the changes to the draft plan.

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