More information – read on.

The number of houses being built in Desborough (and surrounding area) is determined by the North Northants Council ( The Planning Authority) and the policies are set out in the Site Specific Part 2 Local Plan (you can download a copy of this on the link below) –

Site Specific Part 2 Local Plan | North Northamptonshire Council – Kettering Area

The number of new build allocated for Desborough is set out on page 92 of the document in point 11.1 ‘Desborough is a Market Town. The housing requirement for the town set out in the North Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy is 1,360 dwellings in the period 2011-2031’.

The document then sets out details of two sites with planning permission –

• Land off Buxton Drive and Eyam Close, Desborough. The site has outline planning permission (KET/2017/1019) for 135 dwellings.
• Land to the south of Desborough. This site has outline planning permission (KET/2016/0044) for up to 304 dwellings. The site is located to the south of Desborough adjacent to existing residential development to the north which includes Broadlands and Foxlands.

Other significant new development sites in Desborough are  –

• The Grange Phase 2, The site has outline planning permission for 700 houses dwellings. See Application KET/2011/0235 | North Northamptonshire Council – Kettering Area
• Harborough Road (land off), Desborough, up to 260 dwellings (allowed on appeal February 2021) Application KET/2019/0606 | North Northamptonshire Council – Kettering Area
• Gold Street / Harrington Road Desborough, 36 dwellings Application NK/2021/0659 | North Northamptonshire Council – Kettering Area 

You can see from the above 1,435 new houses for Desborough were agreed by the planning authority (North Northants Council -previously Kettering Borough Council) between 2011 and 2021 and the development on these sites is imminent.

This scale of growth is not only a concern in terms of the natural environment but also in terms of local services such as health and education. The town has already exceeded the growth projected for 2011 to 2031 and it is important that steps are taken to gain some control over future growth. The Town Council has little control over such matters but a robust ‘Neighbourhood Plan’ can be a useful way to try and influence the scale and rate of future growth.

The current ‘Neighbourhood Plan’ is a draft document dated October 2017 (see link below). Following the resignation of eight Conservative members of the Town Council in 2018 and ‘Independents for Desborough’ taking control from May 2018 – May 2021 the Neighbourhood Plan failed to make any significant progress and, by the time of the last local elections, was out of date, overtaken by events and no longer fit for purpose.

Work on the Neighbourhood Plan is now going ahead and we want to make sure that it becomes an up to date blue print for Desborough which will provide not only a vision for the future of the town but also seek to guide future development and growth.

https://desboroughtowncouncil.gov.uk/neighbourhood-plan/

What do you think?

Please feel free to contact Desborough Labour Party by clicking on the button below.