A new country park for Naseby?

West Northamptonshire Council has outlined plans for some new country parks, but its strategy has been criticised for taking too long to refurbish existing green spaces

By Sarah Ward

Plans for a new country park at one of the country’s most historic battle sites have been unveiled as part of a new strategy by West Northamptonshire Council.

The authority outlined the plans for the 154 parks across the West of the county at its cabinet meeting on Tuesday night and the new masterplan includes new country parks at Naseby and Brackley and a new linear park in the South East of Northampton.

But despite many agreeing that a park at Naseby would be a good idea, the authority, which spends just under £800,000 a year operating its parks estates (this costs the authority around £250,000 after fees are generated), was criticised on the lack of detail within the plan.

A list of 84 action plans for the strategy, had many dates of 2025 and well beyond, with plans for some ideas not even beginning until 2029.

Former Labour MP Sally Keeble spoke at the meeting about Swanhaven Park in the Eastern district of Northampton, which is close to where she lives and said the proposed timeline of 2029 to even start a feasibility study was a ‘real insult’ to local people who have campaigned for park improvements for years.

She said:

“That is two council election cycles away. That is kicking it into the never never. That is really problematic for a park that used to be an absolute jewel in the crown of Northampton and has deteriorated really badly in recent years.”

Labour councillor Emma Roberts (Delapre and Briar Hill) was also highly critical of the plan saying it appeared ‘rushed and with no detail at all’. She said there were no people in the plan.

She said: “I don’t believe this strategy sets an ambitious strategic direction. To produce a strategy with no public consultation is in my view a mistake.”  

The plan does not apportion any funding to any of the action plans. 

The report says:

“The approach taken by the draft strategy itself is to maximise the use of government grants, developer contributions, private sector investment, commercial income, and other opportunities for funding which avoid the need for use of the Council’s general resources. Where use of these general resources would be needed, this would be justified on a case-by-case basis with an appropriate business case, subject to Cabinet and/or Council further consideration as appropriate.”

The new country parks, if created, would likely be funded by organisations other than the local council.

The report says:

“Where new parks are proposed, the intention would be that the business cases for each one would look to achieve operational nil or better financial impacts on the Council. Similarly, initial provision of these would be funded from grants or developer contributions, with Council capital only used if there was likely to be sufficient operational surplus to meet the financing costs.”

The Naseby plan got broad support, from the cabinet members as well as the opposition.

Deputy Labour leader Bob Purser said:

“Naseby is an important part of our nation’s democracy.

“I hope as a council we can play a part in getting an initiative going so this important part of our history is borough forward.

“There have been a number of attempts that have gone into the sand, I think now with WNC we can make this happen.”

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Jonathan Harris, was also in favour of the Naseby park, but did question whether local villages and parishes had been informed of the plans.

He also brought up the issue of the Brampton Valley Way linear park and the development proposals. 

The report says:

“We are aware of tentative proposals to reinstate a railway line and rail services between Northampton and Market Harborough. Bearing this in mind our proposals for the Brampton Valley Way will seek to ensure that the facility is resilient and would still offer an attractive facility and biodiversity value if the railway was re-opened.”

Cllr Harris said clarity was needed around proposals to reinstate the railway line. He asked:

“What is the driver and motivation? If it is a serious piece of work, what’s it for? Who is driving it and what’s its intention?

Cabinet member for environment, highways and transport Cllr Phil Larratt, said there was a ‘glaring lack’ of green space in the Brackley area. He said he heard the criticisms on timescales and said if there were valid reasons to ‘rejig’ timescales they would be fed back into the consultation. He said the strategy was very much at its first draft. He said the Brampton Valley railway kept appearing in transport documents and ‘said it had not gone away’.

Read the draft strategy in full here