Friday brief: Reform UK councillor quartet come out against warehouse and energy park
A round up of the news on another hot Friday in Northants
Four councillors from the ruling party on North Northamptonshire Council have come out against a major warehouse and energy park plans, which are due to be decided in the coming months.
Councillors Leon Gibbs and Councillor Maurice Eglin (both Barton Seagrave and Burton Latimer), Councillor Andy Sims (Finedon) and Councillor Brendon Lovell-Moore (Geddington and Stanion) have issued a media release today to say the scale and nature of the Kettering Energy Park would cause lasting harm to the countryside and local communities.
First Renewables wants to build a solar farm plus 13 warehouse units at the site next to the existing Burton Wold Wind Farm near Burton Latimer.
An application was lodged with the council last year and since then there have been hundreds of objections from locals as well as objections from the neighbouring parish councils. An information event held earlier this week by campaigners against the proposal saw St Andrew’s Church in Kettering packed out with people.
The proposal is to create a major energy park including solar panels, battery storage, potential hydrogen infrastructure, employment land for uses such as data centres, together with new roads and electricity infrastructure. The plans also include a new access from the A510 and a connection to the national electricity grid.
Councillor Leon Gibbs said:
“This is not a small energy project. It is a large industrial development in open countryside that will permanently change the character of the landscape between Burton Latimer, Finedon and the surrounding villages. Many residents have raised concerns about the visual impact, the loss of farmland and the pressure on local roads. I cannot support the application in its current form.”
Councillor Maurice Eglin said:
“I remain concerned about the long-term impact Kettering Energy Park could have on our local communities. Before any further progress is made, there must be clear evidence that the benefits genuinely outweigh the costs to residents, our countryside and local infrastructure.”
Councillor Andy Sims said:
“Finedon and the surrounding area already face significant traffic and infrastructure pressures. Adding a development of this size without clear evidence of end users or proven benefits for local people is not acceptable. The proposals remain too speculative and the environmental costs too high.”
Councillor Brendon Lovell-Moore said:
“Although Policy 26 [of the National Planning Policy Framework] identifies the broad location, the application fails to meet the policy’s requirements and conflicts with wider local plan policies. The scheme as submitted fails to meet the policy’s requirements and conflicts with wider local plan policies designed to protect the countryside and the character of our rural communities. It is simply the wrong development in the wrong place.”
The councillor group claim that changes to the planning system since the Labour government came in in 2024 have strengthened the presumption in favour of development and placed greater weight on economic growth and infrastructure projects. They say that as a result, the balance has shifted further towards developers, making it significantly harder for local communities and elected members to successfully challenge large-scale schemes of this nature.
“In the councillors view the cards are increasingly stacked against communities,” the four councillors said in a joint statement.
“National policy now makes it much more difficult to refuse developments even where there is clear local harm. That does not mean we should simply accept every proposal. We will continue to fight for the interests of the people we represent.”
The local green party is also against the scheme.
A spokesperson said:
“This is a critical issue for North Northamptonshire. Kettering Energy Park is not just another development proposal; it reflects a broader pattern of proposals that are neither driven by local need nor public interest. It contradicts our local plan and even planning officers agree that the proposal is poor, yet by law it still has to be considered.”
Residents have until tomorrow to comment on the application and can do so on the council’s planning portal or by emailing planning@northnorthants.gov.uk.
Other news
Northants Police has launched a Women’s Network to celebrate and connect female officers and staff across the force.
The network is going to be led by an executive committee of 15 women from across the organisation from different levels of rank and different sections of the force.
The launch event was held at Delapre Abbey in Northampton recently.
Assistant Chief Constable Emma James, Network Lead, said:
“It was an inspiring day that gave us the opportunity to come together, build new connections and play a part in shaping the future of the Network. Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to the discussions. I am excited to see what we can achieve through collaborative working and by supporting one another.
“Our staff support networks play a vital role in supporting colleagues, acting as a critical friend to the organisation and helping us strengthen our relationships with the communities we serve.
“Each network makes an important contribution, and we hope the Women’s Network will help us continue to create positive change, champion equity and ensure we are providing the very best support for both our colleagues and our communities.”
Independent reviews have found entrenched sexism within the country’s police forces including in the Met police where Louise Casey found there were discriminatory behaviours.
The Met has recently insisted that all officers must declare if they are members of male only Freemasons secret organisations.
Northamptonshire Police has reviewed its policy and NN Journal understands there will be a decision shortly.
A book telling the history of a beloved Corby charity has been published.
NN Journal’s Sarah Ward has written the story behind the Lakelands Day Care Hospice, which this year marks its silver anniversary.
The charity began as an idea in the late 1980s by breast cancer survivor Jean Clark, who then mobilised the town, the villages beyond and local newspaper The Northants Telegraph to raise hundreds of thousands to open the independent charity. The book tells the many struggles Jean and her supporters had to go through to realise her dream.
Sarah said:
“Researching the history of the Lakelands has been a real pleasure and at times emotional.
“What I discovered was an incredible woman in Jean Clark, who used every ounce of her determination and fight to ensure that people who were going through their toughest times had somewhere to turn to for support.
“She and her team were determined to have an independent hospice, that was outside of NHS control, to ensure its longevity and the fact it is still thriving and helping so many people today is testament to the foundations they built.
“Along the way I have spoken to the many people involved in the effort to build the lakelands, who have shared their memories and in this book, there are many elements that are being shared for the first time.”
Jean died in 2016 and fellow founders Vic Hardy and Ray Burke. They will be remembered at the Birthday Bazaar taking place at the hospice on Sunday, July 26 from 11am to 4pm.
The book has been produced by local publisher Hickathrift Press and can be bought here. Profits go to the charity.
Northampton North MP Lucy Rigby has been given her old job back in the treasury. The MP lost out on her cabinet attending role as chief secretary to the treasury when new PM Andy Burnham was appointed this week, but has now been appointed as economic secretary to the treasury, a post she held from last September to this May.
The West unitary’s cabinet has agreed plans to sell off public space in a Northampton park and swap a prominent town centre building in return for important land in a future regeneration scheme, among other disposals.
A report went to West Northamptonshire Council’s cabinet last Thursday (July 16), asking for authorisation to sell a small area of land at Ladybridge Park as well as Albion House, on Victoria Promenade.
The proposed sales were included in a long list of other disposals of council property, which included commercial sales as well as transferring community spaces into the hands of local town and parish councils.
According to the report, Bellway Homes Limited approached the council to seek a freehold transfer of part of Ladybridge Park, as it is the only viable access route into an allocated 224-home residential site they hold to the south.
The potential housing site, which would still need planning permission, is ‘landlocked’ with no means of access to Ladybridge Drive without the use of the council land.
WNC has agreed to sell the developer the minimum amount of space needed for the access road for a minimum value of £1.5 million. Any land that is not required for the access route would then be sold back to the council for a nominal sum.
It is expected that the developer will come forward with a planning application for the site this summer. The cabinet agreed to the sale in principle, however the land would only be transferred if Bellway can build out the development and planning permission is approved.
The council was also given permission to pursue the sale of Albion House, which sits next to the St John’s multi-storey car park.
Instead of a straight sale, the report proposes swapping the multi-storey former office property for a parcel of land on the northern edge of the town centre known as East Island, which forms part of the council’s Greyfriars regeneration masterplan.
The owner of East Island is a developer of purpose-built student accommodation, Zone Developments. It previously transformed the East Island site into a new car park, however it voluntarily closed in early 2024 after it was found to be operating without planning permission.
The council report wrote:
“The development proposed on Albion House would regenerate the area and would likely see the demolition of the property and the erection of a new facility in keeping with the local area.
“It is therefore proposed to dispose of Albion House and acquire the East Island, with the difference in value between the sites being made to the council.”
It added that if the swap was not approved, it would increase the risk of WNC not being able to secure the East Island site as part of its wider regeneration works.
Cllr Keith Holland-Delamere questioned if the council was “100 per cent sure” the sale of Albion Place “will not come back to bite us”, given the site was initially bought by the borough council under the premise it could be used to extend the nearby multi-storey car park.
Executive director of place and economy, Stuart Timmiss, said it had been investigated, but that there was no way to extend the car park onto the adjacent site.
The report also stated that the council had considered other options to refurbish the building for commercial letting, or redevelop it into social housing, however both schemes were deemed unviable.
Mr Timmiss added:
“It is a prominent site on a major gateway and we are working with the developers and the university to look at the brief for that and make sure that it is something that we would be proud of.”
The LDRS contacted Zone Developments to ask what its plans are for the Albion House site if the asset swap goes ahead, but did not receive a response.
By Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
The boss of the county’s two acute hospitals has moved on after less than two years in post. As reported by the Northants Telegraph Laura Churchward has moved on to a delivery role at a Cambridgeshire NHS trust. She had been the boss at both Kettering General Hospital and Northampton General Hospital since October 2024.
A Care Quality Commission inspection about Northampton General Hospital which was published last month, criticised the leadership.
Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC deputy director of hospitals in the central region, said:
“ . . . we found leaders needed to do more to lead by example and build a positive culture across their workforce to help staff provide care and support. While there were some areas of good practice, the leadership team needs to make further improvements.
“At the time of our assessment, the trust was going through a significant transformation programme to align roles, working patterns and processes across the group. As a result, staff were confused about structures, including who their chief executive and chief nursing officer were.”
Richard Mitchell is the chief executive of the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Group as well as the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and has overall responsibility.
🪅 A free family festival is being held at Glamis Hall in Wellingborough tomorrow from 10am -3pm.
🥙 The Great British Food Festival takes over Holdenby House tomorrow and Sunday.
Are all the warehouse roofs fitted with PV panels? Are the field mounted panels fitted high enough and at a separation distance to allow agriculture to continue? If not then refusal is the best option and the name of the development a misnomer. If yes can the development be improved further with 'vertical farms' in place of 'warehouses'?