New council to scrap former borough’s decision to buy university building
Officers advise against buying the Grade II listed Newton Building
By Sarah Ward
A plan made in the dying weeks of Northampton Borough Council to buy up a Grade II listed building is recommended to be scrapped because ‘it would not be a good use of public funds’.
The first cabinet meeting of West Northamptonshire Council is happening tonight and is expected to rule out the former borough council’s plan agreed in December last year to buy up the grand Newton building and use it as headquarters for arms length housing company Northamptonshire Partnership Homes (NPH).
NPH will mastermind and project manage the scheme to turn the University of Northampton’s former campus into a new affordable housing development. Up to 170 homes could be created, with some areas of the old campus which sits opposite the Racecourse public park marked for demolition and other buildings such as the former halls of residence Basset Loake building kept and renovated.
A planning application is currently being developed by NPH and an undisclosed …
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