'It's something we really, really need. For everyone of us, it's a home.' Landowner in Cransley Road gives his side of the story.

The landowner of a site in Cransley Road that was served a stop notice for unauthorised works has said he hopes to give his kids a home on the land he bought.
Landowner James Delaney hopes to provide a home for his children at the site in Cransley Road, LoddingtonLandowner James Delaney hopes to provide a home for his children at the site in Cransley Road, Loddington
Landowner James Delaney hopes to provide a home for his children at the site in Cransley Road, Loddington

James Delaney, 22, has lived in the area all his life but never had a home and said he now hopes to provide an address for his young children so they can go to school and register with a GP.

Mr Delaney is an Irish Traveller and said the land was bought after the eight families on the site all chipped in, he said: "It’s something that we really, really need it’s not like a housing estate where we are going to earn millions, for every one of us it’s a home, do you know what I mean?

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I've lived around Wellingborough, Kettering and Northampton my whole life."

Mr Delaney hopes there will be a home for each family at the siteMr Delaney hopes there will be a home for each family at the site
Mr Delaney hopes there will be a home for each family at the site

He said he would move from lay-bys to dead-end roads but said: "I don't [want to keep moving] which is why I am doing this, maybe some people don't like it but what else can we do? I haven't got an address to get a mortgage, I can't afford a house, so what do I do? Where can I go?

"I found [the land] and bought it, we never asked the council for any money we bought it ourselves. We are going to make a home out of it."

Mr Delaney has applied for planning permission for works on the site, which have been halted after stop notices from Kettering Council.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Delaney has two sons, Martin and Jimmy, aged two and just three-weeks old, and hopes the site will become a home for them and allow them to get an education after he missed out on schooling.

"What are the kids going to learn from that [going from lay-by to lay-by]? I'd love for them to buy a house if they had the money, get into the community. I don't like living like this.

"Soon as we can, we'll put the kids to school and get registered with a GP. Something I have never had is a GP. Whenever I need to go to the doctors, I've got to go to A&E. There's a lady who's 76-years-old and when she feels sick she has to go to A&E and wait for six or seven hours."

Mr Delaney explained why he wanted somewhere to settle several times and said: "I've been living around the area on the roads my whole life and call it home. There are eight families on the site. We just need somewhere to live.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"They [the council] have no accommodation to provide us with, so instead of spending three or four million pounds to build a site, why not leave us to build our own?

"At the end of the day, if you don't want to provide one, leave the travellers to go and buy their own, build their own."

Mr Delaney said: "It must be frustrating to locals but we are all one family looking for somewhere to live.

"Of course I apologise to the locals for that [disruption from the large lorries]. What it is, we needed to get hard standing for the caravans so we were getting stone delivered, that's all finished now."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Those on the site paid for the road to be cleared of mud three times while work was going on.

Mr Delaney also said he paid for ecological surveys, geographical surveys, a specialist species survey and road survey.

In terms of impact on the environment and disruption, Mr Delaney said: "A mile round the corner from here they're building houses, who said anything about that? There's financial gain there, all I want to do is have somewhere to live for the kids."

Mr Delaney added: "The council asked us to stop work on Saturday, so we stopped but we are just waiting to hear back from them."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Delaney said he would appeal for the rest of his life if he needed to and said this was a civil matter for breach of planning permission.

If work is allowed to continue, Mr Delaney said he plans to have eight mobile chalets on the site for the eight families.

He said: "If they lift the stop work notice we are gonna clean it up, we are going to do the entrance and we are gonna make eight homes. There will be a place for ponies, we’ll put stables at the back. So we’ll make it a really nice place.

"We are not going to leave, we want to make it a home so we waiting to hear back from them to make it a bit more tidier.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I’ll have more fight for this home than anyone else because I’ve never had a home in my life, you know what I mean? I’ll have more pride for this than they would for their houses because I never had one."

Mr Delaney said apart from a few farmers, he has not been approached by members of the public but some people have driven past and held their horns.

He said: "I would like to meet the locals, I’d like to go to the groups, parish meetings or what not. Time is a great healer.

"There’s more of a barrier there and we want to break that barrier and all be one.

"I am sorry but I am sure everyone will become good friends before long. We are living here as much as they are now."