New plans to demolish old Rushden police station for housing

Plans to demolish Rushden' s former police station to make way for housing have once again been revised and resubmitted after former applications were refused.

The latest application is for demolition of the old police station and construction of six dwellings with associated landscaping, car parking and vehicular access to Shirley Road.

Planning permission had been sought last year for the demolition of the existing police station and construction of seven houses with associated car parking and new access to North Street.

Now the applicant has come back with revised plans.

Changes include reducing the number of houses from seven 2.5 storey properties to five three-storey townhouses plus one six-bed detached property.

The proposed row of six terraced houses backing on to North Street will share the plot with a single detached six-bedroom house.

Reasons for previous refusal included bland design and the impact on street scene, the access and parking arrangement, lack of bicycle parking and the 'overbearing impact on the dwellings off North Street'.

The application says the site formed part of Northamptonshire Constabulary until its sale to the applicant in 2019.

In conclusion, documents submitted as part of the application state: "In principle, the redevelopment of the site for seven houses is likely to be acceptable.

"It is advisable that information be provided that establishes that there is no reasonable prospect of future employment use of the site. This may take the form of an assessment of the suitability of the building itself, and a marketing exercise that shows lack of commercial interest.

"The recent refused application on the site found the principle acceptable, but the full details of the information provided have not been reviewed as to how this conclusion was reached."

Plans can be seen by clicking here and searching 20/01446/FUL.