North Northamptonshire Council sets out timeline for local transport plan to shape the future of public transport in Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough and Rushden
North Northants Council’s new administration will begin its work in shaping the future of public transport in North Northants as the authority looks to create its first-ever transport strategy.
The creation of a Local Transport Plan (LTP) is a statutory requirement to set out a vision and policies to improve bus, rail, walking and cycling, taxi services and more across the area.
The last plan that included North Northamptonshire was the Northamptonshire Transportation Plan, which was produced by the former Northamptonshire County Council in 2012.
After the split into the two unitary authorities, West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) approved its first LTP in March this year. However, NNC is still at the very start of its journey.
A council report on the proposed LTP work states: “The existing Northamptonshire LTP is extremely dated (published in 2012) and cannot now fully reflect the current and future requirements of North Northamptonshire.
“North Northamptonshire’s LTP must reflect the needs of the community, priorities and investment plans for the next five plus years.”
According to NNC, the authority must complete six key stages before the transport plan can be adopted. Current timelines suggest the final version of the LTP will be agreed by Autumn 2027.
The first stage of the process, which is establishing the baseline of North Northants’ current local transport services, has already been completed.
A consultation, which took place at the start of 2025, found that respondents felt greater priority should be given to bus, walking, rail and cycling transport and infrastructure.
The next step for the authority will be creating a project plan, allocating budget and resources and putting together a consultation strategy so the LTP can be developed in partnership with stakeholders and the public.
The report notes that council work on the preparation of the LTP had been significantly delayed due to the government’s priority focus on developing an updated Bus Service Improvement Plan.
It was originally envisaged that the transport plan would be adopted in Autumn 2024.
Councillors will discuss the proposed work on the LTP and agree on the timetable of works at an executive meeting next week (Tuesday, October 14).