Northants Telegraph Sunday Extra: Another HMO bid, Mark Watson tour date and a coffee afternoon

We've got so much news these days that we can't always squeeze everything into the working week. So every Sunday we'll bring you updates on recent stories, some news-in-brief and other things you need to know from across Corby, Wellingborough, East Northamptonshire and Kettering.

A new Corby shoe logistics depot has been sold as part of a mega £234m real estate deal.

NFU Mutual has offloaded eight warehouses to investment firm Barings including Deichmann distribution at Centrix Park in Corby as well as the Eddie Stobart DIRFT facility in Daventry.

Popular Radio 4 figure, author and star of ‘Live At The Apollo’ and House Of Games’ (which he won, but it’s not all about that) Mark Watson wrestles with some of the fundamental questions of life when he visits Kettering Arts Centre on September 10.

Mark had a pretty lively lockdown, as they go. With Tim Key and Alex Horne, he created the game ‘No More Jockeys’ which has now had more than 2 million YouTube views and found a rabid cult audience. He published his most critically acclaimed book to date, ‘Contacts’, and wrote another, non-fiction, title for release this year. You can book tickets for his latest show here ketteringartscentre.com

A new house in multiple occupation could be given the go-ahead on Corby’s Danesholme estate. The owner has applied to North Northamptonshire Council to create a six-person HMO at the home in Herford Close. Concerns have been raised during the past year over the density of such houses in Corby and a review is currently under way by the council.

The conversion of a Victorian semi-detached house in Rockingham Road, Kettering, will go before planners this week.

The application is to double the number of flats in the house from two to four. Objections have been received from Kettering Town Council on the grounds of overdevelopment, and from neighbours who say parking is already causing dangers on the road. You can view the agenda for the meeting, which takes place on Wednesday at 7pm, at https://northnorthants.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=168&MId=814

The Big Issue Foundation has chosen the Core Corby as one of the UK tour venues for its acclaimed theatre production commissioned as part of its 30th anniversary celebrations.

UNKNOWN, a play about homelessness, was been created with support from The Arts Council and is described as “a deeply compelling drama that tells the painfully true and profoundly moving story of a young man’s struggle to survive living on the streets of Britain today.”

First performed as a radio play in October 2020 and developed as a stage drama for a short tour in 2021, UNKOWN has already received widespread acclaim - including being listed by The Guardian as one its readers’ favourite plays of 2020.

It arrives in Corby on November 4 and tickets are available now on the theatre’s website at https://www.thecorecorby.com/

Crafts and coffee will be available at the Saxon Hall in Raunds on Wednesday, September 7, when refreshments and a poppy-themed make and take home session takes place from 1.30pm to 3pm.

Entry is £1 which includes a hot drink and a slice of cake. Call 01933 622087 between 9.30am and 2pm to reserve a place.