Planning obligations for Kettering's 5,500-home Hanwood Park development discussed

The Hanwood Park estate, which sits to the east of Kettering and Barton Seagrave, was first given outline approval in 2010.

In May this year, the council gave fresh outline permission for the final 3,300 homes on the development as the original consent had expired.

Further detailed planning applications and construction cannot progress without key infrastructure, including roads, schools and health services, being secured under stringent conditions agreed by the council and the applicant, Hanwood Park LLP.

A report brought in front of an NNC planning meeting yesterday (Monday, December 16) set out the progress made by officers in securing Section 106 (S106) developer contributions since May.

An agent speaking on behalf of Hanwood Park LLP at the meeting said: “In May of this year, we received your unanimous support to approve our proposals, subject to us reverting to you later this year to update on key matters.

"We’ve agreed with the council’s officers and viability consultants a financial package which maintains the scheme’s viability and provides suitable mitigation for education, leisure, health, biodiversity and highways matters.”

Contributions have been set out for 20 per cent of affordable housing across the estate, a £5m payment and designated land plot within the District Centre for the NHS to build a GP Practice, and suitable financial contributions to build designated early years, primary and secondary education sites.

The meeting heard that a second tranche of S106 contributions, including a learners swimming pool, community building and the Ise Valley Greenway, would be subject to future financial viability appraisals.

Across the Hanwood Park project, in total 2,117 homes have obtained detailed consent to be built and a spokesman for the developer said the Kettering extension is already home to some 3,000 residents.

When the neighbourhood is finished, it is estimated to house 15,000 people as one of the biggest urban extensions in the country.

However, the all-important proposed Junction 10a on the A14, which would add a further exit between Barton Seagrave and Cranford, is still the subject of debate from National Highways.

The company, which is in charge of operating, maintaining and improving England’s motorways and major A roads, has put forward a holding notice to ask the council not to approve the development while work is still ongoing to confirm the exact mitigation and trigger points needed for major improvements to the road network.

National Highways said they continue to work with the applicant on their traffic modelling, including the future forecast scenarios on the A14.

It said it supports the ‘overarching principle of the development’ and that work is continuing to confirm the ‘most cost-effective, deliverable solution’ for Junction 10a.

An update on the anticipated delivery of Warkton and Weekley Avenue traffic mitigation is also awaited.

Cllr Paul Marks (Windmill, Cons) raised concerns with his fellow members on the planning committee: “It’s the timings and the delivery that worry me. We’re already desperately short of school places and the roads are all dreadfully congested.

“We desperately need the Junction 10a. I’m gratified that the actual recommendations say that if this isn’t basically sorted out by the end of April we’ll refuse it. That gives us a fairly narrow time period to really tie this down on Section 106.”

Cllr David Sims (Corby Rural, Lab) added: “This agreement is only as good as it’s addressed, as long as it’s enforced. That monitoring needs to be really really tight.”

He asked for members to be kept informed of the development’s infrastructure targets and warned that there had been situations in the past where companies had folded before everything had been delivered.

If a satisfactory S106 agreement is not reached by April 30, 2025, permission for the remaining 3,300 homes will be refused by NNC.

National Highways’ holding recommendation must also be dropped to fully grant permission for the remaining homes.

You can read the full paper here.