£500m investment plans for controversial 2.5mile-wide Kettering Energy Park due to be submitted to council
Plans for a controversial Kettering Energy Park located between Kettering and Thrapston are on the verge of being submitted to North Northamptonshire Council following a public consultation.
Residents living near the proposed Kettering Energy Park warehouse development will soon be able to have their say on the plans.
Kettering Energy Park, a 2.5mile-wide development, would cover the area of 550 football pitches on land between Burton Latimer, Finedon, Great Addington and Cranford.
Plans for the next phase of the development will soon be submitted to North Northamptonshire Council by First Renewable Developments Ltd.
A spokesman for First Renewable Developments Ltd said: “Plans for the next phase of the UK-leading development have been submitted to North Northamptonshire Council – following the conclusion of a comprehensive consultation period.
“The application will deliver new employment spaces, including smaller and larger units, for businesses from a variety of different sectors.
“A first for any large-scale employment development in the UK, the industrial space at Kettering Energy Park will have a 50 per cent (capacity for 100 per cent) minimum renewable energy requirement for all businesses on site.”
Employment floorspace has been reduced from 390,000 sq m to 302,000 sq m. Maximum building heights have been reduced by 5m to 25m – lower opposite the Roundhouse on the Finedon Road to A14 route.
The company says its previous modelling work for traffic movements identified that ‘the network could accommodate the development traffic with local improvements’.
They added: "The reduced floorspace means fewer traffic movements but local improvements will still be funded.”
The site has a planned 40MW of ground mounted solar panels – creating a 178 acre solar farm and adding to the 23 turbine wind farm currently at the site.
First Renewable Developments Ltd’s spokesman added: “Kettering Energy Park will deliver a future technology area providing R&D (research and development) space to explore the next generation of sustainable energy production.
“The site will also spearhead sustainable farming practices through the use of advanced agriculture, projected to employ 125 agriculture workers.”
The developer is proposing to invest £500 million at Kettering Energy Park, with approval for the next stages of the project ‘ongoing’.
First Renewable Developments Ltd says that once completed the development will deliver ‘4,000 jobs in a variety of sectors’, ‘apprenticeships, work placements and outreach programmes’ and make a ‘£410 million per annum contribution to the UK economy’.
They say there will be ‘significant’ biodiversity net gain contribution including a total of 100 acres of new landscape ‘optimised for biodiversity’.
This application was put forward after more than two-and-a-half years of extensive consultation – including 8,800 residents surveyed, multiple public exhibitions and several rounds of meetings with the community, local parish councils, ward councillors, MPs and other elected representatives.
Ongoing dialogue with residents, community councils and elected officials continues to be maintained as they move forward with the scheme.
A spokesman for First Renewable Developments Ltd added: “The proposals for Kettering Energy Park cements North Northamptonshire as a national leader in environmentally sustainable economic growth and has set a new benchmark for the future of net zero carbon development in the UK.
“First Renewable Developments are committed to delivering £500 million to continue to provide significant benefits to the local area and the wider region, regarding sustainability, employment opportunities and economic investment.
“We are grateful to everyone that took part in our consultation process and provided feedback to inform this planning application.
"As the project progresses, First Renewable Developments are looking forward to continue working with the community to spearhead North Northamptonshire as the leader in the future of businesses energy needs, as the UK drives towards a net-zero future.”