Wellingborough community breathes a sigh of relief as green spaces in John Lea housing estate no longer for sale

After four green spaces in the John Lea housing estate in Wellingborough were put up for sale, housing developer Taylor Wimpey has this week withdrawn its listings.

People who live in the area were at risk of losing the spaces near Spencer Road, Serve Close and John Lea Way that are regularly used for recreational activities.

However, the listings have since been removed, and the spaces will remain as they are, at least for a while longer.

A spokesman for Taylor Wimpey said: “We understand that the potential sale of land at Taylor Wimpey’s John Lea development in Wellingborough was a cause of concern for local residents.

“We have listened to their feedback and taken the decision to withdraw the land from the auction.

"We will be engaging with residents and North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) about the future plans for the land over the coming weeks.”

Iestyn Pocock, a resident of John Lea Way since 2007, said: “For anyone living on a housing estate it’s imperative to have close access to open spaces, not only for recreation but for community togetherness.

"This is why it’s important we protect them, the open spaces on John Lea Way are a place where our children come together to play safely (we have nowhere else without crossing busy roads) and have somewhere away from screens, and many residents use them for dog walking.

"They have been used for residents to come together to celebrate Diwali and New Year’s Eve with fireworks, and we've even had boot camp classes organized by one resident in the past.

“All of this helps create a community spirit and brings people together."

Taylor Wimpey owns the land, and has been maintaining each plot since they were created.

The Section 106 agreement at the time of the estate’s development did not provide an option for North Northamptonshire Council to adopt the spaces, however the housing developer later asked the council to take it on, though NNC refused.

A spokesman for NNC said: “Negotiations around the land go back many years with the Borough Council of Wellingborough deciding not to purchase the land, due to costs for repairs, insurance etc, which there were not sufficient funds for.

"NNC were approached again in 2021 by Taylor Wimpey and again it was determined that there was no budget to maintain the land.

“Land use is primarily regulated through planning conditions and not ownership. The purchaser of this land will be required to comply with the current planning permission and the conditions attached to it.

“The landscape conditions are secured in a combination of planning applications WP/2002/0777 and WP/2004/0602 which secures the space as public open space for the estate community.”

The land was going to be sold as open space, with a clause in any transfer to make sure that any purchaser must maintain the land as outlined in the planning application.

Now that the listings have been removed and the decision has been made to not sell the green spaces, the future for the John Lea estate remains as-yet unclear.