IN PICTURES: See how new village centre for Little Stanion will look

After years of hold ups, Little Stanion in Corby will now have a village hall plus shops and play areas after two separate planning applications were approved by Corby Councillors last night (Tuesday).

The building of amenities for the village off the A43 had stalled several years ago after the developer Silent Pride went into administration.

The company came out of administration last year and following involvement with Corby Council a new scheme has been created.

Director of Silent Pride’s parent company JME Civils James Moore said he was pleased that work could move forward on creating a village centre.

He said: “We will start work on the first two luxury apartments in August and then start work on the new village hall.”

However, previous promises of a football pitch in the village look unlikely to now happen as part of the original area planned for the facility is owned by a third party and agreement cannot be reached with Silent Pride.

At the meeting held at Corby Cube, a number of local villagers spoke out against the scheme voicing concern about the proposed one way system  as well as the extra traffic the new homes would bring to the area.

The increased housing density proposed for the village centre was also criticised and a number of residents questioned the amenities available for teenagers.

Mr Nash, who lives in the village, said: “You can understand how people get disillusioned with developments as people make promises that they don’t always deliver on.

“It would have been nice for the village centre to be placed near green space as when we have community barbecues we have to hire toilet facilities and generators.

“We have a few issues already with teenagers as there is not a lot to keep them occupied.”

A representative for Silent Pride said feedback at a public consultation about the proposed scheme had been largely positive and that expressions of interest for the retail units had already been received.

Three new apartment blocks totalling 66 two bedroom apartments will be built.

The blocks will be four storey in some parts and one block will have retail space underneath.

The community hall will sit in the centre of the scheme on land accessed off Roman Road and close to the primary school.

A new multi games area will also be created.

This new plan replaces a previous application in 2016 called the Berbank scheme.

A third application for at least 99 new homes was due to be heard last night but will be brought back before the council at a later date after further discussions with the local highways authority.