Council looks to agree sale so redevelopment of key Wellingborough site can move forward

Councillors look set to agree a sale which could help redevelopment of this key site in Wellingborough town centre move forward.

Wellingborough Council has been working on proposals for the regeneration of the High Street/Jacksons Lane site for numerous years, with it first being earmarked for development back in 2006.

The most recent plans were for demolition of an existing building at 48 West Street and redevelopment of part of the car park in High Street for 114 dwellings consisting of 85 houses, 29 apartments, roads, car parking and landscaping.

This application was agreed in principle two years ago but the signing of a Section 106 agreement was needed before the decision was formally issued.

With this taking place in April, councillors are now looking to enter an agreement with Keepmoat Homes for sale of the land.

A report prepared for councillors ahead of Monday's meeting says: "This report provides an update on the High Street/Jacksons Lane site and seeks in principle approval to enter into a conditional contract with Keepmoat Homes to enable them to purchase the site for residential development.

"Approval is also sought to approve the indicative surface car park scheme should the contract be entered in to."

Redevelopment of the site has not only been a long running saga, but seen several changes during this time.

A letter from Keepmoat Homes submitted to the council last month said: "It has been some years since work first started on proposals for this scheme and as you will imagine over this time, we have seen a number of changes, which resulted in a planning consent being granted earlier this year supporting a residential development.

"Since the granting of this planning consent we have been looking at ways that we could improve design and the product being offered to the residents of Wellingborough, in and around the town centre."

If the plans come to fruition, this site will be the second development for Keepmoat Homes in Wellingborough, having exchanged contracts earlier this year for 238 new homes on the Glenvale Park development.

The report due to be considered by councillors goes on to say: "Keepmoat remain committed to this scheme, and during discussions Keepmoat suggested they would like to consider a revised scheme.

"It was agreed that they would seek pre-application planning advice on the revised scheme.

"As identified in Appendix 3 the revised scheme has changed to amend the mix of houses to meet the local demand from under 35s which can support the night time economy, increased the number of units, enlarged house sizes, increased the affordable housing and made changes to make this a better place to live in particular in relation to parking and gardens."

The revised scheme is for 121 dwellings.

Councillors will be asked to consider several recommendations at Monday's virtual meeting, which starts at 7pm.

It is proposed that members recommend to approve:

- the disposal of the High Street/Jacksons Lane site, subject to contract, to Keepmoat Homes for the purpose of residential development at an agreed price plus overage

- to delegate to the assistant director (corporate landlord) the responsibility for agreeing the terms of the contract for disposal

- that the approved indicative scheme in Appendix 4 for a new surface car park of approximately 200 spaces be reviewed and a capital bid submitted for its construction

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