Referendum date set for Kettering neighbourhood plan as residents get vote in area's future

Residents living in a part of Kettering have been given the chance to vote on the future of their neighbourhood to help shape the area.

Headlands area residents can vote in a special referendum at the end of April on the neighbourhood plan being set up to influence future development and to maintain its ‘unique’ character.

If adopted, the plan has policies which mean planners and developers should seek to protect community assets such as shops, maintain a thriving business presence, protect and enhance heritage buildings and the conservation area, ensure ‘appropriate’ design to recognise the special character of smaller areas and protect natural features such as trees and hedges.

Chairman of Kettering Town Council’s neighbourhood planning committee, Cllr Scott Edwards (Con), said: “This plan will protect the special character of the Headlands area and enhance it for years to come. It gives power back to the community and will help make sure any future development respects the area and is in keeping with what is right for Headlands.”

The plan is the result of many years’ work by residents, The South West Kettering (Headlands Community) Neighbourhood Planning Forum, supported by Kettering Town Council and planning officers at North Northamptonshire Council.

A series of question and answer sessions have been organised at St Michael’s Church in Garfield Street for people to find out more about the plan.

Sessions start this Thursday (March 9) from 6pm to 8pm with another to be held on Saturday, March 11 from 10am to midday and on Tuesday, March 13, from 6pm to 8pm.

The referendum vote will take place on Thursday, April 27, with details of the polling station to be confirmed.

If the majority of the people voting choose ‘yes’, the plan will be adopted.

The full plan can be found online at www.ketteringtowncouncil.gov.uk/neighbourhood-plan and copies can be requested by emailing [email protected] or calling 01536 697490.

Roads covered are Bishops Drive, Slade Crescent, Ostlers Way and Gardens, Headlands, Lonsdale Road, Cranleigh Road, The Close, Kettonby Gardens, The Crescent, Kensington Gardens, Foxton Court, Queensberry Road, Glebe Avenue, Roundhill Road, St Michael's Road, and Gardens, part of Seagrave Street, Hawthorn Road, Broadway, Argyll Street, Garfield Street and The Drive.