MASTERPLAN OF THE FUTURE OF THE TOWN UNVEILED BY COUNCIL
Travel pods like this could be running acros town. |
THE FUTURE of Daventry as envisaged by the district council has finally been unveiled.
The new interim masterplan for the town was launched yesterday (Wednesday), around two weeks ahead of schedule after the Daventry Express obtained a copy this week.
The 83-page document brings together various different proposals, plans and visions for the town – including previously published plans for the Town Centre Vision, urban expansion and canal arm study.
New shops at the heart of a rejuvenated town centre |
Chris Millar, leader of Daventry District Council, said: “Saying you don’t want the expansion of Daventry will not mean it goes away – you can’t ring up West Northamptonshire Development Corporation and ask them to put it somewhere else. This masterplan means the people of the town keep some form of control and we’re not just throwing our hands up and surrendering to the developers.”
Country Park expands with new attractions |
Development and regeneration portfolio holder Chris Over said: “This is the first time since the expansion in the 1960s that we have a plan for Daventry.“Daventry has seen a relative decline compared to similar towns in the area and these issues need to be addressed.”
The council expects to have a finalised version of the masterplan in about a year’s time.
The learning quarter with college buildings and community hall. |
It hopes the document will mean Daventry’s growth and development over the next 14 years is managed as a whole to create a ‘sustainable community’ integrated into the existing town.
Planning decisions on the vast majority of the town’s expansion will be taken by the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation but the council hopes the masterplan will effectively become a ‘very strong guideline’ for developers.
Attractive shopping areas. |
Shops, restaurants and cafes will be important features |
New shops at the heart of a rejuvenated town centre
THE HEART of Daventry will be given a kickstart by a host of new retail developments included in the masterplan.
The Primrose Hill development, the rejuvenation of Bowen Square, replacing the police building with shops, the retail development on the Working Men’s Club site and proposals for new retail units on the site of the Outdoor Pool are all detailed in the document.
In 2005 the preferred developer of the Primrose Hill site was named as Henry Boot by Daventry District Council.The new development would be linked to the High Street by demolishing the Argos store and will provide around 100,000sq ft of retail space, with smaller stores and major shops of up to 30,000 sq ft.
It would feature a series of squares designed to ‘entice’ shoppers along with ‘glimpses of the retailing beyond’. The Bowen Square car park will be replaced by new shops with the site possibly expanding to a redeveloped police station site.
The site of Daventry Outdoor Pool – which is currently being demolished and turned into a temporary car park – will become a car park for adjacent new large retail units, according to the masterplan.
These units will link the WaterSpace marina near to the Ashby Road junction with a new building that will combine shops, housing and multi-storey car parking on the current site of Danetre Garage on Warwick Street.
The WaterSpace – which the Daventry Express reported could be built without a canal to bring boats in – is shown as a series of linked marinas surrounded by restaurants, shops and cafes.
The plans also show a possible multiplex cinema next to the marina and an open space for community events, which could possibly be also used for fairs.
Transport pod network to link up to rail station
DAVENTRY in 2021 will be directly connected to Long Buckby station via a network of transport pods, according to the masterplan.
Lines for personal rapid transport pods to travel on will criss-cross the new estates and link them to the old town centre, the new retail developments, the town’s industrial and business parks, and the rest of Daventry.
The pod link to Long Buckby will mean everywhere in the town will be within 10 minutes of the rail platform. Despite the pod network being a long way off, underpasses under the redeveloped Northern Way/Eastern Way roundabout will be designed with the system in mind.
The pods will act like automated personal trams, coming only when people call them and taking small groups directly to where they want to go.
Representatives from the council have said that the pod network may not get built, but developments need to have provision for some form of transport network – be that pods, guided buses or trams.
Major changes to the road network shown in the masterplan are already underway at the Northern Way/Eastern Way roundabout.
But the plans also show that the roundabout at the junction of Ashby Road and Braunston Road will disappear within the next 15 years, with roads in the area being significantly diverted around and through new developments.
Plans for estates are handed in
PLANNING applications to build the large developments on the edge of Daventry are expected to be made public within the next few days.
Proposals for the 4,000-home Church Fields development near Daventry Country Park have been handed to the planning authority, the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC).
It is expected that the extensive proposals will be formally registered by planners by the end of the week after they have confirmed all the required documents have been handed in. Once registered, the plans will be made public for people to comment on.
A planning application for Danetree Village – around 5,100 homes on the eastern side of Borough Hill, according to the last public consultation – is expected from the developers within a month. The Daventry Express will carry details of both proposals as soon as the applications are made public.
The total number of houses developers want to build is likely to be larger than the 6,200 the district council says the town will need.
An application for the new retail development on the Working Men’s Club site is already in the early stages of the WNDC planning system.
More education and jobs
ALONG with the new Burnt Walls development several other sites have been earmarked for providing employment in an expanded Daventry.
The first will be a new ‘gateway’ innovation centre to be built on the Eastern Way playing fields, close to the roundabout currently being redeveloped.
Daventry will be given a piece of ‘landmark’ architecture at the junction to show the town as ‘a place of quality, interest and progress’.
Around eight hectares of land north of the A45 to Braunston has been allocated for an expansion to the existing industrial and business parks on the edge of the town.
One set of proposals for the site, from developer Prologis, went on public display during the summer.
A new, specially-designed ‘learning quarter’ on the slope currently occupied by the pitch and putt course includes a large public park leading up from the canal basin near Eastern Way.
Northampton College will relocate to the site from its current Daventry campus on Badby Road West and will be joined by Moulton College.
The learning quarter plans also show a new community hall and dedicated sports building.
Views from the new campus towards focal points in the town centre will be turned into routes for pedestrians to travel.The former Badby Road West campus will be replaced by housing, but with the bulk of the current playing fields kept.
Burnt Walls to become 'gateway' to Daventry
A SUSPENSION bridge will greet visitors coming into the south of Daventry on the A45, according to the masterplan.
Plans and drawings of the Burnt Walls site – close to the layby near the Landmark Garage – show a new ‘high quality’ business park designed to attract ‘knowledge-based employers’.
Currently the site – which had a hunting lodge on it that once belonged to John of Gaunt – is inaccessible but the new plans show the area completely redeveloped, with an open and accessible Burnt Walls at its heart.
Offices, parks, restaurants, and shops will spread out from the historic site before merging into a new housing estate of around 1,000 homes.
A possible ‘bespoke’ visitors’ centre on the other side of the A45 will be linked by a suspension bridge described as a ‘gateway feature’ to show that ‘Daventry is a place of interest, quality and innovation’.
The document also mentions a new hotel and 18-hole golf course.
Country Park expands with new attractions
OUTLINE plans for around 5,000 homes around Daventry Country Park and development close to the reservoir edge are included in the masterplan.
Artists’ impressions of the area by the country park show a plaza with cafes, shops and small business units, possible bridges over the canal and a visitors’ centre for the boat lift which is also shown on plans close to the dam.
Maps show an expanded country park reaching to the existing Grand Union Canal while the new canal arm into Daventry will provide a focus for other transport links, including cycle routes, foot paths, and pod lines.
The pod network would include a line joining the Long Buckby Road development directly to that along Welton Lane – cutting directly through the expanded country park.
Maps in the masterplan show close relation to proposals put forward for the Church Fields and Monksmoor sites.
The new developments will be divided into four neighbourhoods, each with its own character and all within a few minutes walk of local and district centres – which would include new schools, shops, medical centres, possible library access and other services.
Across the site, hedgerows would be kept where possible while the height and density of housing, along with heavy planting across the site and on horizons, is hoped to minimise visual impact.
What do YOU think of the Masterplan. Is it the future of the town or just a pipe dream? Vote now on our online poll and send your views via email to editorial@daventrytoday.co.uk or write to Letters to the Editor, Daventry Express, 63 High Street, Daventry NN11 4BQ.
Alternatively click here to express your views.
To view full details of the Daventry Masterplan click here
