During the past five years over £60 million has been invested in Northampton by the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation says commercial property agent Prop-Search, ranging from award winning roads and flood defences, to town centre regeneration.
In recognition of the progress that has already been made in the area, the Government has recently announced the future of the Corporation as a ‘strategic’ and ‘delivery focused’ organisation to keep the town’s growth ambitions alive. The WNDC will focus on major schemes and will continue to deliver a transformation of the town. Its main priorities include a redevelopment of the waterside area of Northampton, as well as the regeneration of Northampton’s Castle Station, providing a modern gateway to the town.
Specialist legal powers are being used to kick-start a major development in the Northampton Enterprise Zone which will include a landmark office development as well as 1,250 new homes. WNDC has announced the start of a compulsory purchase order to acquire the land that covers a series of sites stretching from opposite Northampton Railway Station to Carlsberg’s UK headquarters. This includes some 40 hectares of brownfield waterside land, including the old Nunn Mills Power Station and a derelict factory owned by Avon Cosmetics. The scheme, known as St Peter’s Waterside, is to be sited next to the cutting-edge Innovation Centre which recently received planning committee approval.
WNDC is now inviting expressions of interest from prospective development partners, or consortia, for the site. The first phase of development could comprise up to 215,000 sq ft of commercial floor space. The University of Northampton has expressed an interest in the site as a potential location for a new campus and as a result, the selection of a development partner will likely be based on a proposed phase of development which can be implemented with or without a University campus on-site.
A further major development within the Enterprise Zone has also been given the go-ahead. Carlsberg UK, the British arm of the world’s fourth largest brewer is expanding its Northampton site with a 70,000 sq ft bottling plant, creating up to 60 new employment opportunities. Carlsberg’s current headquarters was built in the 1970s and construction of the new bottling plant, which is the brewery’s second, is now underway. This follows the completion of a £40 million development of Carlsberg’s site in October last year that saw the brewing capacity increase and a third canning line installed.
Approximately £1.8 million has been invested in the creation of a new marina which has just been completed at Beckets Park in the town. The Marina was formerly a disused boating lake and has been transformed to offer 80 moorings, six of which are for residential use. As part of long term plans to development Northampton into ‘The Market City’, later phases of the project could deliver cafes and restaurants, providing a busy link between the town centre and waterside development.
Plans for a new bus interchange on the site of the current Fishmarket in the town centre have been submitted to the Borough Council for approval. This would enable the demolition of the Greyfriars Bus Station and the subsequent expansion of the Grosvenor Shopping Centre to provide for a further 450,000 sq ft of retail accommodation, together with hotel and residential development. The proposal is for 12 bus bays to be located within a new building on the corner of the Drapery, Bradshaw Street and Silver Street.
Transport improvements will also shortly commence with the proposed transformation of Northampton Castle Railway Station, following the announcement that the Government is investing £10m in the scheme. Located within the Waterside Enterprise Zone, the new station will be twice the size of the existing building and the remainder of the £20m development costs will be met by Network Rail and Northamptonshire County Council. Construction is anticipated to start by the end of the year, with potential later phases of the development to include a 1,270 space multi-storey car park and approximately 300,000 sq ft of offices.
If Northampton can continue to deliver its aspirations and redevelopment projects, then it is likely to continue to grow at twice the national average in terms of both economic and population growth, as it has for the past decade. The town is alive with ambition and it is hoped that all the plans fit together to shape the town’s future prosperity.
