WHY?
Northampton continues to be a focus for continued economic growth. It is identified as a regional growth centre and is expected to provide substantial new housing and employment as part of a Government strategy for sustainable growth.

The Secretary of State wrote to Daventry District Council on 24 September 2007 confirming that the Buckton Fields site will remain allocated for development in Daventry’s Local Plan to support the delivery of housing within the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Sub-Region and identified growth area.

Ensign acknowledges the Government’s agenda in respect of meeting housing needs for the area. Therefore, in order to assist with the timely delivery of housing in and around Northampton, Ensign has decided to submit a separate planning application for Buckton Fields East – which broadly corresponds with the area adjacent to Harborough Road North referred to as Phase One in the outline planning application for the full Buckton Fields site. This could help with the early delivery of much needed housing, including affordable housing.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE DEVELOPMENT
At Buckton Fields East, Ensign is seeking to create a purely residential development of approximately 500 homes. The scheme will offer a mix of high quality homes ranging from two to five bedrooms, open public spaces and children's play areas.

Approximately 16.4 hectares in size, Buckton Fields East lies on the eastern edge of the wider Buckton Fields site, bordered by Harborough Road North to the east and Brampton Lane to the north.

CREATING A COMMUNITY WITH CHARACTER
The Buckton Fields East development would create a vibrant community by incorporating a mix of housing styles in neighbourhood areas with distinct characteristics. Careful landscaping and tree planting will seek to soften the appearance of the development and provide the local scenery with focal points and variety.

Homes fronting Harborough Road North would be sensitively developed to retain continuity with the existing development along the road. A mix of two storey detached and semi-detached houses with three to five bedrooms would be set back from Harborough Road North behind a screen of newly-planted trees.

Moving deeper into the scheme, a wider variety of development styles incorporating landmark building will be provided to create an interesting and varied street scene. Mixing townhouses, smaller terraces and mews-style homes rising to two and a half to three storeys, Buckton Fields East will provide a range of accommodation needed to create a sustainable, vibrant community.

Buckton Fields East will be accessed at Brampton Lane by a three-armed roundabout, and the street layout will focus on the creation of Homezones that give priority to pedestrians and cyclists – encouraging a lower level of traffic movement by using traffic calming measures and promoting on-street parking. Localised road narrowing at intervals will also help to slow traffic.

Please visit the Minimising Environmental Impact page for information on how Ensign will seek to reduce the impact of development.

DELIVERING TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
To support the planning application for Buckton Fields East, Ensign will be required to carry out a comprehensive Transport Assessment which will look at the accessibility and sustainability of the site, the traffic flows generated and the impact on the surrounding roads and junctions.

Please visit the Delivering Transport Infrastucture page for information on Ensign’s sustainable transport strategy.