Not Two-cester, But A Better Towcester!
| Published: 26th March 2008 15:36 |
The big worry is the danger of creating two Towcesters – an “old town” and a “new town”. The various exhibitions, posters and leaflets too heavily focus on the new development site as an entity in itself. What I feel is required is a comprehensive, “whole-town” development plan and strategy: a plan where our existing Towcester is the centre of the expansion plans and Towcester Vale is an extension.
I believe this view is validated by the depth of local criticism falling more heavily on the aspects of integration and relationship with our existing town than on the detail within the developers’ draft plans of Towcester Vale itself. Although I should add there are some very important concerns within the Vale about access and transport routes; how we place and manage the new open spaces; how we design-out “dead-spots” and potential crime and disorder areas, and how we best integrate mixed-housing.
What puzzles me, however, is that there have been many wide-ranging consultations over the last 12 months with many contributions from local residents as well as professional groups. Meetings took place covering health and local facilities; recreation and open spaces; employment; transport and highways; education, and housing, yet the project at this stage still seems to face real concerns and criticism in these areas:
- What is the true forecast for the numbers of residents and cars we can expect from 3000 new homes?
- What will be the impact and how do we control the effect of increased traffic on our current road “pressure points”: the A5 Watling Street; the Stony Stratford/A5 roundabout; M1 junction 15A; the A43 and its two roundabouts?
- How do we control the pressure of increased traffic into the town’s internal road network notably Carey Road, Highfields/Springfields and Burcote Road. How many access points do we need and where should they be?
- How best do we use the alternative transport routes: bus routes, cycle ways and pathways? And how to link existing Towcester to Towcester Vale schools, facilities, employment, community centres, open spaces, etc?
- What will be the impact of 8000 (my guess) new residents on our current leisure centre, schools, library, post office, supermarkets, town centre parking, health centres, churches, petrol stations, play areas/sports grounds?
- What impact will traffic by-passing the town have on our retail centre? How do we encourage retail trade? Where do we want supermarkets? Do we need park-and ride?
- Will the growing population require a new library or post-office and should this be in the heart of town to encourage the retail centre?
- What about the Moat Lane development and any other similar planning proposals?
- What happens to our existing schools when new schools are built? What current school sites might become available and how best can these be developed within a comprehensive plan?
The public consultation period expires this week, on 28th March. So what happens next?
There are many questions and concerns unanswered, and I sense growing doubts in the effectiveness of the plans. There seems also to be a growing divide between the approaches of the two lead authorities, WNDC and SNC, and a danger of rushing to conclusions that we may live to regret later.
What is clear however is that the new development will affect most is not all aspects of our current town! There is so much at stake here for Towcester: so much we can gain and lose by this development over the next 10 years. I am in support of the expansion of Towcester, but not at the risk of undermining the qualities and strength of community that are a major attraction of the town. We need a single, fully-integrated bigger and better Towcester and not a new bolt-on suburb.
Nick King, local school governor and vice-chair of Towcester Neighbourhood Watch
Editor's note - make your comments heard, comment on the application
Community Comment:
You will need to sign in to post a comment to this article. if you do not have an AboutMyArea account, you can join now for free.
I have so far not been involved in the meetings as I am not a resident of the town, but Towcester is certainly crucial to the wellbeing of my village community, as indeed it is to all the villages in the area.
It is staggering to me that, in the 21st centrury, we still have to fight with overwheening local government bodies and developers who believe that they can impose their will on communities rather than work with them. Thankfully there are now plenty of examples around the country and indeed around the world, where local participation has resulted in effective and healthy development of exisitng communities.
All I can say is "keep the faith" and keep going! The fight isn't over yet!
Posts: 1