Why has a plan for 47,000 homes been so controversial?

Plans for thousands of new homes have faced protests and now a government intervention.

The proposals are part of West Northamptonshire Council's draft Local Plan, which could see up to 47,300 new homes built across the region by 2043.

But after protests, petitions, changes and being rejected the government has stepped in.

Why has this local plan caused so many issues?

Local plans help determine what gets built and where, such as areas for housing, leisure and business, and which areas should be protected from development, such as parks or agricultural land.

Every local planning authority in England has one.

The West Northamptonshire Local Plan will replace the West Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy Local Plan (Part 1) and the Part 2 Local Plans which were adopted for the former Daventry, Northampton and South Northamptonshire areas.

West Northamptonshire has a housing target of more than 47,000 new homes over the next two decades.

The Reform UK-led authority had proposed up to 47,300 new homes across the area by 2043.

One proposal was to build about 300 homes on part of Collingtree Park Golf Club, near Northampton.

In Long Buckby, near Daventry, land close to the railway station had been earmarked for about 1,000 homes.

There were also proposals to build homes in Northampton town centre, the outskirts of Northampton, Daventry, Brackley and Towcester.

Villages such as Brixworth, Silverstone, Woodford Halse, Weedon, Roade, Middleton Cheney, Bugbrooke and Deanshanger would get more than 100 houses each with smaller villages also identified for development.

There were also plans for nine warehouses and a country park at Furtho Pit in Old Stratford, between the A5 and A508.

There have been protests and petitions opposing the plans.

In April demonstrators gathered outside Northampton Guildhall on Saturday to oppose proposals to build up to 300 homes on part of Collingtree Park Golf Club.

Protesters said "people need houses, but just not here".

Some residents in Long Buckby were opposed to the development for fear the fabric of their community would be destroyed.

A record number of people responded to the council's draft local plan.

A consultation which ran from 29 January to 27 March received 6,184 responses.

Following that, the council made a number of changes, the most significant was the proposal to put 300 properties on Collingtree Park golf course was removed.

The number of houses to be built in villages was reduced but a potential 1,000 homes were still earmarked for the village of Long Buckby.

West Northamptonshire Council's Local Plan was discussed and rejected by Reform cabinet members on the planning policy committee.

Councillor Thomas Manning, chairman of West Northamptonshire Council's Planning Policy Committee and Cabinet Member for Planning, said: "Since work started on the draft Plan several years ago, the planning system has undergone considerable change, with the Government introducing a fundamentally different approach.

"We owe it to our residents to ensure it reflects the latest national policy and not to rush it through a dated system that's being replaced."

Opposition Conservative leader Dan Lister was also in favour of scrapping the plan.

But Labour and Liberal Democrats initiated a call in on the decision.

Sally Keeble, Labour Group Leader said: "We initiated a call in because of our extreme concerns about the inadequacy of the decision-making process, including lack of information on what the rejection of the plan entailed and the impact it was likely to have on the general public."

Less than 24 hours after rejecting the plan and deciding to start again, the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook, told the authority they must continue with the existing plan.

In his letter Pennycook stated he was "concerned by the Council's decision not to progress" the original plan.

"As you know, considerable time, effort and investment has gone into the preparation of this emerging Plan.

"The decision not to progress it would not only see that time, effort and investment wasted, but would create further uncertainty and leave the Council exposed to ongoing speculative development as a result of not having an up-to-date plan," he added.

Council leader Mark Arnull said the authority was "deeply disappointed" by the decision.

"We made our decision in the best interests of our residents to ensure we had the time needed to prepare the right plan that addresses their concerns, reflects the new National Planning Policy Framework, and adequately shapes the future growth of our communities," he said.

West Northamptonshire Council has until the end of September to appeal the decision.

Four directions have been issued, including starting a consultation on the final plan in October and submitting it to the government by the end of December.

The letter states, if the council fails to comply, further action will be taken.

At a council meeting, the Deputy Chief Executive and Place Executive Director Stuart Timmiss said "all options will be considered in detail".

One of those options could be working on a new Local Plan in parallel with completing the current one.

But Timmiss stated: "The timescale to get the plan to adoption is incredibly tight and therefore capacity would be a challenge."

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