East Sustainable Urban Extension - Background

1. The North Joint Core Strategy (JCS) is the strategic plan for the area. The current plan (adopted in 2008) identifies Rushden as a “Smaller Town” compared to the “Growth Towns” of , and , where most new homes, jobs and facilities are planned. This reflected the East Regional Plan, which has now been scrapped.

2. The review of the JCS has looked again at the future role and status of Rushden. With a population of over 29,000, Rushden is the largest town in and the fourth largest within . Previous consultation has supported a greater role for Rushden in providing new jobs, homes and facilities and the emerging JCS identifies it as the District’s Growth Town. This is supported by East Northamptonshire Council and Rushden Town Council.

3. The emerging JCS (published for consultation in August 2012) identified the strategic opportunity for Rushden to provide around 3,000 new homes in the 20 years to 2031. This is similar to the rate of house-building in recent years (1,600 new homes were built in the decade to 2011). This level of growth would make a major contribution to meeting housing requirements in the district and support local shops and services. It needs to be accompanied by new jobs and investment in infrastructure.

4. Not all of the land for this new housing, employment and related development can be found within the existing built up area of Rushden, particularly as the town is hemmed in by the A45 and A6 roads. An estimated 2,000-2,500 new homes need to be located on new sites. The emerging JCS proposes that this should be as a single “Sustainable Urban Extension” that can be carefully planned to link to the existing town and provide a wide range of infrastructure, services and open spaces for new and existing residents.

5. Assessments have been made of potential directions of growth for Rushden against criteria such as access, proximity to services, impact on landscape and deliverability. This work is summarised in the updated Rushden East Background Paper (August 2013). The conclusion is that the best location for development is to the East of the A6 between the John Clark Way and Newton Road roundabouts. This is supported in principle by East Northamptonshire Council and Rushden Town Council.

6. The current consultation on Strategic Housing and Employment Site s (August 2013) proposes the broad location and scale of the Rushden East Sustainable Urban Extension and identifies issues that need to be addressed as the proposals progress. Views are invited on this guidance and also on the alternatives that have been assessed as set out in the Background Paper.

7. Feedback will help the Joint Planning Unit to finalise the Joint Core Strategy for further consultation and examination by an independent Inspector in 2014. The detail of the Sustainable Urban Extension including the site boundary, mix of uses and layout of the development will be shaped through site specific plans and master planning led by East Northamptonshire Council and Rushden Town Council, with opportunities for further local input.