The County of Northamptonshire
5 Northamptonshire County Structure Plan 1996 - 2016 2 THE COUNTY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
2.1 As a county at the heart of England, but on the fringes of the outer South East, Northamptonshire has become a popular location in which to live and work. Since the 1960’s its population has increased by 50% to 600,000 residents and a number of companies have relocated and grown here. Northamptonshire remains, however, a traditional shire county much of which is predominantly rural in character, albeit interspersed with large to small towns built on commercial activities ranging from manufacturing to farming.
2.2 Much of the past growth of Northamptonshire has been driven by the County playing a positive role in accommodating the pressures of growth, particularly from London and the South East, but also the West Midlands. Northamptonshire had a high proportion of its towns identified as growth locations for population migration and employment location, with both Northampton and Corby being designated under the New Towns programme and Daventry and Wellingborough as Expanded Towns.
2.3 Northamptonshire officially falls within the East Midlands region, but its location means that uniquely it adjoins three others: the South East, the West Midlands and the Eastern region. The growth of the County has strengthened relationships with the South East and the West Midlands, whilst the improved links to the east and the increasing economic influence of Cambridge has achieved similar for the Eastern region. In addition new town growth at Milton Keynes and Peterborough has strengthened cross regional local links in the south and north-east of the County.
Economy and Communications
2.4 The rapid expansion of the County in the past three decades has brought with it a diversified industrial and commercial base and Northamptonshire now has an economy that consistently grows well above national averages. The traditional industrial base, centred on footwear manufacturing, steelmaking and agriculture, is being supplanted by service, high technology, engineering and distribution sectors. The County of Northamptonshire of County The
Northamptonshire County Structure Plan 1996 - 2016 6 2.5 The distribution sector, in particular, has grown substantially because of Northamptonshire’s central location and good communications. The western half of the County has good north-south links, being on the spine of both the M1/M6 and West Coast rail line corridors, with Northampton itself on the Northampton Loop line. There are good links east to Cambridge and the Haven Ports through the A45 linking with the A14. The upgrading of the A43 south of Northampton will link the County with the M40 corridor and to Oxford and Southern England.
2.6 The eastern half of the County is also on a key north-south rail corridor, the Midland Main Line, but its key road corridor (the A14) runs east-west. There are two strategic freight interchanges in Northamptonshire, one in the west of the County adjacent to the M1 (DIRFT) and one at Corby (Eurohub).
Settlement Structure
2.7 In terms of the main settlement pattern, the County can be divided into two distinct areas. The western half is dominated by Northampton, the administrative and commercial centre of the whole County, which contains at 200,000 people just under a third of Northamptonshire’s population. Daventry, Towcester and Brackley to its west and south are economic and service centres with rural hinterland catchments.
2.8 On the eastern side of the County the urban settlement pattern is more closely interlinked and is related to the broad north-south corridor of the A6 and Midland Mainline railway. This includes the larger urban areas of Kettering, Wellingborough and Rushden and Higham Ferrers, as well as smaller towns with an industrial heritage such as Desborough and Irthlingborough. Corby is closely related to this corridor, but because of its new town and steel heritage it is distinct from those settlements that characterise it. The County of Northamptonshire Raunds and Thrapston, further to the east, have similarities to the towns in the main corridor; Oundle in the north-east, is a more traditional market town serving a large rural hinterland and with socio-economic links with the Peterborough area.
Town Centres
2.9 The town centres of Northamptonshire still provide the main focus for shopping and other commercial activity. Trends towards out-of-centre locations for retail and other traditional town centre uses such as offices and entertainment and leisure, along with the national tendency of a drift of retail and other services into larger but smaller numbers of city and town centres, have not passed the County by. Both trends have impacted on the vitality and vibrancy (and in some instances viability of Northamptonshire town centres) and to an extent more than has been the case in a number of other counties.
7 Northamptonshire County Structure Plan 1996 - 2016 Heritage and Tourism
2.10 The County has a significant and attractive heritage, despite it not having many heritage or environmental designations of national or international importance. This local heritage and the character represented by it has helped maintain a distinct Northamptonshire identity. The Nene Valley and Northamptonshire uplands are perhaps the County’s defining natural features, with the limestone villages, industrial small towns, the Grand Union Canal and the Nene Valley gravel pits giving the County its man-made character.
2.11 In addition Northamptonshire is home to some tourism, heritage and leisure attractions of note. These include Silverstone Motor Racing Circuit, Althorp House, Towcester Racecourse, Oundle School, canal heritage at Stoke Bruerne, and one of the largest rugby union stadiums in England at Northampton. The opening of Rockingham Motor Speedway stadium is building on the recognition of Northamptonshire as the motor racing County. The County of Northamptonshire of County The
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