Rothwell North Working Party Annual Financial Report 2020

 

Rothwell North Working Party Annual Report 2020

 Rothwell North Working Party(RNWP) 

Report for year ending October 2020 

Membership: 

We currently have 13 members. In October 2019 Andy Browne was co-opted to fill the vacancy from last year. 

The Committee: 

Chair Peter Chapman 

Secretary Margaret Mossman 

Treasurer Marie Chapman until 22nd June 2020 Andy Browne from 22nd June 2020 

Outline of action: 

RNWP has continued to meet on a monthly basis meeting in either Rothwell Library or Desborough Library until the Coronovirus lockdown in March 2020 since when we have met online via Zoom. 

We sent letters to the Borough Councillors urging them to reject the planning application until acceptable access to the site could be agreed and members spoke at the meeting. Unfortunately, the application was passed. We continued to liaise with Persimmon and Kettering Borough Council in an effort to find a suitable access point for a haul road from the A6. Unfortunately agreement could not be obtained from one land-owner and Northamptonshire County Council Highways would not support a link road from the A6 at any other point. However, in response to our strong concerns Persimmon agreed to further lower the trigger point for constructing the link road to 150th house occupied or 3 years, whichever is first. Persimmon also made changes to the ANPR system to make it easier to record vehicles not following the designated route in response to our remarks about the gaps in their original plan. 

Some members represented RNWP at a joint meeting with KBC, Persimmon, Desborough Town Council and Rothwell Town Council where plans were discussed, questions raised and concerns aired. It was agreed that another such meeting should take place a few months after the start of construction. Construction began 17th February 2020. 

In February 2020 one of our members visited Persimmon in York to deliver letters to the Directors in a last attempt to get the link road layout reconsidered. We received no response. 

In March 2020 we were successful in gaining a grant from Desborough Town Council and although Coronovirus lockdown delayed the opening of an account, the grant of £600 was paid into our Market Harborough Building Society in August 2020. 

RNWP made the decision to continue as a group to ensure that construction continues with as much consideration for local residents as possible, and various issues raised by members of the public, such as excessive mud, vehicles waiting on the highway as well as HGVs not taking the designated route, have been reported to and discussed with the Project Manager. The new funding has enabled us to replace our banners with the new “Truck Watch” banners, designed to discourage all HGVs from coming through Rothwell or Desborough and not just those travelling to and from the Rothwell North site. We are also encouraging residents to report any vehicles they see disregarding the designated route and we continue to liaise with the Project Manager regarding local concerns regarding construction and the vehicles. 

Our Facebook page has continued to be a means of communication with residents and membership of that page has grown and stands at 390 as of 15th September 2020. 

Our campaign continues. 

Margaret Mossman 

15th September 2020

Truck Watch

You may see this banner by the side of the road around Desborough and Rothwell. We are concerned that some contractors for the Rothwell North development are not obeying the routing of trucks to and from the site.  Trucks servicing the development are only allowed access via the A6/B576 through Desborough. Routes through Rothwell, Braybrooke Road and Rushton Road in Desborough are closed to heavy vehicles. We have noted a number of violations and have informed Persimmon.

If you know of trucks not following the approved route to the Rothwell North development then please report them to the Rothwell North Working Party 

rothnwp@gmail.com 

Please provide details of where and when the truck was seen, the company name on the truck and, ideally the truck’s registration number. Please be sure the truck was servicing the Rothwell North development.

RNWP wins improved access to Health Centre

After representations from Rothwell North Working Party members and Councillor Jim Hakewill a temporary controlled pedestrian crossing and wheelchair/pram ramps have been installed at the top of Desborough Road. Prior to this is was impossible for a wheelchair user to get access to the Rothwell Medical Centre from Greening Road or from the left side of Desborough Road. The road works had left the footpath blocked, with no kerb ramp to allow a wheelchair user to cross the road and no traffic control to give pedestrians a chance to cross over. Local members of RNWP photographed the problem area and Councillor Hakewill made representations to the authorities and Anglian Water about this and they promptly dealt with the problems. The attached photos show what was put in place. Without local people getting involved with issues like this, it is highly likely that our interests will not be taken into account.

Evening Telegraph Article

Here is a link to the Evening Telegraph article about the development.
https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/anger-rothwell-housing-construction-traffic-due-use-b576-1373441

B576 Road Junction with development due to start late February

We have learnt that work is due to start on the road junction on the B576 between Rothwell and Desborough to provide access to the new Persimmon development on the West side of the road. The junction will be a four-way, traffic light controlled junction. We are devastated to hear that the proposed haul road from the A6 to the development will not go ahead as the landowner has refused permission for use of the existing track. This means that all construction traffic will have to use the B576 to access the site. Had our proposed "Link road first" been accepted by the local authorities much of the disruption, potential pollution and risk of accidents would have been avoided.

The site work for the junction will be highly disruptive, given 12,000 vehicles a day use this road and it is particularly busy at rush hours. However the disruption will be a taste of things to come as, not only will the Rothwell North development be taking place but Ise Valley in Desborough will also be undergoing development with access onto the B576.  Users of the B576, including pedestrian and cyclist students going to  Montsaye Academy and people visting the Health Centre will be faced with queues of traffic belching exhaust fumes as drivers try to negotiate the existing choke points at the Greening Road roundabout, the Health Centre bus stop and pedestrian crossing and now the junction development. I expect there to be a lot of frustrated drivers and potentially more accidents on this road over the coming years. Our representatives on the Town, Borough and County Councils have a lot to answer for in allowing this to take place. We are not against the building of the new houses but have consistently argued that access to the A6 for the development should come before the buildings "Link Road First!" 

To be fair, Desborough Town Council and Councillor Jim Hakewill have been very supportive of our efforts, it is a pity the rest have not been.