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.

Kettering Planning Public Meeting on 31/10/2019

Three reserved matters came up for approval by the KBC Planning Committee. Rothwell North Working Party representatives gave presentations regarding aspects of the scheme that we feel could be considerably improved for the benefit of Rothwell and Desborough residents. These centred on the junction of the link road with the B576, the layout of the link road itself and the provision of a haul road from the A6 during construction. The Planning Committee passed all three applications with no amendments.

Rothwell North Working Party

This site has been set up to provide information about the activities of the Rothwell North Working Party. The working party was set up to try to influence the developers and Kettering Planning  Committee to take account of the needs of existing residents of Rothwell and Desborough.

The development is ear-marked to eventually provide 700 new houses and the RNWP are concerned that insufficient attention has been paid to traffic management, both during development and in providing infrastructure to support this and other developments in the area.

We are not fighting the development of housing but we are concerned that:

• construction traffic should not access the site through Rothwell or Desborough but come from an access haul road off the A6 Rothwell/Desborough by-pass.

• the strategic link road joining the B576 Rothwell - Desborough road to the A6 should not run through the new housing development as this will deter through traffic and create road hazards for pedestrians and cyclists in the development

• access to Montsaye School and the proposed new primary school should be improved to protect students and residents from traffic.

The working party meet monthly, alternately in Rothwell and Desborough libraries.

Our original statement of purpose is below