Plans submitted for long-awaited A509 Isham bypass

Currently the A509 between Wellingborough and Kettering cuts through Isham

A long-awaited village bypass is a step closer after a planning application was submitted.

Campaigners have been calling for the road to be built around Isham, near Kettering in Northamptonshire, for decades.

The plans will now go through the regular planning application process and consultation before being heard at a North Northamptonshire council (NNC) planning committee.

Conservative councillor Matt Binley from the local authority said he was "delighted" by how the project was progressing.

NNC leader Jason Smithers said the bypass was one of the authority's "major priorities"

The planned route for the bypass will start from the new Symmetry Park roundabout, which is being built south of junction 9 on the A14.

It will run west of Isham and re-join the A509 Kettering Road midway between Hill Top and Great Harrowden.

The bypass has been on the cards since 2001, but disagreements about the route and problems with funding have delayed the project.

Last year, the previous government announced it would fully fund the build costs of the 2.3 mile (3.75km) road, which is expected to reach £122.8m, to alleviate congestion and also help unlock economic growth in the area.

If planning permission is granted and the outline business case is approved, a full business case would then have to be submitted to the Department for Transport.

Jason Smithers, the Conservative leader of NNC, said the project was one of the council's "major priorities" and he was "determined" to see it "through to completion."

The current timeline is for construction to start in Spring 2027 with an opening date of September 2028.