Plan for 39 homes in town approved after appeal

The plan would see flats and apartments built on the edge of Rushden

A plan to build 39 homes on the edge of a town has been approved on appeal by the government's planning inspectorate.

The development in Rushden was originally refused by North Northamptonshire Council after numerous public objections.

The plot of land sits between John Clark Way and the railway line on the northeastern edge of the town.

The proposal will still require further planning permission from the council before construction can begin.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the homes would be spread across two blocks of flats and made up of one and two-bed homes - 17 flats in block one and 22 in the other.

Planning permission was refused by NNC in November 2022 as it wrote there was inadequate justification for the housing type and mix.

It also said there was not enough provision for on-site open space and a lack of affordable housing provision.

A total of 30 comments from members of the public in opposition to the plans were also submitted to the original plans.

These included complaints about the demand for flats in the area, worries about the risk of flooding and highway concerns with increased traffic.

But the planning inspectorate ruled that the appeal should be allowed, citing physical constraints stopped developers from delivering smaller one or two-story bedroom houses and maisonettes on the site instead of flats.