RESPONDING TO KEY THEMES

Following the public consultation event, we have identified a number of key themes and concerns amongst residents. In this page we seek to address them and provide some clarity for residents.

KEY THEME

Visual amenity

Provide the countryside park area and green landscaping to screen views from the village of the existing and proposed development.

Traffic

We expect some vehicles to use rail services at DIRFT, which will reduce HGV numbers. We will also set up a vehicle routing strategy that would be developed to make sure that HGVs travel on the appropriate strategic road network. Following community feedback, we are now exploring ways that we might help to improve traffic issues in Kilsby.

Noise and air quality

The countryside park will include landscaped mounds. This will help attenuate noise from the new development, DIRFT, the railway and the A5. There will also be no gas or oil connections to the development, so no emissions from burning these fossils fuels, which will improve air quality.

Lighting

We will design our lighting so that it is directed to where it is needed and is suitable for any light sensitive species using the surrounding countryside. The landscaped mound will also help to mitigate lighting effect on the village. No lighting units will be visible from the village.

Reversing beepers

The positioning of yard areas and buildings will help mitigate the use and any impact of reversing alarms. We will also design in suitable areas for reversing with visible and physical buffers to assist safe reversing without using beepers.

Charity emergency food storage

There is an urgent need for local charities to have access to chilled and frozen food storage in Northamptonshire to provide emergency food supplies to those facing poverty and homelessness. We will develop, donate and then run a food storage facility, so charities can accept, safely store and distribute more donations.

TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT

At our public consultation event, traffic was the key issue residents wanted to see addressed.

We’d like to assure you that detailed traffic impact assessments are being undertaken in the local area. This includes a Vehicle Routing Management Plan, that would be developed to make sure that HGVs travel on the appropriate strategic road network, rather than local roads.

Access would be taken from a new roundabout off the A5. Discussions are on-going with National Highways and the Council, but current technical work suggests that:

The majority of HGVs (60%) would travel via the M1. 8% would use the A5, with a smaller number (5%) wanting to access the A361. That would be about 3 HGV’s an hour at peak times on the A361 south of Kilsby.

The vehicle routing strategy will look to minimise the proportion of HGV’s heading towards the A361 at Kilsby, and to reduce the number of cars.

The level of car and HGV parking on site would be designed to accommodate the anticipated demand, taking into account the adopted council parking standards.

We are also exploring ways of reducing travel to the site by vehicle, including:

Footway and cycleway improvements to Kilsby and Houlton.

Bus turning and parking facilities in the site to allow new shift change services and routing of the existing D1/D2 service into the site.

To minimise the environmental effects of travel, electric vehicle and bicycle parking will be provided.
We will also “future proof” for hydrogen and / or electric HGV’s.
We are also exploring the potential to include other local highways improvements to address some of the points raised at the consultation event.

LANDSCAPING

At our consultation event, a number of people were concerned about the landscape impact of the development - particularly how close the new development will be to Kilsby, and the associated light and visual effects.

The countryside park is the main way the existing and new effects will be managed.

We have prepared an initial photomontage which shows the maximum parameters for the proposed development, 30m in height, with no landscape or buffer mitigation, when viewed from Kilsby village.

Existing view from the village

The proposal is to re-profile the land between the development and Kilsby, which will screen the existing views of DIRFT and the views of the new development. Significant new tree planting will soften these views, to make them more natural, as shown below.

Addressing the existing views of DIRFT from the village

This screening and buffer area is a key part of the proposal. If will provide a new visual barrier between the village and DIRFT and will be secured through a legal agreement so it can never be built on. This should improve the existing relationship between Kilsby and DIRFT.