A brief history

Proposed development:

rear of Cottingham Hall

Middleton Village Hall

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Villagers have recently received a letter from Bill and Sandra Kiff regarding a proposed development of 90 houses on land to the rear of Cottingham Hall (formerly Bury House). The bullet points below aim to answer some of the questions that villagers have raised: 

• · Approximately three quarters of the proposed site lies within Cottingham and one quarter in Middleton, stretching back from the gardens of Cottingham Hall to the Jurassic Way footpath that links the two villages. Access for both residential and construction traffic will be via Bury Close. One house (No.8) will be demolished to make way for the access road.

•     The site falls outside the current ‘village envelope’, which is the boundary within which the local planning authority (in our case Corby Borough Council) proposes that development be contained.

• · Within the proposed development, 20 per cent of the homes would be affordable housing. It is intended that these would be owned by a Housing Association and built specifically for people living or working in the villages, or with a strong family connection. The houses would be provided for shared ownership only and individuals would never be able to purchase the entire freehold.

• · A ‘section 106’ agreement would be submitted with the planning application to provide £470,000 towards a new village hall for Cottingham, new facilities in Middleton and traffic calming measures. In addition, the Kiffs have made personal pledges of £20,000 to St Mary Magdalene Church and £10,000 for the Methodist Church, all to be paid by them on commencement of building work.

• · The land contains a memorial ‘Millennium Avenue’ of lime trees, planted on behalf of villagers to replace an ancient row of elms that fell prey to Dutch elm disease in the late 1970s. The Kiffs have said that these trees will be relocated to a site that would be accessible to all, at the Kiffs’ expense.

• · It is expected that an outline planning application will be submitted in late Autumn, following which the Borough Council will allow three weeks for views to be lodged before consideration by its planning committee.

• · Corby Borough Council’s 2003 local plan review (referred to in the letter) estimated that 10,500 of a total 16,000 new homes would need to be built in urban extensions and within the rural villages over the next 20 years, with the majority in the form of urban extensions. However, according to the Council’s planning office, the only official figures currently in planning policy are 16,800 new homes within Corby Borough over the next 20 years (Milton Keynes South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy).

Bill and Sandra have said that they would welcome any comments - both positive and negative - from residents about the proposals, which can be put in writing to them at Cottingham Hall, Cottingham, Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 8XN.