The North Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit (JPU) was formally established in October 2004 by Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and East Northamptonshire Councils, together with Northamptonshire County Council. The JPU comprises of planning officers seconded from the above authorities, as well as a full-time planning manager and is co-ordinating the preparation of a Local Development Framework for North Northamptonshire.
A Joint Planning Committee was established in July 2005 as the formal decision making body for the JPU. The Joint Planning Committee is the first such committee established under new planning legislation and is made up of 3 elected members from each planning authority. It will be responsible for agreeing the Joint Core Spatial Strategy and joint other planning policy work, but has no development control powers, which remain with the individual district/borough councils.
As part of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy, North Northamptonshire is expected to deliver 52,100 new homes and 43,800 new jobs over the period 2001-2021. It should also take account of the prospect of a further 28,000 homes needing to be provided in the following decade. This growth is to be focused on the 'Growth Towns' of Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough and will require a development framework to implement it.
The Joint Core Spatial Strategy will provide the overall development framework for North Northamptonshire, setting out where development should go and what standards it should aim to achieve. It will co-ordinate growth, considering the roles and relationships between settlements, as well as the strategy for infrastructure provision.
Based on the framework provided by this overall plan, the individual Councils will prepare other more detailed plans for parts of their areas, known as Local Development Documents (LDDs). These will include site-specific proposals, policies to control the form of development and area action plans for town centres, urban extensions and other areas of change.
