Being on major road and rail freight routes and recent economic growth in the area has contributed to the need for lorry parking within Northamptonshire. This and associated issues have been pushed up the agenda in recent years by a number of concerned parties and this has led Northamptonshire County Council and the Highways Agency to recognise the fact that the issue of Lorry parking within the county, needs to be addressed strategically in order to allow Northamptonshire to continue to successfully grow, whilst ensuring that its extensive highway networks operates to its full potential.

To date there has been little or no quantifiable evidence as to the precise scale of need for new and increased lorry parking facilities within Northamptonshire to provide for locally generated demands (serving local businesses) and the strategic demands (HGVs passing through) and for short term and long term parking requirements.

The current issues associated with lorry parking within the county and feedback from relevant stakeholders as to the growing need for facilities, confirmed the need for a specific study to analyse the need for more facilities and to identify suitable locations.