I was pleased to host a well-attended meeting in my office recently between community representatives, including members of Great Addington Parish Council, and North Northamptonshire Council officers, to discuss what are very valid local concerns across many of our rural East Northamptonshire communities regarding the Kettering Energy Park proposals, including around genuine sustainability and the extent of community engagement, as well as the need for any proposal to be in keeping with the adopted local plan. In essence, local people are understandably supportive of the principle of an 'energy park' and renewable generation as a concept, but are alarmed about suggestions of intrusive B8 warehouses being incorporated into the scheme and all the knock-on impacts of them on various fronts.
I have subsequently raised those concerns directly with the developer in a further meeting and am currently working to involve local campaigners in further follow-up discussions to ensure that their views are heard directly by those who make the planning decisions on North Northamptonshire Council. Ultimately, they have a very valid point and my strong backing in making it. You can watch a video I made on this, here: http://tinyurl.com/4u5uy2zc.