Harlestone Manor Parish Council
The parish of Harlestone Manor is situated on the outskirts of Northampton, just off the A428 between New Duston and the village of Harlestone.
The parish encompasses around 300 newly built homes on two sites, Harlestone Manor and Loxton Fields, together with a small number of private dwellings in the vicinity of the two estates. The parish borders the Althorp Estate, and is close to Harlestone Firs, a woodland area popular with families, walkers, dog-walkers, joggers and cyclists. Northampton Town is approximately three miles away, and residents benefit from the local Sixfields Retail Park containing a variety of shops, multi-screen cinema, bowling alley and restaurants.
The parish came into being on 1st April 2020, created following a Community Governance Review in 2019. Daventry District Council invited local parish councils to propose any changes they wished to make to their boundaries or number of councillors. Harlestone Parish Council proposed splitting its parish to create a new parish council encompassing the two new housing developments of Harlestone Manor and Loxton Fields. The proposal was agreed following a public consultation and at the request of residents, was given the name Harlestone Manor Parish.
Elections to form a new parish council were set to take place in May 2020 but had to be postponed due to the Coronavirus lockdown. Instead, eight people from the local area who had expressed an interest were appointed as parish councillors and will sit on the new council until elections can take place in May 2021.
The parish council held its first public meeting at 7pm on Thursday 18th June 2020 via video conferencing technology, as councils were unable to meet in person in line with lockdown restrictions.
The number of homes within the parish is set to increase significantly over the next few years, pending the creation of the proposed Fleetlands Farm development. Plans have been submitted by developers Bloor Homes to the local authorities (Daventry District Council and South Northamptonshire Council) to develop 88 hectares of land off Sandy Lane, bordering Duston. The development will include up to 2,000 new homes, a primary school and other facilities, with associated public open space. The housing development, comprising nearly 2,000 new homes, will straddle the borders of Harlestone Manor Parish and neighbouring Harpole Parish. Harlestone Manor Parish Council intends to participate in the associated consultation arrangements: discussions with the Developers will be commencing in Autumn 2020.
