Corby residents were recently asked by website www.knowhere.co.uk to name their favourite building, ahead of the town’s remodelling. One anonymous respondent nominated the bus station. “I know it’s a hell hole, but I don’t drive, so the bus station and death are my only ways out of Corby.”
It is a flippant remark, but one that many will nod sagely at. While the A14 provides a fast link to both the M1 and the A1, and National Express runs a daily service between Corby and the capital, visitors travelling by train are forced to alight at Kettering, around seven miles away, despite a railway line running through the town.
Urban regeneration company Catalyst Corby is aware of the problem, and has put a state-of-the-art train station at the centre of its regeneration plans. But actually securing the agreement and, more importantly, the resources from rail planners has not been so easy.
It is the one fly in the ointment in what is otherwise regarded as a model example of regeneration. Catalyst Corby launched its regeneration framework in January last year – a 30-year plan outlining nearly £4bn worth of investment. Residential development is storming ahead, with two major announcements in the past month bringing more than 8,000 homes to the area. Tops Estates recently secured an anchor tenant recently for its Corby Town Centre shopping centre, and Quadrant Estates has gained planning permission for its 21,000 sq ft of retail space in Oakley Vale, south of Corby.
Warehouse development
In addition, Rosemound Developments has started on site with its 500,000 sq ft speculative warehouse development at Max Park (see p79), and Priority Sites, the joint venture between English Partnerships and the Royal Bank of Scotland, has agreed to speculatively build 17,500 sq ft of offices to kick-start the market (see box below).
But if the town fails to get a train station, can it really fulfil its wish to become the sort of place people want to live, work, visit and do business?
Property pundits have reacted with a mixture of frustration and bemusement. Many think Corby will be a success regardless and the station is the icing on the cake. But they remain confused as to why there is no train station, despite the tracks being in place. The frustration has boiled over in the retail sector.
“I’ve been to 10 Downing Street to try to ask for the station, and I’ve been promised it, but I’m still waiting, and I’m disappointed,” says Everard Goodman, chairman of Tops Estates, owner of Corby Town Centre shopping centre. “I’d be happy with a service to London in the morning and one back in the evening, but it is not a top priority for the government.”
Currently, 80% of Corby shoppers go elsewhere – a percentage that Goodman would like to cut in half. But improvements in the retail offering can only go so far. Goodman points to the 40,000 sq ft deal with Wilkinsons, the furniture shop that has opened in the shopping centre, and the announcement late last month that Halifax would take a double shop unit on Corporation Street to house its head office. “This tells me housing is moving up the agenda,” says Goodman. “Then comes shopping – not the other way round. We are talking about unaffordable housing, which means commuters. So now you understand why I am screaming and shouting about this station.”
Bob Lane, chief executive officer at Catalyst Corby, admits that progress on the station has hit a “slight hiccup”. The problem is not bureaucracy or cash, explains Lane, who was recently awarded an OBE for his regeneration work. “If it was a money issue, we would have cracked it. It’s a railway management issue,” he says. Lane explains that, just because there are railway tracks, “you cannot just stick trains into the system. It’s like an airport. There are slots on the line”.
Pointing to the west coast mainline or the Crossrail project, Lane says: “You cannot say Corby is more important. The railways are catching up on a huge amount of activity, and once that has been dealt with, then Corby will be a very important project.”
Feasibility study
Over the past 12 months, the URC has managed to convince the Strategic Rail Authority to undertake a feasibility study to overturn the historic perception that there is not a business case for a station in Corby. The study came back positive, stating that, taking into account the URC’s work, there would be a business case for a station in 2010. “We do not think that is soon enough,” says Lane, adding, “but at least we have an independent study.”
Things have been complicated for Catalyst Corby by the government’s decision to scrap the SRA. “There are rumours that it was backing the wrong horse by going for the SRA,” said one developer. Lane acknowledges that the uncertainty has been a setback, but says the study will still stand, whoever is in charge after the reshuffle. As a result, Catalyst Corby will safeguard the station site, and English Partnerships has acquired land for the station, which Lane says will be ring-fenced.
“There will be some sort of service at some point, regardless of who is in charge,” he states, confidently.
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Office development in Corby is gathering speed. Priority Sites has a planning application in for phase I of its business park. Two buildings – a smaller unit of 6,000 sq ft and a larger building of 11,500 sq ft – will initially be speculatively built. This, says Mark Bielby, senior development manager at Priority Sites, will be an important ingredient in establishing an office core. “It will take Corby beyond the manufacturing level and improve the level of jobs,” he says. The units should be ready for occupation by June next year, and Bielby hopes to attract rents of £13 per sq ft, setting a new level for Corby. Bielby says: “If we can’t achieve rents at this level, then further speculative development is not going to take place.” Most of Corby’s existing office stock is old and outdated. But a recent deal with LandSec Trillium for a 20,000 sq ft building for the Department of Work & Pensions seems to support Bielby’s theory. The department recently signed a 14-year lease at £11.50 per sq ft for a prelet near the station. Average rents in the town start at around £7 per sq ft, says Tony Drake at Bidwells Drake, who undertook the search for LandSec Trillium. “What drove this deal was a government covenant, which drove down the yield,” he says. He believes Corby should be ready to achieve around £12 per sq ft for new space, he adds. Bob Rae at North Rae Sanders agrees. “Existing offices are at £8 per sq ft, and at that level you would struggle to make speculative schemes work,” he says, adding that “the office market needs to see £12 per sq ft. It will take time and at the moment the market is wary. Corby is still trying to break the shackles of an old steel town.” The LandSec Trillium building will bring 200 jobs to Corby, says Lynne Smith at local developer Hampton Brooke. And A route to the station formed part of the planning application. “It was important we providedan extra footpath link to the station, so that in future people will be able to walk straight through,” she says. But Smith cautions that, although thestation is desirable, awaiting a decision on its future is not going to stop Corby expanding. |
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Despite worries about the train station, confidence in Corby is high. One example is Quadrant Estates’ 16-unit retail centre at Oakley Vale. Chris Daniel, director of Quadrant Estates, says the scheme will probably be the first that the company holds on to, in its seven-year history. Half of the units have now been let, including the anchor store, to what Daniel describes as “traditional local, centre and high street occupiers”. Contracts are also about to be exchanged on the 7,350 sq ft pub, which Daniel hopes will be a “community magnet”. Building will start in August with completion due in March next year, coinciding with the completion of phase 4 of Cofton’s surrounding residential units. Although tenant names are yet to be released, he says the centre will be aimed at people looking for a pint of milk or loaf of bread, and have takeaways and off-licences as well as crèches and nurseries. In addition to private developments under way, urban regeneration company Catalyst Corby has outlined plans to put the heart back into Corby town centre, providing a civic square, cultural facilities, swimming pool and campus for its higher and further education institutes. Four high-profile architects have been shortlisted for the Parkland Gateway project, and Foster & Partners has been appointed to design the Academy – a secondary school with private-sector sponsorship focusing on vocational training rather than academic achievement. But while big-name architects win headlines, property pundits remain unconvinced. “After all, it’s not Paris,” quipped one. Lane defends the choice saying: “The architectural quality will be the key.” Pointing to the tired 1950s and 60s architecture the URC inherited, Lane says: “It is important we send out the message that the town is changing.” Bob Lane, chief executive officer of Catalyst Corby, hopes this will help the town’s population grow from 52,000 today to more than 100,000 over the 30 years. Newcomers will be housed in five urban extension zones, with a target of providing 28,000 homes. Bee Bee Developments submitted plans for 5,000 homes on a 95-acre site earlier this month. And Cofton recently released an additional 40 acres of residential development land at Oakley Vale. A couple of other sites are under scrutiny, and Taylor Woodrow is working up a planning application for a Corus-owned site, says Lane. |
