‘Hideous’ English town once home to the ‘mouth of HELL’ is being transformed into thriving & vibrant £50m shopping hub
MASTERPLANS are underway to revitalise a town centre with developments to occur over the next 15 years.
Northampton Town Centre is set to receive a transformation as the council has outlined hopes to improve its sporting and cultural heritage.
Opportunities for the building of schools and health facilities have been identified by the West Northamptonshire Council, after it secured £50 million in investment since 2019 – with more to come.
Improved accessibility, sustainable transport, public spaces and employment opportunities are also on the horizon.
Conservative cabinet member for local economy, culture and leisure, Dan Lister, said: “Northampton is undergoing a period of transformational change, and this masterplan will set out the next phase of regeneration projects.”
Public consultation is beginning early summer for this 400 hectare project.
The council are inviting residents, businesses and stakeholders to share their ideas after appointing a team of experts.
It comes after Northampton was named the 50th worst place to live in England in 2023 by an ilivehere.co.uk poll that received more than 100,000 respondents.
Locals linked their disdain for the town to redevelopments that have occurred over the past few decades.
It was even described as “hideous” by one, who said the once more attractive “ancient streets around St Peter’s Church are long gone, replaced by ugly ring roads”.
Northampton even had a building known as the ‘Mouth of Hell’, described by Lonely Planet as “infamously ugly”.
It was a bus station, considered one of Britain’s ugliest buildings, destroyed by a controlled demolition 10 years ago.
The structure had been costing taxpayers £500,000 in repairs every year since opening in 1976, and would take almost £30 million to renovate.
The demolition of the ‘Mouth of Hell’ was part of Northampton’s regeneration programme.
A new bus station opened in its place, but also received a bad rep when police were called in to direct traffic after queues of buses formed soon after opening.
Northampton has received has still received some praise on Tripadvisor, with one reviewer who wrote: “The bar and restaurant scene has really improved in recent years.”
Another said: “Ashby is a beautiful village, and so too is Sywell.”