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Corby
Profile
Corby was designated as a New Town on 1 April 1950. A former steel town situated in north Northamptonshire, it has a population of 53,000 and a workforce of 29,000. Corby borough covers an area of 1,791 ha (4,423 acres).
It is home to the £50m oval circuit at Rockingham speedway, and its surrounding area includes Rockingham Forest and Castle.
Travel and transport
Corby is well connected, approximately 20 miles from the M1 and close to the A14 east-west cross route.
Employment
Local industries include food and drink, print and packaging, motor sport and engineering, and logistics and distribution. Corby is the UK base for over 60 foreign-owned companies. With an employment base of some 1,500 companies, key employers include Avon Cosmetics, Corus, RS Components, Golden Wonder, Oxford University Press and Solway Foods.
Current projects
North Northants Development Company (NNDC), an Urban Regeneration Company, became operational in May 2006 and is a result of the merger between Catalyst Corby and North Northants Together.
NNDC is tasked with developing and delivering a long-term strategy to regenerate and expand the town, which also falls within the Milton Keynes / South Midlands growth area, one of four key growth areas identified in the South-East in the government’s Sustainable Communities Plan.
Through collaborative working, English Partnerships is involved with bringing forward The Regeneration Framework, a shared vision of how to transform and expand Corby by doubling its size from the present population of 51,000 in order to secure its prosperity for the future. The Framework aims to provide a greater variety of housing types, including keyworker and affordable housing, and redevelop the town centre to broaden its retail and leisure opportunities.
To enable this, one of the Framework's key objectives is to improve transport links to the town and a priority for ensuring this was to secure the re-opening of the Corby rail service. This will improve investor confidence, as well as accessibility, and will exploit the town's excellent location in an attractive rural area within easy reach of London.
In June 2007 the Department for Transport announced that Corby was to be included in the East Midlands rail franchise which provided a real boast to the town. A planning application is currently being review and it is anticipated that the new station will open in December 2008.
Further progress to date includes approval for the Southern Corby Link Road, a £12m improvement to the road infrastructure, which will improve access to the town and open up development opportunities. In addition, almost £1m of government funding has been secured through the Urban Bus Challenge to upgrade transport services throughout Corby.
© English Partnerships 2003-2008