Ash Davies has lived on Hanwood Park’s Orbit Development since April 2023

I was born and raised here, I work locally and I wanted to live here too. It took some time to find somewhere affordable and the shared ownership option with Orbit Homes allowed me to get on the property ladder.

I work in communications, work from home and also have to travel a lot. Being right next to A14 and so close to Kettering train station is a huge help. I also love the accessibility to the countryside and I’m looking forward to the new David Lloyd gym opening on Hanwood Park and to getting more shops. Like any development, when you move in early you have to wait a while but the amenities will come.

Hanwood Park is a forward thinking, conveniently located development, packed with green spaces and the promise of more amenities and an even stronger sense of community to come.

Mum of two Bernadette Leather lives in Bertone Manor and was one of Hanwood Park’s very first residents

When we moved here in 2018 everyone around us was also new to their homes and to the development. There was something so special about us all being in the same position. We all shared a sense of positivity, of hope and the community simply grew from there.

It’s been brilliant for the kids. Our neighbours have two boys and had rarely let their kids play out before moving here, but like us they knew Hanwood Park was special. Now, our children all play together outside. We never thought in this day and age we would live somewhere our kids could play out. Hanwood Park is a thriving, safe place for our kids to play outside and to call home.

Fiona Banks is Chair of the Hanwood Park Residents Association

Before moving here we lived in Surrey. We wanted to be closer to our family, so we did lots of research and discovered Hanwood Park. I read just about every document in existence and quickly realised just how brilliant Hanwood Park was going to be. We moved into a house on the David Wilson estate and it’s everything we could have ever hoped for. We have brilliant green areas and a lovely linear park along East Wood Avenue – as well as a smaller play area for the little ones. The wonderful thing about the way Hanwood Park has been planned and developed is that there is something for the very young, slightly bigger and even bigger ones. The Residents Association is here to ensure the voice of the residents are heard – be it to Hanwood Park, to each other, to the council and others. 

Stuart Bradshaw, lives in a Bellway development home with his partner

We wanted a detached home and something fresh, a home that no one else had lived in and that would be all ours. We found exactly what we were looking for. This is our first house together and we love it. We looked at lots of developments but Hanwood Park’s green spaces really stood out. So many other developments are small and compact, but here there is a real sense of space. You feel like you can really breathe here.

We are looking forward to more development which will push things forward in terms of shops and facilities.

Wilby Meadows lives with his wife Karen in Bellway at Hanwood Park

I sit on the Hanwood Park ecology working group. I wanted to replace what was lost during the development process, which inevitably scares animals and birds away. I knew our neighbouring hedgerow – an old field boundary line – could attract birds back to the estate, so I set out feeders, plenty of water and recently recorded the numbers of visiting birds. We took part in BBC Garden Watch and in one hour recorded 51 visiting birds – including gold finches, dunnocks, pheasant, robins, jackdaws, magpies and a family of blue tits who have taken residence in the bird boxes Bellway Homes gave us as a housewarming gift.

Hanwood Park is s a positive, proactive development, sensitively built in partnership with the natural environment.

Ramesh Buttoo lives on the Taylor Wimpey estate on Hanwood Park with his wife and mum

We were moving from Yorkshire so we did a lot of research and love this area and the county of Northamptonshire. We loved our house straight away. It is perfectly sized and has a fantastic kitchen which is important to us.

Wicksteed Park is within walking distance, we are so lucky to have it. We take a picnic and just love spending time there. There are other fabulous green spaces nearby too. We have a rural outlook but with the benefits of a town’s amenities.

We are so proud of Hanwod Park and determined we all continue to work together to keep it looking as good as it does now.