The STAUNCH working party came together in response to the threat of massive and catastrophic industrial development on the outskirts of the village of Titchmarsh. All active members of the community, each brings a range of skills and experience to this co-ordinated effort to stop the development.
Kevin Shapland has been a resident of Titchmarsh since 2002. During that time, he has served as Vice Chair of Governors at Titchmarsh School, Chair of the Village Fete Committee and has been a member of the Playing Fields Committee. Kevin served for 11 years as a Non-Executive Director of Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce including three years as President.
My name is Sharon Cole. I have lived in Titchmarsh for 15 years. Since retiring from teaching in 2018, I have thrown myself into village life. I lead Titchmarsh Environmental Group, am a volunteer at Titchmarsh Village Shop and am now part of STAUNCH working to protect this unique, friendly and beautiful village from industrial development.
Iain moved to Titchmarsh in 2021. He spent 25 years working in investment management prior to a move to the Dordogne, where he lived and worked in a small community for seven years. He is enjoying life in this friendly village and is keen to help preserve the current rural environment.
Julia Fletcher has lived in the village of Titchmarsh for 8 years. Has a love of the natural environment and also a degree in Environmental Science. She is part of Communications Team for STAUNCH.
Stephen has lived in Titchmarsh with his wife Jackie for over 20 years. Stephen is a churchwarden and parochial church council member at St Mary’s Titchmarsh, an enthusiastic member of the village walking group, longstanding (early Sunday) volunteer at the village shop, and a regular visitor the Wheatsheaf. A civil engineer by profession, Stephen has worked all over the UK.
We moved to Titchmarsh in 2015 after completing our house build in Polopit. Before co managing the Village Shop I was a Marketing Manager for several blue chip companies but left the corporate world to enjoy a quieter country life.
Genny relocated to Titchmarsh from Hertfordshire in 2018. In her former life, she worked in HR in the London office of a global advertising agency. When not supporting a various combination of her four children doing various combinations of sport from various freezing sidelines, she has been active in volunteering and fundraising.
Alex Grant has lived in Titchmarsh since 2015. Alex is a professional writer and researcher, and he lives on Chapel Street with his partner Liz, who teaches at Prince William School in Oundle, and their daughter Alice. They lived previously in south-east London, and Alex was a Labour councillor in the Royal Borough of Greenwich for 16 years from 1998 to 2014, serving as chair of its planning board in 2006-2010.
We moved to friendly Titchmarsh in 2016 and immediately felt at home here due to the surrounding countryside, people and wildlife. I grew up where my back garden was the African bush. This gave me my love of open spaces and animals. My background is science teaching and professional photography.
I volunteered to join the committee to help educate the wider community how fragile and important our rural areas are as they underpin the stability of the ecosystem. This includes us as we are at the pinnacle of these systems.
Adrian’s family originate from Titchmarsh and he has lived here for seven years. Working in a global position in the IT industry, alongside voluntary roles as the Titchmarsh Playing Fields Association Treasurer and the Titchmarsh Flood Warden. An interest in the outdoors and the local impacts of environmental change along with a passion to protect the landscape that his family has known motivated him to join STAUNCH to focus on flooding aspects.
Antar has lived in Titchmarsh for 12 years. During that time he has served as a Parish Councillor and as a member of the PFA. Despite standing down as a Councillor in 2021 he continues to run the village website and village Facebook group and remains actively involved in many village activities.
The proposed plans are so huge they threaten the way of life for everyone in the Upper Nene Valley. The developers aim to carve up hundreds of acres of green farm land and replace it with warehouses for as far as the eye can see. This is no idle overstatement. Some of the proposed structures will be 80 feet high – so will be seen on the horizon for miles around.
More than this, however, is the potential to flood our local roads with huge new numbers of HGVs. The A605 is already congested and the addition of several purpose-built logistics sites is only going to make matters worse.
Northamptonshire must not be allowed to become a county of warehouses. Communities must join together to stop this incessant over-development.
