Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service took part in a training exercise today (December 16) to test their response to a high-rise flat fire.

Three crews, from Moulton, Mereway and The Mounts, simulated a rescue of two casualties from a third floor flat in The Pinnacle building, on Woolmonger Street in Northampton town centre. It also saw NFRS Protection officers mimic their real life response, such as checking alarms, sprinklers and fire doors.

The exercise was planned and facilitated by Watch Manager Lee Vanderhoeven in partnership with NHCA (Nottingham Community Housing Association) – the owners of The Pinnacle  – and lasted from 11am until noon and involved the use of cosmetic smoke to replicate a real-life incident.

Chris Bridgewater, Station Manager at The Mounts (pictured above), was acting as Incident Commander for the exercise. He said: “This exercise was designed to allow us to train and replicate an incident in a tall building within Northamptonshire. It culminated in a successful conclusion and reinforced the procedures we have in place to keep the residents of Northamptonshire safe.

“It has demonstrated the hard work and competence of the firefighters that are here to support our public, and I would like to thank Watch Manager Lee Vanderhoeven and the owners and residents of The Pinnacle for their support.”

Allan Fisher, Director of Development and Assets of NCHA, said: “Thanks to Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service for running such a successful exercise. We’re continuingly grateful to them for our partnership working over the past few years.

“Our customer safety is paramount, and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service has been instrumental in supporting and informing recent fire safety works at the Pinnacle. We’re happy to have been able to offer the flats as a training venue and look forward to future collaborations.”

Residents who live in a high-rise building can do the following to improve their safety:

• Fit at least one smoke alarm in your flat and test it once a week
• Keep all exits clear, both in communal corridors and in your home
• Keep your door and window keys accessible

More advice from Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service can be found in our high-rise living document here: Guidance for residents living in high rise premises (northantsfire.gov.uk)

19 December 2022

A new £14 million hub for creative businesses is gearing up to open its doors in Northampton.

Vulcan Works has been created by transforming a Grade II listed ironworks factory in the heart of Northampton’s Cultural Quarter into a space that will support start-up businesses in the creative industries through the provision of lettable office space, workshops, meeting rooms and co-working spaces.

The construction and refurbishment works have been funded by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), who facilitated a Local Growth Fund contribution of £6.3 million, together with £3.06 million from the European Regional Development Fund.

Vulcan Works has already attracted lots of interest from prospective tenants and viewings have been planned for the new year. Key stakeholders joined representatives from WNC for a first look in August once construction was completed. This was followed in September by the announcement that Oxford Innovation Space would take over as the management company for the new hub.

Since Oxford Innovation Space started managing Vulcan Works in September, work has progressed and support staff and local suppliers are currently being appointed with a view to Vulcan Works officially opening in February.

Among the newest recruits are Commercial Manager Kelly Boosey, Centre Manager Garrick Hurter and Assistant Centre Manager Gail Haddon.

Kelly said: “I am thrilled to come on board and work on such an exciting project. Already we have received a great volume of enquiries from a range of businesses within the creative and digital industries and have planned to start showing people around the space in the New Year.

“We will host our first Open Day mid-January which is already fully booked with further dates planned, so that we can showcase this extraordinary space. We can’t wait to start building the community at Vulcan Works. We are more than just space. Along with the fantastic, specialised business support we offer, we are going to create a brilliant hub for start-ups and scale-ups in Northampton. We would encourage anyone wanting to find out more to get in touch.”

It is estimated that Vulcan Works will support around 150 start-up businesses in its first 10 years, creating around 500 jobs in the area. The centre has also pledged to work with local contractors and agencies, ploughing more money back into the local economy.

“We are thrilled with how Vulcan Works has turned out. The space has been finished to an exceptionally high standard, whilst retaining a number of period features which provide a nod to our local history here in Northampton.

“The project is really gaining momentum now and is close to opening its doors. I look forward to finding out more about the creative start-up businesses who will call this unique space home and seeing what they achieve through the dedicated support on offer.”

Cllr Daniel Lister, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Town Centre Regeneration and Growth

As part of the Vulcan Works’ unique offer, Oxford Innovation Space will also provide access to a programme of workshops, seminars, 1:1 coaching and networking.

“We have been managing Innovation Centres across the country for more than 30 years and each centre is different.

“We are hugely excited by Vulcan Works and it has been an honour to be part of such an inspiring regeneration project. We can’t wait to see some talented creative businesses move in and hope they feel just as inspired by this space as we are.”

Jo Stevens, Managing Director at Oxford Innovation Space

To find out more about Vulcan Works, request a show around or be added to the invitation list for an Open Day, email [email protected].

16 December 2022

A boxing academy which gives focus to challenging young people is fighting on thanks to a helping hand from West Northamptonshire Council.

The Weedon Boxing Academy based in the village’s historic Royal Ordnance Depot has a 20-year-long track record of providing young men and women a safe place to train and learn the discipline around boxing.

At the height of the Covid lock-down they received a £1,000 grant from Covid Recovery Grant which paid for much needed equipment.

Parent Damien said his son Freddie has ADHD and was finding it tough at school. Damien said: “He had quite low self-esteem. He's always been quite small for his age, but we brought him here and he really hit it off.

"He started coming three, four times a week, it’s been two years this month and he's a different child.

"School described him as more of a leader now, whereas before, he’d sort of take a step back from things."

Cllr David Smith explained why he chose to support the Academy: "The club has gone through a bit of a challenging time, like many sports clubs and other voluntary organisations with COVID when they were closed for so long and we've been able to bring forward a grant to provide some much-needed equipment into a really well-used and fantastic community facility."

Cllr Smith also paid tribute to Aaron Hill, head coach and Academy founder. He said: “The work that Aaron's doing here is just fantastic.

"He's here four days a week and often then it's weekends away for boxing tournaments.

"So, what a fantastic role model that we've got in Aaron. And in fact, he was a nominee for the West Northamptonshire's International Men's Day ‘Role Model of the Year’, which he was a finalist in only last month."

Cllr Smith added: “This is a rural facility that serves a wide area, it gives some challenging young people a safe place to stay healthy and learn to be disciplined.

"It really is a mine of potential which digs down deep to find the very best of the people who come here."

Aaron said: “Most kids nowadays, they've all got challenging backgrounds and I think they've all got a harder task than what we had when we were younger.

"And the public's too quick to put a label on them nowadays. So, what I hope is to provide is a safe space, somewhere they can come when it gets dark at night and know that they're in a safe space to get fitter, healthier and with a bit of luck, learn some boxing."

Weedon Boxing Academy takes places in Unit 7, Royal Ordnance Depot, Weedon, NN7 4Ps every weekday evening (except Thursday) from 6:45pm till 8:30pm. All walks of life are welcome from 10 years and above and in 2023 they will start a Parent-Toddler session for parents to train with their toddlers from 5-10 years.

Each WNC ward member was allocated £2,500 of a £232,500 Councillor Covid Support Fund. Any voluntary or community group that believes they are working on a project which benefits their community’s recovery from Covid and would like to see if a grant would be available to them, should contact their local WNC Ward Member.

When an appropriate funding round opens, community and voluntary groups in West Northants can apply for a Community Funding Grant. To find out more visit the WNC Community Grants page.

Watch a video of these interviews along with some of the young boxers sparring during a training night on the Council's Youtube channel.

16 December 2022

West Northamptonshire Council has welcomed the Government’s announcement of additional funding to continue support for people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

This week the Government announced it was increasing ‘thank you’ payments to £500 per month for those hosting Ukrainians beyond 12 months and has committed to fund this until the second anniversary of their arrival.

It has also earmarked £150m in the next financial year to help tackle homelessness and is providing £500m for purchase of housing stock to accommodate Ukrainian and Afghan nationals fleeing conflict.

As a consequence, the amount provided to the council for support services is being reduced from £10,500 to £5,900 per person entering the UK from the start of 2023.

“We really welcome this development, it will doubtless help us to continue supporting our visitors from Ukraine and Afghanistan.

"Many families in West Northamptonshire have opened their homes and their hearts to people fleeing terrifying developments in their own countries, and we just can’t thank them enough.

"The Government’s pledge to increase the ‘thank you’ payments from £350 to £500 per month certainly goes some way toward helping keep the good work going.

"It is also great to see that the Government has recognised the need to help fund temporary measures to prevent homelessness, and to address the long-term needs through the purchase of much needed housing."

Cllr David Smith, WNC's Cabinet Member for community safety and engagement, and regulatory services.

The council will be working with partners at a local and regional level to ensure the additional resources are used in the most effective way to support those now living here under the Ukrainian and Afghan resettlement schemes.

Many of those from Afghanistan continue to be housed in temporary accommodation, while Homes for Ukraine placed many new arrivals with host families.

Further hosts for Ukrainian families are always welcome and anyone with space in their home or additional empty property can express an interest on our website.

16 December 2022

The clamp down on fly-tippers in Northampton continues after four more are ordered by Magistrates to pay for dumping their waste on the street.

On Thursday 30 June 2022, West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) Neighbourhood Wardens discovered a large amount of waste piled around the street bin at the corner for Bailiff Street and Lorne Road (bottom right) which was found to belong to 20-year-old Heber Luwawu of Bailiff Street.

On Tuesday 12 July WNC Wardens found bags of rubbish on Hampton Street which 20-year-old Charlotte Smith had put out two days before the refuse collection for that area (top right).

On Tuesday 26 July 2022 Wardens found rubbish bags dumped on Naseby Street two days before collection which belonged to 37-year-old Michelle Harris (top middle)

They were all given the option of paying a £150 fixed penalty fine (FPN) to resolve the matter which they ignored.

All three failed to appeared at Wellingborough Magistrates on Tuesday 6 December when summonsed and in their absence, each was fined £300, ordered to pay £1,000 costs and a £120 victim surcharge.

In a fourth case, on 15 August wardens found rubbish bags dumped on Naseby Street three days before collection.

31-year-old Daniela Muresan of Naseby Street challenged a £150 FPN but appeared in court on 6 December and pleaded guilty to putting her waste out on Naseby Street four days before the refuse collection for that area. She was fined £200 and ordered to pay £100 costs (left).

Cllr David Smith, Cabinet Member for regulatory services, community safety and engagement, said: “People placing bags out early can be a terrible nuisance especially if they are ripped open by animals “

“And I’m very glad to see we’ve caught someone dumping waste around the street litter bin like they believe it will be magically gobbled up somehow. I’m fed up with seeing it, and it is hugely disrespectful of neighbours who have to look at it and the workers who have to clean it up.”

This month WNC launched its Fly-tipping Charter setting out how the council will work to tackle environmental crime.

It outlines the Council’s commitment to working with local communities to reduce fly-tipping, backed by a robust enforcement policy to discourage and prosecute offenders.

The Charter includes a detailed plan of action including targeted patrols, the use of CCTV, and working with residents, businesses, and town and parish councils to avoid fly-tipping and gather intelligence to prosecute.

It also sets out how the Council will communicate with businesses, landlords and householders to ensure they are clear on their responsibilities towards managing their waste responsibly.

The new Fly-Tipping Charter complements the existing Litter Charter, which was launched last summer to ensure the Council takes a coordinated approach to tackling litter across West Northants.