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On this page you can view the latest news from West Northamptonshire Council. Visit their website at: https://www.westnorthants.gov.uk/

WNC Town & Parish Briefing – Monthly Comprehensive Newsletter

WNC News Releases – highlighted by East Farndon Parish Council

1st March 2023 – Subscriptions now open for West Northants garden waste service

Residents across West Northamptonshire can now sign up for optional, chargeable garden waste collections from April 2023. The annual subscription charge for the fortnightly service from April 2023 to the end of March 2024 is £55 per bin and can be made online at www.westnorthants.gov.uk/gardenwaste

20th Feb 2023 – Participate in No Mow May

The Sustainability team at West Northamptonshire Council is inviting all to participate in No Mow May this year. This is an initiative where we encourage you to leave your lawnmower and let your lawn grow out without maintenance. This encourages smaller plants to grow and flower which increases biodiversity. For more information – Frequently Asked Questions – No Mow May (plantlife.org.uk) We are asking parish councils to participate in this by spreading the word to its residents and also leaving parish owned land unmown throughout May or for even longer. For resources – Resources – No Mow May (plantlife.org.uk) WNC has already spoken to their contractors who will be implementing this across a number of parks in West Northants such as Abington Park and Daventry Country Park.

15th Feb 2023 – WNC Election Staffing Employment Opportunities

Have you ever considered working in a Poll Station or at a Count Venue during an election and supporting the democratic process? 

The Returning Officer for West Northamptonshire employs casual staff at different times of the year to assist with the running of elections. Staff can sometimes be required at short notice, for example when a General Election is called. 

You can apply for an election job at any time of the year. Even if there are no elections scheduled, we continuously recruit to the staffing database in preparation for the next electoral event. Once you have joined the staffing database, you will be the first to hear of available jobs and be invited to confirm your availability to work. Many roles require no previous electoral experience. Where appropriate, full training is provided. 

All applicants must be aged at least 18 and have the right to work in the UK. Political working restrictions apply. To register your interest and for more detailed information on these jobs, please visit: www.westnorthants.gov.uk/electoral-services/employment-opportunities-elections.

15th Dec 2022 – WNC Winter Wellbeing

West Northants Council Launches Winter Wellbeing Webpage

18th Nov 2022 – WNC Cost of Living Support

Financial and practical Cost-of-Living help for households across West Northamptonshire is available now

WNC has worked with partners across the authority to offer a package of financial and practical support to help residents with rising costs of food, fuel and essential daily items over the winter months. WNC have announced:

• Financial help for low wage workers, households with children, and those most needing help towards rent, council tax, household bills including gas and electricity, childcare costs and important daily essentials. Funded by the third tranche of the Household Support Fund. 
• West Northamptonshire Council Online Cost of Living Support Hub    
• Cost-of-Living Support Line 0300 126 7000  
• Network and directory of 67 Warm Spaces across the whole county  
• Directory of food larders run by Northampton’s Hope Centre 

East Farndon Parish Council (EFPC) are pleased to announce that in early February 2023, we completed the upgrade of 13 of our streetlights. The result is that all 16 of our streetlights are now running on modern, warm white LED lamps.

For a few years now, EFPC has been building a financial reserve to replace all of our old and obsolete streetlights. The change to LED improves our energy efficiency and supports our quest to make change that helps to combat the climate emergency. The changes also give the parish significant energy cost savings that in part will help our residents with the current cost of living crisis.

At the same time as the change to LED streetlights, EFPC has launched a trial of a partial dark skies initiative. This involves all streetlights being operated with part night sensors that will switch our lights off between the hours of midnight and 5.30am. This change allows all residents to enjoy the benefits of a dark sky as well as generate further energy usage savings.

EFPC has considered the potential impacts of the adoption of a dark skies approach and has taken advice from a number of sources in terms of the reasoning for or against such a change. On balance, EFPC is of the opinion that the adoption of part night streetlighting is the right way forward and that it will benefit the village, environment and its wildlife greatly.

EFPC are very keen to receive comments on these changes from all residents. Please email your comments to Caroline Burton and / or Mervyn Curtis.

The progress of the trial, including the analysis of comments from residents, will be reviewed at the Parish Council meeting on Wednesday 17th May 2023.

EFPC are pleased to share the advice we have received in relation to part night streetlighting and its impact on road safety, crime and the environment. We encourage all residents to read and consider the information below and comment as appropriate. 

NCALC – Legal and Process Advisers to Northamptonshire Parish Councils

NCALC have confirmed that the Parish Council is the Lighting Authority and thus the Parish Council is free to make its own decisions in relation to how streetlighting is delivered. They also confirmed that there is no legal duty to perform a formal safety audit prior to any changes being made. EFPC have of course considered the streetlighting changes very carefully, this including undertaking research, performing a simplified local risk assessment and taking advice from our local suppliers, Police and road safety contacts.

Northamptonshire Police Safer Roads Team

“Following our conversation, I can confirm that we are not aware of any safety implications with your plan to turn off the street lights. There are many villages throughout the county who do not have street lights and their roads are restricted by speed limit repeater signs. The only thing that would need to remain lit is if you had any physical traffic calming such as a priority working or chicane. I found an old study on the switching off of lights and the effect on safety Switching off street lights does not affect safety (roadsafetygb.org.uk)“

The study mentioned above concluded that “Switching off street lights at night has had no adverse effect on road casualties, public health or crime levels” You can read the full report published in the British Medical Journal by clicking the link below.

BMJ Streetlight Study

Views of Local Police Contacts

“There is always a small risk of residents being a victim of crime, when an area is completely dark, especially a small rural location like East Farndon My advice would be to try and retain some of the street lighting at night. I take it, the reason for turning lights off is a financial reason? If need be, we would be more than happy to hold a residents crime prevention evening in the village.”

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) – Dark Skies

The CPRE has published a survey of local authority approaches to lighting in England. This report can be read using the links below. It details the relationship between streetlights and light pollution and references the impacts on road safety and crime.

CPRE Shedding Light – Summary

CRPRE Shedding Light – Full Report

You can use this link to access the CPRE website directly.

The Natural History Museum – Dark Skies Impact on Wildlife

The Natural History Museum has published an article entitled ‘Bye-bye dark sky: is light pollution costing us more than just the night-time?’ Please click the link below to read.

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/light-pollution.html

East Farndon Streetlight Locations

1. Harborough Road / Lubenham Lane Corner – Steel Column
2. Lealand Corner – Sleeved Concrete Column
3. Lealand outside No. 8 – Steel Column
4. Top of Lealand – Steel Column
5. Harborough Road – Steel Column
6. Main Street by Spring – Steel Column
7. Main Street on Beauchamp House – Wall Bracket
8. Main Street by Village Hall – Steel Column
9. Main Street on Hillside Farm – Wall Bracket
10. Back Lane by Home Farm Close – Steel Column
11. Back Lane on Hillview – Wall Bracket
12. Back Lane by Farndon Hall – Steel Column
13. Main Street on Horseshoe Cottage – Wall Bracket
14. Main Street on Greywalls – Wall Bracket
15. Main Street by Farrer Cottages – Steel Column
16. Main Street by Church Cottage – Sleeved Concrete Column

East Farndon Parish Council have decided to fund the purchase of a number of tree saplings that will be given to East Farndon residents, free of charge, to plant in their gardens.

The Parish Council wants to support the planting of trees to mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and to encourage tree planting generally to enhance our environment and help with the climate emergency.

If you are interested in receiving and planting a tree, please email Caroline Burton or Mervyn Curtis. Trees will be allocated to residents on a first come, first served basis.

Many thanks to all members of the Village Hall organising committee for such an excellent evening and special thanks to Jess and Tom for designing and running such an entertaining, innovative and fun quiz.

It was really nice to see the Village Hall packed to the rafters, please see a few photos below.

The Nagarjuna Kadampa Meditation Centre, based at the Centre for Modern Buddhism at Thornby Hall, are holding weekly drop in meditation classes at East Farndon Village Hall. The first class took place on Monday 13th March 2023, from 7.30 to 8.30pm. You can find more information by clicking this link: https://meditateinnorthants.com/product/meditation-classes-in-market-harborough/

The weekly drop-in classes are planned to held on a regular basis if demand continues, the upcoming dates being March 20, 27, April 3.

Day: Mondays
Time: 7:30 – 8:30pm
Cost: £7 per class / block booking discount
Venue: East Farndon Village Hall, Main Street, East Farndon, Market Harborough LE16 9SH

Each class consists of relaxing guided meditations and a teaching on how to improve our well-being by developing positive states of mind and inner peace in our daily life. We sit on chairs and no physical exercise is involved.

Don’t worry if you’ve missed the beginning of a course: each class is self-contained, and you can join at any time for a cost of £7 per class (pay on the door, cash only)

Our resident historians are busy creating more interesting content for our ever growing history section on the East Farndon village website. Alan Langley has just published two new articles, one setting out the history of the Old Bakehouse on Main Street, part of our Heritage Assets series, the other an article about crime in 19th century East Farndon, which may raise a smile.

Please enjoy reading these articles by clicking the lnks below,

or use the menu to navigate to our comprehensive Village History Section.

Free Mature Drivers Roadshow – 2^nd May 2023

Are you a mature driver (aged 60+)?  Live in Northamptonshire?  Rely on being able to drive?  This FREE roadshow is for you!

Driving is an important part of our everyday life and we (Northamptonshire Safer Roads Alliance (NSRA)) are keen to help to keep mature drivers driving safer for longer. 

Our driving ability to drive changes over time for different reasons, especially as we get older. It’s important that we recognise whether and how our driving is changing so we can stay safe and protect both ourselves and those around us.

This Mature Drivers Roadshow is aimed at drivers 60+, and will cover all different aspects of driving. There will be a short talk and then plenty of time to meet informally with our many stand holders. Free advice will be available on car adaptions, eyesight, how your prescription medications may affect you, and much more.

There will be FREE IAM RoadSmart Mature Driver Assessments available to be booked.

Our aim is to keep mature drivers driving safer, for longer.

Book your Free tickets via Eventbrite: https://mature-drivers-2023.eventbrite.co.uk

The event is being held at Police Headquarters, Wootton Hall, Northampton NN4 0JQ (https://what3words.com/bill.necks.boxer) with two sessions, 9.30am and 1.00pm.

Beware of Distraction Burglary in our area

Northamptonshire Police have had a few reports recently of distraction burglaries whereby the offenders are pretending to be from the local water provider. Please share the information below, particularly with elderly relatives. And if you’re not sure, don’t open the door.