- Details
08 April 2022
Get ready to meet a delivery robot, try out an e-scooter and swim with dolphins in Virtual Reality at Merged Futures 4, the fourth annual tech innovation showcase event organised by Digital Northants.
Merged Futures returns to the award-winning Learning Hub at the University of Northampton’s Waterside Campus on Friday 17 June 2022 and, as with all Digital Northants events, it’s free to attend.
A celebration of Northamptonshire's innovators, educators and entrepreneurs, the event brings together people from different sectors interested in digital, tech and innovation to share and spark ideas.
It’s also an opportunity for the business community to discover some of the University of Northampton's innovative teaching methods, the skills developed by students and the potential to partner and collaborate with the University in different fields.
Cllr David Brackenbury, North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive member for Growth and Regeneration, said: “I’m delighted to see this flagship digital event taking place for the fourth year in a row – showcasing the digital talent on offer locally.
“This is an excellent collaboration between the public and private sectors and an exciting way of stimulating connections to drive forward the economy and find creative solutions to a range of issues.”
Cllr David Howes, North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive member for Rural Communities and Localism, said: “The digital economy is so important for rural areas both in terms of driving prosperity and connecting communities. I’m proud that this authority can play a part in supporting such a worthwhile initiative.”
Cllr Lizzy Bowen, West Northamptonshire Council’s Cabinet Member for economic development, town centre regeneration and growth, said: “Our central location within the UK has made Northamptonshire a place to innovate and do business throughout the ages.
“We’re well connected, home to inventors and entrepreneurs and events like these bring them together to ensure Northamptonshire remains at the heart of the UK economy for decades to come.”
John Sinclair, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology, said: “The experiences of the past two years have shown the value of digital connectivity to all of our working and private lives.
"The University is proud to host the Digital Northampton Merged Futures conference again this year, bringing together industry and academia to look at new applications of digital technologies in industry, transport, business, culture and more. We look forward to wide-ranging presentations and demonstrations from University and industry colleagues across a range of disciplines."
In the exhibition space, a wide range of local organisations will demonstrate their work, from the use of Virtual Reality technology in healthcare to how the Internet of Things can boost wellbeing. There will be an advice hub for business owners to explore how they can translate the technology on display into their own organisations.
There will be plenty to inspire the next generation of digital and tech talent, including 20 sessions taking place throughout the day on topics as varied as setting up a new games design company, how to get ahead in digital marketing and the Chester House Estate's future plans to bring their Roman Town to life.
It all takes place on Friday 17 June 2022 from 10am to 3.30pm and includes a buffet lunch.
- Details
18 new firefighters have been welcomed to Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service after a successful recruitment campaign at the end of 2021.
The new recruits were formally welcomed to the organisation on their first day this week by Chief Fire Officer Darren Dovey and Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold, and were given a tour of the new Darby House headquarters in Wellingborough.
Four of the new recruits are already familiar faces to Northamptonshire, having been on-call firefighters with the Service who successfully applied to make the role full-time. Having already undergone firefighter training, they will be assigned to their stations – Mereway, Rushden, Moulton and Corby – from Monday April 18.
The remaining 14 firefighters are new to firefighting altogether and will undergo an eight-week training session in the Cotswolds at the Fire Service College in Moreton-in-Marsh. They will then return to Northamptonshire for a further two-week course before being ready to join their respective stations.
For Chief Fire Officer Darren Dovey, this will be the last set of wholetime firefighters he welcomes to the Service before retiring in October, and he believes it shows the positive place the Service is on in its journey under the governance of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.
Mr Dovey said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome these new recruits to Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service.
“They will of course play a big part in enhancing our operational responses, whether that is putting out fires, carrying out rescues or doing some preventative work in the Home Fire Safety Checks that our crews will regularly carry out.
“We had a really positive response to our recruitment campaign and that shows us that people view us as an exciting place to come and work. That is testament to the hard work everyone has put in over the last few years to improve us as an organisation, and I’m really confident that the upward trajectory is going to continue thanks to the new talent that we are attracting to join us.”
Stephen Mold, the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, added: “It was fantastic to come and meet our new firefighters at Darby House and have a chat with them about the exciting journey we are on.
“I’m proud that since taking on the governance of Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, I have been able to support recruitment and investment in ensuring firefighters have the right kit to carry out the job of keeping the public safe. That investment is thanks to additional government funding and also the support of local people through their council tax.
“This investment is both modernising the service so that firefighters can do more to help prevent fires and in wider community safety, and it’s also ensuring that Northamptonshire is a safer place to live.”
Among those joining the Service is 19-year-old Harry Warren, who has been on-call at Rushden since July and is now joining as wholetime.
He said: “I’ve always wanted to be a firefighter and since I joined on-call it’s been amazing. The crew have been great, and we get on really well and have become close friends. It’s good fun going out in that truck with them.”
Meanwhile Kieran Davies, aged 23, is entering firefighting for the first time having been a physio assistant in the mental health sector in his hometown of Northampton.
Kieran said: “I know I wanted to help people and it’s great to be given the opportunity to do that and to stay active as well. I saw a lot of the posts on social media where firefighters had said that if they could do it then I could do it, and that really stuck with me.”
- Details
08 April 2022
Parking restrictions and enforcement are being introduced at the new on-street electric vehicle charging bays in Northampton, to ensure they are available for people to use them.
In January 2022, on-street electric vehicle charging points were installed at seven locations across Northampton as part of West Northamptonshire Council’s partnership with the Virgin Park and Charge (VPACH2) project.
Each location has four parking bays. To minimise the impact on parking availability in the short term, two bays are for electric vehicles only while two bays can accommodate either electric or non-electric vehicles.
The enforcement will be for the electric only bays – marked ‘Electric Vehicles Only’ - and will start on April 11 at:
- St James' Park Road NN5 5EL
- Upper Thrift Street NN1 5HR
- Ardington Road NN1 5NE
- Barry Road NN1 5HU
- Oakwood Rd NN1 4SX
- Semilong Road NN2 6BU
- Vicarage Road NN5 7AX
To give residents time to adjust to the new parking arrangements, drivers who flout the parking restrictions during the first two weeks following enforcement will be issued with warnings, rather than penalty charge notices.
Full Penalty Charge Notices will be issued from Monday 25 April.
Having the right infrastructure in place is a crucial part of making electric vehicles more accessible to our residents.Cllr Phil Larratt, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Transport, Highways, and Waste ServicesThe aim of this initiative was to improve electric vehicle charging facilities in residential areas, but that only works if people with electric vehicles can get access to the charge points, so this is an important next step in the project.
- Details
08 April 2022
A plan underlining our commitment to improving public transport and connecting rural communities is set to be discussed by Cabinet.
The Enhanced Bus Partnership Plan (EPP) sets out the high level vision and objectives for bus services over the next three years, showing how we will work with partner organisations to ensure they are delivered reliably, efficiently, and affordably.
Building on our existing Bus Service Improvement Plan published last October, the EPP would put in place binding commitments on the Council and our partners to provide the necessary improvements to make buses more attractive and easier to use.
Shaped by feedback from a public consultation held last September, its aims include:
- Faster and more reliable journey times
- The introduction of newer, cleaner, more environmentally-friendly buses
- Simpler fares and smart ticketing
- Improvements to networks, including links to visitor attractions
- Better real-time information to make it easier for passengers to plan and use the network.
Cabinet will decide whether to introduce the plan at their meeting next Tuesday, 12 April.
As part of the on-going work to implement the bus service improvement plan, we will also consider our approach to bus subsidies over the coming months.
Buses have a big role to play in providing people with an alternative option to the car, but in order to encourage people to take the bus, we must provide a reliable, efficient and affordable network that meets the needs of our communities and that can be easily used by everyone – whether they are regular bus users or not.Cllr Phil Larratt, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Transport, Highways, and Waste ServicesThe Enhanced Bus Partnership Plan sets out how we plan to work with our partners to deliver that for the people of West Northamptonshire, and would play a big part in our plans to improve public transport across the area.
- Details
08 April 2022
More than 55,000 households have signed-up to our garden waste subscription service for the forthcoming year.
And residents who are yet to sign-up are being reminded that it is not too late to do so.
How to subscribe
The annual subscription charge for the fortnightly service to April 2023 is £42 per bin, and this can be paid via debit or credit card at www.westnorthants.gov.uk/gardenwaste
Those who are unable to get online can subscribe to the service by phoning the council on 0300 126 7000.
Collection crews have a record of which households have subscribed for the service as they make their rounds, so you will be able to put your bin out on your next collection day as soon as you have paid, without the need to wait for their sticker to arrive.
The garden waste subscription service has been running successfully in the Northampton and Daventry areas for some time, but is new to the South Northants area, where more than 16,500 homes have subscribed to the new service to date.
We have been pleased with the response to the garden waste subscription service so far, but while the new subscription period launched on Monday, it’s important to remember that it’s not too late to sign-up.Cllr Phil Larratt, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Highways, Transport and WasteDue to the large demand, there are times when the website and phone lines can be busy, and we are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause people. However we would ask anyone who experiences difficulties paying their subscription online to please be patient and try again later.
If you can’t access the internet or don’t feel confident to do so then you can always phone us on our main number or pop along to our offices, where we’ll be happy to guide you through the process.
Other options
If you do not wish to sign up to the service, you have the option of home composting, with the chance to buy a discounted composter bin for £10 at getcomposting.com
You can also recycle garden waste at any of our household waste recycling centres.
If you would like us to remove your unused garden waste bin you will be able to request this, and details of how will be published later in the spring.
Find out more information about the service, including a comprehensive list of FAQs