Weekly collections for clothing this autumn

Plans for new weekly kerbside collections of clothing, shoes and soft toys in Daventry District and Northampton will be introduced this autumn.

Northampton Borough Council and Daventry District Council’s new environmental services contractor Enterprise had initially hoped to launch the weekly textile collections this month alongside other changes to the waste and recycling service.

However, with residents making great efforts to recycle, there has been a large rise in the volume of other materials that have been collected. This has meant that the current collection vehicles do not have enough space to accommodate additional clothing.

Weekly textile collections will now begin this autumn when the contractor introduces new vehicles with larger recycling compartments.

In the meantime an appointment system has been put in place for residents wishing to request a textile collection and it will be collected from their homes within four working days.

Enterprise will continue to donate money from these collections in Daventry District to the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.
Enterprise Partnership Director Simone Wade said: "The kerbside vehicles being used at this very early stage of the new service unfortunately do not have the room to accommodate textiles collections. This is due to a large rise in the volume of other recyclates we have been collecting, following residents’ efforts to recycle more.

Old St. James Church School site

Media Release

27^th June 2011

 The St. James Residents’ Association has lodged an objection to the planning application N/2011/0504 which plans to redevelop the Old St. James Church School site.

We feel that the plan to demolish the existing school buildings is wholly unecessary and is tantamount to cultural vandalism. They have existed for over one hundred  years and and are as much part of St. James as the name itself.

They are part of the very fabric of this area and have played a big part in many peoples’ lives for many, many years. These buildings are essential to the history and culture of this area and must remain.

The School buildings enjoy curtilage listing from St. James Church which is grade 2 listed and they should remain so, as they are by definition part of the Church. The School was founded by the Church in 1866. Church Schools such as this one in St. James are becoming increasingly rare these days, particularly in towns and cities, and this is one of the last of its kind in Northampton of this age. We have a duty to preserve our heritage for future generations and we have a great opportunity to do that here. St. James would be best served by conservation and conversion in this instance, not demolition and destruction. Many examples of sympathetic conversion of former schools already exist.

It is disingenous in the extreme for the developer to claim in their Design and Access Statement (DAS) that they can find no evidence of a physical or social link between the School and the Church and therefore proclaim that the building should not have listed status. On the contrary, the links are blindingly obvious: many a Jimmy’s Ender will tell you how they walked from the small playground immediately adjacent to the Church, for hymns and prayer. Indeed, the clue should also be in the former ownership of the School site; the Diocese of Peterborough. Further, the name of the school was formerly St. James Church of England School.

In addition, the Northampton Rugby Football Club (Saints) has its origins in the walls of the Church and School since it was founded out of a Boys Improvement Class there by the Reverend Samuel Wigg.

RESIDENTS NEWS UPDATE

Friends of The Library

Yes the fight is very much still on and a thriving friends group that can help drive user numbers up even further, will help protect the library from future attacks, the first of which will come later this year. Friends groups hold events, raise extra funds, help out (but not run the library) and generally promote the library to make it a fun, interesting, safe and welcoming place to be. Your help is appreciated, if you care about your community why not get involved? For details of how you can help out at the library visit: http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/en/councilservices/leisure/libraries/publib/pages/vols.aspx The County Council will soon be holding a public consultation of the future of the library service as part of its comprehensive review.

Down Your Way

The old St. James School site is the subject of a planning application N/2011/0504. The plan is to leave the one hall type building that fronts on to St. James Road for some sort of community use and demolish all the buildings behind and replace them with 14 houses with access from Greenwood Road. The houses will be in a traditional style that complements the existing area. The plans can be viewed online at www.northampton.gov.uk or at the Guildhall. The residents association are watching with interest and are looking to make some alterations to the plan and are keen to hear from concerns from residents. The residents association will be objecting to the application. They feel that the school site is a valuable building in terms the history of St. James and is part of the fabric of the area, as such it needs to be preserved with perhaps conversion to residential use or small niche businesses. To many historic buildings have been lost in the town and St. James already. The developers claim that they can find no historic link between the Church and the school, despite the obvious facts that it was a church school, the land was owned, until recently by the diocese and countless children walked across the playground directly into the church, myself included! Residents are urged to write to the planning office at the Guildhall to object the plan to demolish the buildings.

Council Housing Tenant Area Meeting

SJRA Open Meeting

Sound Advice On keeping Noise Down This Summer From NBC

'Consider your neighbours by keeping the noise down' is the appeal from Northampton Borough Council’s public protection team this summer.

The average number of calls the council received from residents upset about noise nuisance per month last year was 160.  In June the number rose to 226 and July 268.  The bad weather in August and September kept numbers closer to the average but they were still up at 186 and 174 respectively.  Barbecues and late-night parties and people switching the stereo up so it can be heard from the guarden are what add to the number of complaints recieved.

Celebrating Armed Forces Day on the Market Square

Next week the military will be marching into Northampton as the town celebrates Armed Forces Day.

On Saturday 25 June the Market Square will home to serving troops, veterans and cadets as the town comes together to celebrate Armed Forces Day. The day will be a chance to find out more about the activities and work of soldiers and RAF personnel from locally based units. There will also be a chance to meet the charities and groups who support current and former military personnel.

The event starts at 11am and there will be activities, displays and things to see and get involved in until 3.30pm. There will be displays and stalls from the Royal British Legion, SSAFA, Army Benevolent Fund, Royal Anglians and RAF recruitment, Air Cadets, Territorial Army, British Military Fitness and many more.

Waste Collection fiasco

There have been a lot of people complaining about the new waste collection service from Enterprise Managed Services Ltd. Due to the mess that the new service has caused residents the Borough Council and Enterprise Services Ltd have released a joint statement.

"An extra bin collection will take place next week (June 13/14) for people who would have faced a long wait between household waste collections due to this week’s service changes.
A new partnership for environmental services between Northampton Borough Council, Daventry District Council and Enterprise Managed Services Ltd began on Monday 6 June.
To get both areas aligned on a new schedule, collections days have changed for the majority of people. Unfortunately, this has meant that some were facing a gap of more than two weeks between their last black bin collection under the old system, and their first under the new one.
In response to concerns expressed about the situation, Enterprise will be carrying out a one-off special collection for around 18,000 affected homes.

Evidence Shows That Fixed-Term Tenancies 'Won't Work'

Government plans to bring in fixed-term tenancies to free up social housing have taken a knock after a report claims that where they have been introduced they aren't working. The news comes as the Localism Bill - which contains the reform - reaches the House of Lords this week.

If legislated, Councils could soon offer social housing on fixed-length terms (minimum of two years), with tenants' eligibility assessed at the end of the term to see if the home is still required. However, campaigners say it will stop tenants bettering themselves for fear of losing their home.

The report which looked closely at the Australian model used in New South Wales (NSW) - which heavily influenced the Government’s policy - showed that less than 1% of fixed-term social tenancies have so far been terminated. There is now mounting pressure in NSW for the policy to be reviewed.

Homelessness charity, Shelter, like the authors of the report Heriot-Watt University, fear that tenants won't improve their circumstances because they won't want to lose their home.

As the Localism Bill travels through the Lords this week, growing pressure urges the Government to rethink these plans, rather than create yet more insecurity for people in these difficult times.

Free Car Parking In Town Centre.

Northampton Borough Council’s new cabinet is expected to approve plans for free car parking in the town centre from October for the benefit of shoppers and retailers at its second meeting next week (16 June).

The plans will mean shoppers and visitors will be able to park at St John’s, St Michael’s and the Mayorhold multi-storey car parks for up to an hour for free and the cost of parking for a second hour will be reduced by 25 per cent.

Under the proposals prices in other premier town centre car parks, including the Grosvenor Centre car park, will be also reduced by 25 per cent for the first two hours.  Parking on Sundays will be free in all car parks.

On street parking, which is managed by Northamptonshire County Council, cannot be included in the plans as they are outside of the Borough Council’s control.

Area Housing Meeting - Area 4

Date:  28th Jun 11
Time: 6.00pm - 7.45pm
Location: Doddridge Centre, 109 St James Road, Northampton. NN5 5LD

An open invitation to all council tenants in this area to attend an open meeting to seek your views on the housing services Northampton Borough Council provide, how NBC can improve them and how you can get involved. This is one of four housing area meetings.  Tenants from housing area 4 only are invited to attend.  This includes tenants from:

Collingtree, Hardingstone, Spring Boroughs, Wootton, Delapre, Far Cotton, Racecourse, Semilong, Caledonian House, Dovercourt, kingsthorpe Hollow, St James, Briar Hill, Camp Hill, Overslade House, Hunsbury Heath, The Bungalows, Overslade Close, Hunsbury Heath.

These events will give you a chance to meet officers, find out more about what is happening within the Housing Service and on your local estate and provide you with an opportunity to let your views and opinions be known. 

Should you wish to meet with a housing or repairs officer to discuss any housing issues, we will be holding hot desk sessions which will start at 5:15pm until 6:00pm.

To register your attendance please call the Customer Engagement Team on 01604 837836 or email participation@northampton.gov.uk

Advertising Space On The SJRA Web Site

If you have a local business and you want to advertise your company why not think about letting us do it for you. The SJRA wish to help local businesses advertise their company for very competitive rates. To find out more why not drop us an email at tim@sjra.info (web Designer + Committee) or go to our web site http://www.sjra.info/.

Chair - SJRA

Helping To Make A House A Home

A new furniture re-use scheme has been set up by Northampton Borough Council to help council tenants gain access to second-hand furniture when moving into a new home. The Furniture and Social Enterprise Scheme, gives tenants access to unwanted furniture that is in good enough condition to re-use that has been left behind by previous tenants.

The Borough Council and a local charity, Spencer Contact will inspect the furniture, and store it until we are ready to offer it to tenants in need.

Portfolio Holder for Housing, Councillor Christopher Malpas said: "The introduction of this re-use scheme is superb. To be able to offer furniture to council tenants who otherwise would have nothing when moving into their homes and reduce the need to dispose of unwanted furniture via landfill is fantastic.

New Northampton Byelaws Come Into Force Soon

New byelaws to tackle low-level anti-social behaviour in Northampton come into force on Monday 6 June. The move follows a lengthy public consultation by Northampton Borough Council to introduce eight new byelaws that will replace the existing ones which had not been looked at for more than 30 years. Earlier this month the Secretary of State gave his approval for the new byelaws to be introduced and from Monday restrictions will be placed on an assortment of low-level anti-social behaviours.

Music Festival Returns To The Market Square

This weekend live music will return to the Market Square as part of the town's week-long Music Festival (4 - 12 June).

Last summer's Northampton Music Festival Sunday was hugely popular with hundreds of people coming into the town centre to enjoy over ten hours of live music in the Market Square. This summer promises to be even better as once again an eclectic mix of bands will be play across two stages from midday to 10pm on Sunday 12 June.