Latest news with #WestNorthamptonshire
BBC News
9 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Northampton driver caught by parking rule gets fine cancelled
A driver who managed to get a family member's fine for a parking infringement cancelled said more motorists could see their penalties £70 fine for parking more than 50cm (19.7in) from the kerb in Northampton was scrapped after Richard Smith noticed there was no measuring device in the council's photo of the a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, he was told by the council it had issued 350 tickets for the same offence in the last year, bringing in £10,000 in Northamptonshire Council has been asked for a response. Richard Smith said a family member received the penalty charge after parking in her own Smith said: "She woke up next morning to a ticket on her car and she said, 'What do I do?' And I said, 'I'll appeal it for you.'"So we appealed it and they turned us down."The penalty was £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 14 Smith then asked for pictures of the council's evidence of the car being 50cm from the kerb and the council sent some stills, which did not show any measuring Smith added: "If I was producing that evidence, I'd want a tape measure or whatever they use in the picture to prove the offence."Eventually, a letter came through from West Northamptonshire Council saying the ticket would be cancelled. Mr Smith made an FOI request to find out how many similar tickets were issued in the last year and how much revenue had been collected as a response from West Northamptonshire Council showed that 350 PCNs, or Penalty Charge Notices, were issued in the 12 months to April this year, and the council collected £10, Smith hoped his story would encourage some of those 350 drivers to challenge their said: "If there are other people that weren't brave enough to do it at the time and have now seen that somebody's got this information and got off the ticket, they might say, 'I'll appeal that.'"Richard Butler, West Northamptonshire Council's cabinet member for highways, said: "It is standard practice for officers to carry measuring devices to gather evidence where required. "If any motorist receives a PCN which they believe to be unfair or wish to challenge the issuance, then instructions on how to appeal are on the reverse of the PCN."Government guidance states that councils must "provide evidence of a contravention either from direct observation or from the record of an approved device". Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Council backs next stage of major housing plan
A plan to build 278 new homes has been approved by councillors as part of a larger housing development. The homes, approved by West Northamptonshire Council, will be built on land between Harpole and Duston in Northampton, as part of the second phase of the Norwood Farm project. In total, the wider project will deliver 1,900 homes, along with shops, a school, and public green spaces. The decision was made during the first planning meeting since Reform UK took control of the local authority at the recent local elections. The latest plans include a mix of one to four-bedroom properties and of the 278 homes, 139 will be affordable. Planning officers said this was 92 more affordable homes than the developers were required to provide. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) each home will have its own parking space, and extra visitor spaces will be added along the roads. Green areas are also planned around the edges of the site. The area covered in the upcoming phase is in the north-west part of the Norwood Farm site and is divided by New Sandy Lane. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Plans for 120 homes in urban extension approved West Northamptonshire Council Local Democracy Reporting Service
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
West Northamptonshire Council backs next stage of Norwood Farm
A plan to build 278 new homes has been approved by councillors as part of a larger housing homes, approved by West Northamptonshire Council, will be built on land between Harpole and Duston in Northampton, as part of the second phase of the Norwood Farm project. In total, the wider project will deliver 1,900 homes, along with shops, a school, and public green decision was made during the first planning meeting since Reform UK took control of the local authority at the recent local elections. The latest plans include a mix of one to four-bedroom properties and of the 278 homes, 139 will be officers said this was 92 more affordable homes than the developers were required to to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) each home will have its own parking space, and extra visitor spaces will be added along the roads. Green areas are also planned around the edges of the area covered in the upcoming phase is in the north-west part of the Norwood Farm site and is divided by New Sandy Lane. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
West Northamptonshire Council could ban car cruising
Car cruising is set to be banned across West Northamptonshire over rising concerns about anti-social Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) would allow the council and Northamptonshire Police to take more effective action against nuisance car Northamptonshire Council said events had been taking place on the county's roads for several years, while police said they created a "significant demand" on resources due to worried residents calling largest event to date included more over 160 cars and several hundred spectators in March 2024, police said. Locations regularly used for meets include the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal, the A45 off junction 16 of the M1, the Sixfields roundabout in Northampton and the A43 Moulton bypass, according to the Local Democracy Reporting to the council, features of car cruising include driving at excessive speed, revving engines, driving in a convoy, racing, performing stunts and causing obstruction on a public are powers used by councils and their partners to tackle anti-social behaviour in a defined public order would apply to all land within the West Northamptonshire could be found in breach if they participate in any car cruising activity as a passenger or driver, or congregate to spectate at such an to comply carries a maximum £1,000 fine if convicted by a magistrates' may also issue a £100 fixed penalty notice to anyone they have reasonable cause to believe has breached the council's new Reform UK cabinet will meet for the first time on 3 June to discuss the proposed PSPO approved, the order will be made for a maximum period of three years with the opportunity to extend. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Sky News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Wife of Tory councillor jailed over Southport post 'not racist' and 'loved' African and Asian heritage children she cared for, husband says as appeal quashed
The wife of a Conservative councillor has lost an appeal against her 31-month prison sentence for an online rant about migrants on the day of the Southport attacks. The judgment handed down by Lord Justice Holroyd at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday said there was "no arguable basis" that Lucy Connolly's original sentence was "manifestly excessive". "The application for leave to appeal against sentence therefore fails and is refused," it said. In a statement, her husband Raymond Connolly, who lost his seat as a Tory West Northamptonshire district councillor in May but remains on the town council, insisted his wife is "not a racist" and that she "loved" children from diverse backgrounds while she worked as a childminder. Lucy Connolly was arrested on 6 August 2024 after calling for "mass deportation now" in an X post on 29 July, which also said hotels housing asylum seekers should be set on fire. "If that makes me racist so be it," she wrote. The post was viewed 310,000 times in the three-and-a-half hours before Connolly deleted it. She was sentenced to 31 months in prison at Birmingham Crown Court last October, after pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred. She was ordered to serve 40% of the sentence in prison before being released on licence. Connolly shared her X post on the same day three young girls were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last year. False information claiming the perpetrator was a Muslim asylum seeker spread online, leading to riots and unrest in multiple locations across the UK. Axel Rudakubana, 18, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 52 years in January after pleading guilty to murdering Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar in Southport that day. Connolly, from Northampton, later apologised for acting on "false and malicious" information. Reacting to the appeal decision, her husband described it as "shocking and unfair", adding that Connolly is a "good person and not a racist". Southport murders resurfaced anxiety over son's death Connolly last week told judges she was "really angry, really upset" and "distressed that those children had died" when she shared her X post. She said via videolink from prison that her own son died tragically around 14 years ago and that news of the children's murders in Southport had caused a resurgence of grief-related anxiety. "Those parents still have to live a life of grief," she said. "It sends me into a state of anxiety and I worry about my children." But in his judgment on Tuesday, Lord Justice Holroyd said the principal ground of Connolly's appeal was "substantially based on a version of events put forward by [her]", which he and his colleagues Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Sheldon "rejected". He said: "We of course have every sympathy with the applicant over the death of her son, and we can understand why she remains angry about the circumstances of his death." The judge said he "therefore accepts" that the events in Southport "had an impact on her which went beyond that felt by many others", but: "As the judge rightly said, she did not post a message of support and sympathy to the victims of the Southport attack and the bereaved." Connolly also told the judges that, despite conversations with her legal team, she had not understood that by pleading guilty she was accepting that she intended to incite violence. When asked if she intended for anybody to set asylum hotels on fire, Connolly said: "Absolutely not." But Lord Justice Holroyd said he found her to be "intelligent and articulate", and was therefore "unable" to accept that she "entered her guilty plea with no understanding of what it entailed". Defendant 'took care of children of African heritage' In a statement released shortly after the judgment on Tuesday, Mr Connolly insisted that his wife is "not a racist". "As a childminder she took care of small children of African and Asian heritage; they loved Lucy as she loved them," he said. "My wife has paid a very high price for making a mistake and today the court has shown her no mercy. Lucy got more time in jail for one tweet than some paedophiles and domestic abusers get." He said he believes the "system wanted to make an example" of his wife to ensure they were "scared to say things about immigration". "This is not the British way," he said. He added: "The 284 days of separation have been very hard, particularly on our 12-year-old girl. "Lucy posted one nasty tweet when she was upset and angry about three little girls who were brutally murdered in Southport. She realised the tweet was wrong and deleted it within four hours. That did not mean Lucy was a 'far right thug' as Prime Minister Keir Starmer claimed."
