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BBC News
21-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
2025 local elections: Focus on Wellingborough
The second elections for North Northamptonshire Council, a unitary authority which only came into existence four years ago, are not far market town of Wellingborough was hotly contested last year in a Parliamentary by-election that saw the second-biggest swing from Conservatives to Labour since World War 1 May voters will be electing 68 councillors across 31 town centre falls into the Croyland and Swanspool ward, which had one of the lowest turnout rates in the 2021 election at 27.5%.The authority has been led since its inception by Conservative councillor Jason Smithers, who is not standing again in May's is currently made up of 50 Conservatives, 16 Labour councillors, four from Reform UK, three Greens and three Independents. There are two vacant what issues matter here? 'More support for homeless people' Grace Clark, 20, lives in Wellingborough and has a three-year-old daughter and an has been homeless for the last three years and has been living in temporary accommodation in a hostel, with her son, for the last seven months."There should be more understanding and support for homeless people," she says,Ms Clark believes there should be a "homeless group so it's easy to speak to people, rather than constantly calling the homeless team and not getting answers".She says she has never voted in elections and, while she would like to, believes "it won't make a difference". 'They don't do what they say they will' Cheryl Taylor, 66, also lives in Wellingborough. She moved from the West Indies when she was 13, living in Luton for a short time before moving to the her, the big issue is housing and homelessness. For the younger generation, she says, there are not enough homes."I've got a son who is 40 and he is going to be homeless," she says."They go to the council and the council say 'it's first come, first served' and that, to me, is a bit unfair."You live here, you're born here, you work here, you're schooled here, and at the end of the day, they should have something for them."She says she knew the elections were taking place, but that she doesn't always vote, because: "I think you're voting for people and then you still don't get the help; they don't do what they say they will." 'The potholes are just horrendous' Kevin Arnold, 49, lives in nearby Rushden and says the big issue for him is potholes."It's just awful, as everyone knows in Northamptonshire. The potholes are just horrendous," he hit one on his way to Stansted Airport in the early hours of the morning last month, getting a puncture and only just catching his flight, thanks to Arnold would like to see a commitment to "proper infrastructure" for roads "to be resurfaced properly and not a quick fix, where they're just cheaply done just to fill the hole; last two or three months and then the hole is back again".He says he will be voting in May, but he has not yet decided who for. 'The place is dirty and run-down' Retired couple Ann and Robert Livingstone moved from Northampton to Wellingborough in issue for Mrs Livingstone, 71, is the empty shops and the state of the high street."All the shops are shut and what shops are open are cheap charity shops. The place is dirty; it's run-down... when we first moved here, it was such a lovely little town."Mr Livingstone, 78, has similar concerns."The banks are closing," he says. "I'm fortunate and can manage online banking but there's a lot of people my age who aren't able to deal with that."I'd like to see investment in a proper market like we used to have; a clean-up of the streets. We pay rates, but the council aren't on top of keeping the place tidy."Where's our money going? It's certainly not in Wellingborough." 'The town has been dying for about 20 years' Chris Cahill says he would like to see more done to improve Wellingborough town centre."I've worked in the town centre for 18 years and I've seen it go down and down," he says."Less shops want to be here. Everyone is moving to places like Rushden Lakes and it is making it harder for this town to thrive because there is not really much about."Mr Cahill, 35, who has lived in the town for 34 years, says the town has lost banks and shops, especially clothes says he would like to see incentives to make it "appealing" for businesses to come to Wellingborough."The town has been a dying town for about 20 years... we're classed as a market town, but we don't have one anymore," he says. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
02-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
Elvington service to remember WW2 aircraft tragedy 80 years on
A service is being held to remember the last German aircraft to be brought down over British soil during World War 4 March 1945, a German aircraft crashed at Elvington near York killing all four of the crew and three civilians on the Air Museum marketing and communications manager Jerry Ibbotson said the attack had been "a last throw of the dice" by the German said: "These were the dying weeks of the Second World War. They were very tragic events and we are gathering people in one place 80 years on to remember something that was tragic and ultimately pointless because the war ended two months later." A service of remembrance and reflection will be held at Yorkshire Air Museum on Sunday at 13:00 aircraft was part of Operation Gisela, which saw 117 fighter planes sent to intercept allied bombers returning to base after striking targets in Germany.A number of bombers were brought down, including three from RAF Elvington (operated by French aircrew).The memorial service will be attended by relatives of the RAF soldiers killed during the Oliver, the nephew of Flt Lt Jack Laffoley of No.10 Squadron, RAF Melbourne, who was shot down and killed, will attend the ceremony from Canada with his daughter Tanya and her was on his last, 33rd mission, aged to Yorkshire Air Museum, the German aircraft – a Junkers JU88 Night Fighter – had been attacking a nearby RAF bomber base, now home to the museum, when it struck a farmhouse, killing the Junkers crew and three people in the Richard Moll, his wife, Helen and daughter in law, Violet, died in hospital from their husband Fred Moll saved the life of their three-year old son, Edgar, fighting his way to the outside. The Yorkshire Air Museum, which stands on the site of RAF Elvington, is marking the 80th anniversary of Operation Gisela with a new display and an animation telling the story of the attack on the display includes the remains of a JU88 propeller, recovered from the North Sea near Filey in to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.
