North Northamptonshire is one of two local government districts in Northamptonshire, England. It is a unitary authority area forming about one half of the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire. It was created in 2021.[6] Its council is based in Corby, the district's largest town. Other notable towns are Kettering, Wellingborough, Rushden, Raunds, Desborough, Rothwell, Irthlingborough, Thrapston and Oundle.
North Northamptonshire | |
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Coordinates: 52°24′00″N 0°43′41″W / 52.400°N 0.728°W | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Country | England |
Region | East Midlands |
Ceremonial county | Northamptonshire |
Incorporated | 1 April 2021 |
Administrative HQ | Corby Cube |
Government | |
• Type | Unitary authority with leader and cabinet |
• Body | North Northamptonshire Council |
• Control | Conservative |
• Leader | Jason Smithers (C) |
• Chair | Barbara Jenney |
• Chief Executive | Adele Wylie |
• House of Commons | 3 MPs
|
Area | |
• Total | 380.9 sq mi (986.6 km2) |
• Rank | 25th |
Population (2021)[3] | |
• Total | 360,381 |
• Rank | 23rd |
• Density | 950/sq mi (365/km2) |
Ethnicity (2021) | |
• Ethnic groups | |
Religion (2021) | |
• Religion | List
|
Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
Postcode area | |
Dialling codes |
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ISO 3166 code | GB-NNH |
GSS code | E06000061 |
ITL code | TLF25 |
GVA | 2021 estimate[5] |
• Total | £7.4 billion |
• Per capita | £20,612 |
GDP (nominal) | 2021 estimate[5] |
• Total | £8.5 billion |
• Per capita | £23,536 |
Website | northnorthants |
It has a string of lakes along the Nene Valley Conservation Park, associated heritage railway, the village of Fotheringhay which has tombs of the House of York as well as a towering church supported by flying buttresses. This division has a well-preserved medieval castle in private hands next to Corby – Rockingham Castle – and about 20 other notable country houses, many of which have visitor gardens or days.
North Northamptonshire was created on 1 April 2021 by the merger of the four non-metropolitan districts of Corby, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, and Wellingborough. It absorbed the functions of these districts, plus those of the abolished Northamptonshire County Council.
In March 2018, following financial and cultural mismanagement by the cabinet and officers at Northamptonshire County Council, the then Secretary of State for Local Government, Sajid Javid, sent commissioner Max Caller into the council, who recommended the county council and all-district and borough councils in the county be abolished, and replaced by two unitary authorities, one covering the West, and one the North of the county.[7] These proposals were approved in April 2019. It meant that the districts of Daventry, Northampton, and South Northamptonshire were merged to form a new unitary authority called West Northamptonshire, whilst the second unitary authority North Northamptonshire consists of the former Corby, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, and Wellingborough districts.[8][9]
The Council logo depicts Rockingham Castle, the River Welland and a Red kite - a bird of prey that has become strongly associated with the county of Northamptonshire and is particularly commonplace in the north-eastern parts of the county around Corby and Rockingham Forest.[10]
North Northamptonshire Council | |
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Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Adele Wylie since 27 January 2024[13] | |
Structure | |
Political groups |
|
Elections | |
Last election | 6 May 2021 |
Next election | 1 May 2025 |
Meeting place | |
The Cube, George Street, Corby, NN17 1QG[15] | |
Website | |
www |
North Northamptonshire Council provides both county-level and district-level services. The whole area is also covered by civil parishes, which form a second tier of local government.[16]
Since its creation in 2021, the Conservatives have held a majority of the seats on the council:
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Conservative | 2021–present |
The leader of the council from its first meeting following its creation in 2021 has been:
Councillor | Party | Councillors | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jason Smithers | Conservative | 52 | 26 May 2021 |
Russell Roberts, outgoing leader of the old Kettering Borough Council, had served as leader of the shadow authority set up to oversee the transition to the new arrangements.[17]
Matt Keane Is leader of the Labour Group, Emily Fedorowycz is leader of the Green Alliance and Cedwien Brown is Leader of The Independent Alliance
Councillor | Party | Councillors | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Matt Keane | Labour | 17 | 25 May 2023 | ||
Emily Fedorowycz | Green | 4 (alliance Group) | 26 May 2021 | ||
Cedwien Brown | Independent | 4 (alliance Group) | 7 March 2024 |
As at March 2024, the composition of the council was:
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Conservative | 52 | |
Labour | 17 | |
Green | 3 | |
Independent | 4 | |
Liberal Democrats | 1 | |
Vacant | 1 | |
Total | 78 |
Elections for a shadow authority were due to be held on Thursday 7 May 2020, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These elections were instead held on 6 May 2021 and the Conservatives won a majority of seats. The Council comprises 78 councillors elected across 26 wards.
The council inherited four sets of offices from the predecessor authorities, being the Corby Cube, the Kettering Municipal Offices, Swanspool House in Wellingborough, and the old East Northamptonshire District Council offices on Cedar Drive in Thrapston. The Corby Cube was chosen as the main meeting place.[15] The other buildings serve as area offices.[18][19]
The parish councils for Burton Latimer, Corby, Desborough, Finedon, Higham Ferrers, Irthlingborough, Kettering, Oundle, Raunds, Rothwell, Rushden, Thrapston and Wellingborough have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council".[20]
In terms of television, the area is served by BBC East and ITV Anglia which broadcast from the Sandy Heath transmitter.[21] The Waltham transmitter can also be received which broadcast BBC East Midlands and ITV Central programmes. [22]
Radio stations for the area are:
North Northamptonshire is served by the following local newspapers: Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph and Northampton Chronicle and Echo.