ISSUE 27 - NOVEMBER 2026
NENE Herald
In and Around the Wellingborough & Rushden
NNC Plans to Abolish Free Parking Last year, Reform UK won control of North Northants Council (NNC). During the election campaign, they issued leaflets in which they promised to protect free parking in Wellingborough and Rushden. Reform have now reversed this stance and are consulting on plans to abolish free parking in the two towns. Whether you agree with ending free parking or oppose it, Nene Herald recommends that you make your views known. You can express opinions about the plans via any of the following: • accessing the website via: https://northnorthants.citizenspace.com/place-and-economy/car-parking-strategy/ • email to Tra�cenforcement@northnorthants.gov.uk • or writing to: Draft Car Parking Strategy Consultation Response North Northamptonshire Council Traf�c Enforcement Team c/o Bowling Green Road Kettering Northants NN15 7QX
Isham Bypass Dropped The Labour government has reversed the plan to build the Isham Bypass. The bypass is needed to support housing and economic growth in the zone between Kettering and Wellingborough. At present, the A509 runs through the centre of Isham and is completely unsuitable for the heavy traffic that future growth implies. After many years of planning and debate, planning consent to build the bypass was granted by Conservative-controlled Northants County Council around ten years ago. Normally, planning consent lapses if the project is not built out within at most five years, but it was clear that this scheme would take longer to get started. For this reason, the planning consent was granted for an unusually long time – ten years. It now seems that all the planning and background work was for nothing. The Department for Transport has written stating that the Isham Bypass has been deleted from the government’s Major Road Network and Large Local Majors Programme.
Raunds Manor School to Lose 6th Form? Raunds Manor School may lose its 6th Form. The school is the only one in Raunds with a 6th Form. Its closure would mean that 6th Form pupils in Raunds would have to travel to another town for lessons. The Trusts that run the school say that falling student numbers, a reduced curriculum and financial pressures mean they cannot afford to continue to offer 6th Form education in the Town. They ran a public consultation to get the views of the public about their plans. It closed on Friday 30th October 2026, but late submissions will probably be accepted. The consultation was accessible via: https://www.manorschool.northants.sch.uk/parents-students/ parents-2/manor-school-sixth-form-public-consultation Nene Herald will continue to report on this story.
PAGE 2
NNC Reverses Climate Emergency Declaration Despite the concerns expressed by opposition parties at the Full Council meeting on 24th September 2026, Reform-led North Northants Council (NNC) reversed its Climate and Environment Emergency Declaration. Cllr Martin Griffiths, Leader of North Northamptonshire Council, said: “Since becoming Leader of North Northamptonshire Council, I have always wanted us to be a realistic council. This is about us knowing what can be achieved, reevaluating how we work going forwards and setting targets that can be delivered.” “A lot of really positive work is being done across the council, and we fully intend to continue with this work - where it makes sense. With this in mind, we’re proposing to review the previous target of 2030 and aligning ourselves with the prevailing statutory target, which is currently of 2050.” “We recognise this is an important decision which is why the report will be going through our Scrutiny committee, before Executive make a decision, considering all feedback from Scrutiny.” “We could work towards the target set of 2030, but it would put a strain on our finances which would, in turn, impact many of our services used and benefitting residents across the whole of North Northamptonshire. Simply, to work towards 2030 - the financial investment would need to increase significantly and does not present good value.” “Moving to a target of 2050 means we can set deliverable and realistic targets. It would give us more breathing space to deliver the Carbon Management Plan and achieve carbon neutrality at a pace and cost that is determined by operational need and underpinned by business cases, whilst continuing to deliver the vital services we provide.”
Wellingborough Town Centre Parking
Micro Library
Reform-led North Northants Council (NNC) launched a consultation on its Wellinborough Masterplan on 5th May 2026.
For over a century, there has been a consensus that libraries are a good thing. They give the most disadvantaged people a free way to access books (and recently other media).
In the Masterplan, it states: “Maintaining town centre accessibility keeping free public parking in the town centre and creating a safe pedestrian environment.”
However, the library movement in the UK has been under threat from reduced funding, with a number of Northamptonshire libraries closing.
This contrasts with NNC’s Executive decision to go out to consultation on charging for parking in Wellingborough Town Centre. This recommends that parking in Wellingborough’s town centre car parks (the multi storey and Jackson’s Lane) should be charged at the following rates: £1.50 for 0-2 hours £2.50 for 2-4 hours £4 for 4-6 hours £10 for over 6 hours £1 overnight from 8pm to 5am
Someone in Chichele Street, Higham Ferrers has done their bit to help. They used an old box to create the smallest library that Nene Herald has ever encountered.
So, one NNC proposal requires free parking, while the other proposes abolishing it. Joined up thinking?
PAGE 3
Town/Parish Boundaries In 2021, the County Council, the districts and boroughs in our area were abolished. A new unitary council, North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) was created. (West Northamptonshire Council was created in the west of the county.) That process continued for several years, and in 2024, new wards were created for NNC. As an unfortunate side-effect, the wards for the town councils were mangled. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) recommended a local boundary review, or “Community Governance Review” (CGR) to fix the bad parish/town boundaries. A CGR was indeed started. Various proposals were made to fix the parish and town boundaries. The most extensive were for Rushden Town Council (RTC), where it was proposed to split in half the three giant wards (Pemberton, Rushden Lakes and Rushden South). The new RTC wards will be Bates, Sartoris, Hayden, and Spencer, plus shrunk versions of Pemberton and Rushden Lakes. This will reinstate Rushden’s historic ward names. The CGR proposals went out to consultation, and comments by members of the public were invited. The consultation process ended on the 4th of October. The final proposals will now go to NNC’s Democracy and Standards Committee on the 12th of November. Assuming that they are accepted, they will then go to NNC’s Full Council on the 26th of November. The wards and boundaries will take effect when the town/parish councils are re-elected in May 2029.
Diamonds Dazzle For many years, Rushden was the Town That Dropped Off the Map. The railway station was closed. The trackbed was built on. The Town’s lifeblood, the Boot & Shoe Industry decamped to China. Driving north up the A6 from Bedford, Rushden didn’t appear on any road signs until you’d almost reached the town. Then something magical happened. Two small local football clubs were persuaded to merge to form Rushden & Diamonds FC. The new club received funding from a local businessman and a new ground was built. The new club acquired some decent players (including at least one international). It started winning matches and got promoted to the Football League. It didn’t become a “household name”, but some people as far away as Southampton had heard of it. Rushden wasn’t exactly “on the map”, but it was no longer an “err what?” Sadly, it wasn’t to last. The catchment area was too small for the club and the money ran out. The club got relegated, and then folded. However, all was not lost. A new club was formed, with a more modest ground. AFC Rushden & Diamonds use the ground that was once home to “Rushden Rangers”. They play in one of the very lowest leagues, the eighth-tier, Northern Premier League Division One Midlands league. The club is now starting to make waves. They have beaten Morecambe, Kimberley Miners Welfare, Long Eaton United, Desborough Town, Peterborough Sports, and Braintree Town. Diamonds have now been drawn to play League One's Burton Albion in the FA Cup. It is an amazing achievement for Diamonds. They have never before reached the “first round” of the Cup. Nene Herald wish them luck in their coming match! PAGE 4
Hind Hotel in Wellingborough to Re-open The Hind Hotel in Wellingborough has been bought, and will re-open in 2027. The “Hind Group” has bought the hotel and intends to refurbish it. Jabeer Miah on behalf of the Hind Group, said : "It's almost a relaunch, a revamp. We want to keep the historical importance of the hotel but there will be lots of community and business activity. We want to welcome back local groups who used to use the meeting rooms. "We want it to be a hub for the community. We want more of a boutique feel and will be spending tens of thousands on the revamp, we're really excited.”
Dropping Off at Alfred Street Rushden’s Alfred Lord Tennyson School has two campuses. One of them is in Rushden’s town centre. The main entrance to the town centre site is at the end of John Street, a cul-de-sac. It has double yellow lines, and the only safe place to stop is in the adjacent car park. (See attached photograph.) For most primary schools, many parents take their children to the school and make sure that they enter the school safely. This is especially important at the Alfred Street site, as most of its pupils have to cross several major roads to reach the school. As a consequence, many parents take their children to the Alfred Street site by car. They drive into the John Street car park and escort their children from the car to the school gate. They then drive off. The whole area around the school has double yellow lines and parents are therefore unable to park outside the car park to deliver their children. The parents will be forced to make a choice if parking charges are introduced: * Park some distance away and walk with their children across several major roads, or * Stop on a double yellow line and walk from their car to the school ot * Pay £10 per week for the right to drop off the children from within the car park. None of the options is attractive. Many parents are on very tight incomes and could not afford to pay the £10 per week. Long term, it may make parents less inclined to have their children attend this school. In future years, this may affect the viability of the school. Teachers are similarly affected as they normally park in this car park all day and would be subject to £20 a week in charges. PAGE 5
Mrs Becks - Dinner Lady Extraordinaire
Canoe 2 at Rushden Lakes
In 1899 Britain went to war in South Africa and called for volunteers. In Manchester, over 11,000 men came forward. The army doctors rejected more than 8,000 of them, as too short, too thin, or with bad chests, rotten teeth and legs bent by rickets.
Canoe2 is one of the things that make Rushden Lakes special. They rent out ‘swans’ (see photo), and canoes for trippers.
The government set up a Committee on Physical Deterioration, which reported in 1904.It concluded that the young men had been damaged as children, by hunger. It proposed that the state schools should give hungry children a hot meal each day.
In July, the Crown Estate who own Rushden Lakes applied for planning permission to extend their facility so that they could re-locate.
The boathouse is behind House of Fraser and runs down to the major lake.
Rushden Town Council supported their plan, and on 17th September 2026, planning consent for the extension was granted.
The Committee’s proposals became Law in 1906. School meals became part of British culture, and in turn, created the “dinner ladies”.
Nene Herald wishes them well with their future relocation.
South End Infants School has had a dinner lady, Mrs Marlene Becks, who has just celebrated her 80th birthday and has been working as a dinner lady there for 48 years. She started working at the school as a lollipop lady on the A6, but then got her dinner lady role a year later. She has kept in touch with former pupils over the years and they all remember her kindness She gets to know every child and loves playing with the children. She has no plans to slow down as she loves her job so much.
Beetle Bottlebank
The boardwalk at Rushden Lakes is an amazing place. It’s a seaside scene that is about as far from the sea as it’s possible to be, without leaving the UK. It has now acquired a new feature – a bottlebank in the shape of a beetle or ladybug. It’s the size of a mini-van and collects bottles for recycling.
PAGE 6
Adventures in East Africa Barbara Cole, a local writer, has written a history of the Rhodesian Special Air Service. The Rhodesian Special Air Service, one of the most formidable fighting forces in the world, operated almost exclusively across the borders during the long bitter bush war, undertaking deep-penetration missions against insurgents being harboured inside neighbouring Mozambique and Zambia. There were missions into Botswana too, and at one stage, SAS men were operating without benefit of passports in all three neighbouring territories at the same time. As the situation intensified, they were responsible for some of the most audacious and highly sensitive missions of the war. The writer takes the reader from the early days in the Western Desert to the formation of the Rhodesian SAS for service in Malaya, then back to Africa where the action spans the days of the Federation, the UDI era and finally the decolonization of Rhodesia by the British in 1980. This is the first book to detail the secret exploits of this elite regiment and it has been based on rare firsthand interviews with operators themselves. Some of their exploits may seem far-fetched, even impossible, but then, truth is often stranger than fiction. It is a history of high adventure and daring, courage and humanism, be it driving through the streets of a neighbouring capital, knocking out trains, bridges and installations or swooping out of the morning skies then, with the ability to hit hard and fast, attacking and taking their leave, the devastation complete, the mission accomplished. This edition of the book — originally published in the mid-1980s and long since out of print — is presented in a modern, attractive, upgraded format and contains pictures previously not seen in colour.
Gigantic Solar Farm Approved The government has given the go-ahead for the Green Hill Solar Farm. This is a gigantic scheme that will cover around 2,965 acres of land to the south and west of Wellingborough. It will be one of the largest solar farms in the UK. More than 1,200 people and businesses sent comments about the plans. Campaigners opposing the proposal argued that solar panels up to 4.5m (15ft) high could "devastate the Northamptonshire countryside". Other campaigners claimed that it “would make more sense to put the solar panels on the roofs of the warehouses across the county”. The Conservative MPs for South Northamptonshire and Daventry, Sarah Bool and Stuart Andrew respectively, both opposed the development and handed a petition into 10 Downing Street. Despite this the solar farm is going to proceed despite the opposition of many residents. The photograph shows a solar farm near Irchester.
PAGE 7
WHAT’S ON in the Area
PAGE 8
Wellingborough Town Council Resignation
Swanspool Pavilion Refurbished
Wellinbgorough Town Council (WTC) has 23 councillors. They are a mixture of Conservative, Labour, Reform, Green and Independents. One of the Independents, Cllr. Marion TurnerHawes, has resigned her seat and there will probably be a by-election in the Victoria Ward to replace her. Marion previously stood as a member of the Green Party, but left it before the most recent elections. Marion will be missed. She was a hard working councillor, who set high standards of public service. In the WTC elections in May 2025, Marion topped the poll in Victoria ward. (In the photograph, Marion is in the centre, sitting with her back to the camera.)
Wellingborough Town Council (WTC) is celebrating the completion of the refurbishment of its prize asset, Swanspool Pavilion along with its gardens. The Pavilion will include a café, which will be opening on the 11th of November. A grand opening event will be held once the building is ready, “with everyone invited to come along and see the newly refurbished Pavilion for themselves.” The refurbishment cost over £1 million. The majority of this came from the Community Ownership Fund (£819,167) and the National Lottery Heritage Fund (£249,863).
RTC Refurbishes Street Lights Most of the street lights in North Northants are provided by North Northants Council (NNC). However, there are some exceptions. The decorative street lights in Rushden’s High Street are provided by Rushden Town Council (RTC). The Town Council is in the process of refurbishing those lights, ready for the Christmas lights switchon. (RTC also pays for and maintains the Christmas lights.)
PAGE 9
News in Brief
The Nene Herald is a community-based newspaper for Wellingborough, Rushden, Higham Ferrers, Irthlingborough and the surrounding villages. The Herald is free and can be found on the Internet at: https://issuu.com/nene_herald Alternatively, you can have it emailed to you. If you wish to receive free copies of the latest issue of Nene Herald, send an email requesting a free copy to: Nene_Herald@yahoo.com If you no longer wish to receive free copies of the newspaper, simply email us and ask to ‘unsubscribe’. "Permission is hereby granted to republish the material in this issue of Nene Herald. Attribution is not necessary. Nene Herald is not affiliated to any political party.”
If you wish to comment on any of the subjects within this publication or would like to contribute to the content, please get in touch via email to : nene_herald@yahoo.com