Local news that may affect Eydon residents
WEST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE LATEST TOWN AND PARISH BRIEFING
Please see the article below from the West Northamptonshire Communications Team, which includes information on the Women’s Rugby World Cup, council initiatives, grants, transport updates, roadworks news, and more.
Please find a link to the latest Town & Parish Briefing
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As always, we hope you find this briefing useful and informative, and we encourage you to share the link to it widely within your organisations. If you have any ideas and feedback for shaping future content, we’d really like to hear from you, so please feel free to contact us.
Bufton Bridleway Closure Update
The owner of the section of the Bufton Bridleway that is closed apologises for the delaying in reopening the footpath and advises that they are trying to remove the fallen tree as quickly as possible.
Considerate Parking
All villagers are reminded to consider the access needs of residents and local farmers when parking their vehicles on roads and across pavements.
In particular, when parking on Lime Avenue please do not obstruct access to the opposite fields as access is particularly important this time of year for large plant and vehicles.
West Northamptonshire Council Chief Executive announces plans to leave authority later this year
West Northamptonshire Council’s Chief Executive Anna Earnshaw has announced she will be leaving the authority later this year.
Leader of the Council, Cllr Mark Arnull, today paid special tribute to Anna, who has been the unitary council’s chief executive since its creation four years ago, as “one of a kind” in local government who has achieved so much for public services and communities.
Anna, whose career in local government spans 37 years across a broad range of services in both the public and private sector roles, is intending to pursue new opportunities within the sector and spend more time with her family, having successfully established and led WNC through its formative years as the country’s fifth largest unitary council.
Anna was appointed as WNC’s first chief executive in 2021 amid major local government reorganisation (LGR) in Northamptonshire, playing an integral role in bringing together the services of the county’s eight previous local authorities into the successful creation of the two new unitary councils alongside the countywide covid response.
Her time in the role has seen the council deliver over £115 million of savings alongside many service improvements, with a recent independent peer review highlighting the ‘strong positive start’ of the young unitary authority with ‘much achieved at pace’, its positive culture and ‘tangible upbeat energy’.
It has been an absolute privilege serving West Northamptonshire’s communities and I’m extremely proud of everything we have achieved together. When we embarked on our journey as a new unitary council four years ago it really was a fresh start for everyone, and a chance to do public services differently and better across our area. There have been many challenges along the way but also real opportunities too and as both a local resident and public servant I have relished the role I’ve played in helping to make a difference.Having made my decision to leave on a personal level some time ago, it was important for me to support our new administration through their first months in office and from my perspective they have established themselves as professional and committed to helping their communities. In the coming months I will work closely with them as they shape the council’s future priorities and budget proposals and prepare transitional arrangements.
It has been a pleasure to work with such committed, dedicated and professional council colleagues who have worked so hard over the years, and I’d like to thank them all for their support. That’s what’s made my decision to leave so difficult, but the time is now right personally for me to do new things.
Anna Earnshaw, West Northamptonshire Council’s Chief ExecutiveAnna really is one of kind in local government and an excellent, dedicated public servant who has achieved so much for services and residents in West Northants and will be greatly missed. Although I am saddened by her decision to leave, I fully understand her reasons for doing so and I am grateful for all the experience, support and guidance she has given to myself and the Cabinet since we came into office. She really has been instrumental in helping us get straight down to business for our residents and already achieve so much in our first 100 days.
Anna leaves a strong legacy of a young and ambitious council with firm foundations and positive culture which I am in no doubt will continue to evolve and help its communities to thrive in the years ahead.
Councillor Mark Arnull, Leader of West Northamptonshire Council
Anna joined Northamptonshire County Council in 2016 working with health in her first year before becoming the Director of Adult Social Services (DASS). She later went on to become the Deputy Chief Executive at the County Council playing a vital role in helping bring the Council back onto a stable financial footing ahead of LGR, including delivering £40m of savings in adult social care in the authority’s last 2 years and leading on the County COVID response, before becoming the chief executive of the new Unitary .
Anna is also a board member of the ICB in Northamptonshire and has worked closely with health colleagues across the system and region to transform services and create better integrated care, especially in the community and early intervention space and in the nationally acclaimed ageing well programme.
Northampton Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan
Please visit the West Northamptonshire Consultation Hub for more information about all consultation or engagement activities and how to have your say.
- Have your say on the draft Northampton Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan
West Northamptonshire Council is inviting feedback on the draft Northampton Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). The LCWIP outlines proposed routes and improvements to make walking, cycling, wheeling, and scooting safer and easier, both within Northampton and in connecting surrounding areas.
For further information and to provide views please visit: Have your say on the draft Northampton Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan
This activity closes 23:59 5 October 2025.
Women’s Safety Event
Please find attached detail of a Women’s Safety event being held by Silverstone Parish Council in September. If you would like further details, please contact Johan at clerk@silverstone-pc.gov.uk
Many thanks
Alan Burns
Connected Communities Coordinator
Housing and Communities
BECAUSE CLIMATE MATTERS – Please sign our petition
A message sent on behalf Cllr Rosie Humphreys by Cllr Christine Ware – Because Climate Matters
I am contacting you as one of the attendees of the Climate Summit at Delapre Abbey last October, held by Northampton Town Council with the support of West Northants Council . I came away from the day feeling very inspired by all the speakers and ideas about communicating climate change, encouraging small behavioural changes and projects to make our communities more nature friendly and sustainable.
You may have already read in the local media that West Northants Council has made a decision recently which will have a very negative impact on its leadership role in tackling climate change. The Reform UK administration who are now in charge since the local elections in May have made the decision to shelve the local net zero targets. The excuse was that the targets were unaffordable, yet no figures were offered to support this in the report. The decision has now been put on hold following a notice I have submitted, signed by seven other opposition councillors requesting that the decision be reviewed by a scrutiny committee. The request has been accepted and the hearing will take place at a meeting of the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee on 19th August at 7pm.
In 2022 WNC made one pledge to be net zero by 2030 for its own operations and another pledge with the target of 2045 for the West Northamptonshire area (not, as the Cabinet report, for businesses and residents to be net zero by 2045). By not only removing the local targets – which are targets after all and not absolutes – the WNC is failing to take leadership in climate mitigation – reducing carbon emissions – and climate adaptation. The Climate Act requires this of councils, also requires councils to collaborate with each other and with stakeholders and include climate impact in all its decision making. Instead the Reform administration has chosen to remove climate impact from all cabinet reports (ie all reports relating to important decisions made by the council) and replace with “environmental” impact.
WNC has several strategies relating to its net zero goals, including the Local Transport Plan which is a statutory document. The Plan refers to the need to address climate change by “rapid decarbonisation of all modes of transport.” The decision to scrap the local targets is completely contrary to this Plan, the emerging Local Plan, the draft Nature Recovery Strategy and many of its existing policies. It creates a dangerous vaccum which will cause further reputational damage to WNC and could jeorpadise future grant funding applications for climate mitigation measures.
A petition has been set up so that local people can have a voice if they wish to object to this decision – I will be grateful if you can please share with your parish council and residents:
The petition has been set up by Liberal Democrat councillors (I am one of them, representing Braunston and Crick) and I have asked Cllr Christine Ware to contact you via personal email as it is inappropriate to use our councillor emails for campaign purposes. I hope that you will agree with me that politics should be set aside when it comes to campaigning for climate matters.
westnorthantslibdems.typeform.com
The Scrutiny committee will be live-streamed and members of the public are entitled to register to speak at the meeting: Agenda for Place and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday 19th August 2025, 7.00 pm – West Northamptonshire Council
Thank you.
Kind regards
Rosie
Rosie Humphreys
Ward councillor for Braunston and Crick
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Newsletter – August 2025
Please find attached the latest newsletter from Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone. You can also access it via this link to our website – Newsletter – August 2025 – Northamptonshire Police & Fire Commissioner
This month’s newsletter is packed with updates on how Northamptonshire is tackling road safety, and how speed safety signs and new safety initiatives are making a real difference.
There’s details on how community groups can apply for up to £5,000 in funding from the Commissioner’s office to improve road safety in their local area.
And find out how we are making railways safer for women and girls and improving emergency access for fire crews.
You are free to reproduce any articles from this newsletter and we are happy to send you any images or copy.