Across West Northamptonshire, voters will elect 76 councillors in 35 different wards. More than 350 candidates are standing from ten political parties, as well as a number of independents. Find a full list of candidates here.
Chronicle & Echo has reached out the leaders of the parties to ask them about four topics that matter most to our readers.
Over the next few days we will be publishing a series of articles, detailing the responses we have received from some of the political parties competing for your votes on polling day on Thursday May 1.
Next up is the issue of fly-tipping and littering. We asked the leaders what their party intends to do to address the issue if they are elected.
We received responses from the Conservatives, the Green Party, the Heritage Party (which has one candidate standing in Dallington and Spencer), an Independent candidate, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Reform UK and the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition.
Below are the responses from those parties regarding the issue of fly-tipping and littering, in alphabetical order of party name.
Chronicle & Echo also contacted The Social Democratic Party and The Labour and Co-operative Party - who have candidates standing in West Northamptonshire - but we did not receive a response.
If any independent candidates would like to offer their response to this issue, please email [email protected].
5. Ian McCord - Independent
Independent candidate in the Deanshanger ward, Ian McCord, said: "WNC is currently on course to clear 20,000 fly tips in a year!! That is too many, and costing you too much. In Northampton town I think we need an amnesty and clean up then a crack down. I supported a Labour proposal to have community skips to try to tackle this issue. There needs to be stronger enforcement, I think it would be better done directly by WNC and not contracted out as at present. The Conservatives opposed that – not their idea. As Independent, not bound by a party whip, I can vote for sensible ideas no matter where they come from. We need to review the cost of bulky waste – is this making it too expensive to dispose of white goods and furniture at the side of road or a ditch rather than taking it to the tip? WNC has had some limited success in prosecution and naming and shaming the offenders, we need a lot more of this to make this anti-social behaviour as frowned upon as other loutish behaviour. On May 1, a vote for an Independent candidate will be a vote for you and not them." Photo: Submitted
6. Labour
Leader of the West Northamptonshire Labour party, Wendy Randall, said: "This is a huge issue and there hasn’t been any improvement in Northampton in four years. We still have three contracts for waste operating across the three old areas. There are hot spots in Daventry and South Northants which if managed could be almost eliminated. Northampton on the other hand will not be so easy. On average there are approximately 1,000 cases of fly tipping collected a month in Northampton. Many of these are large household items like beds, mattresses and sofas. If Labour takes control of the council on May 1 we will have large skips in the 10 worse areas once a month which will be monitored. We would also employ more community rangers to help report, educate and work closer with the community. We will also look at the mowing schedule in the left behind areas as they are often the forgotten places where residents feel like they don’t matter. We will work hard in these areas to get them looking nice so people start to feel proud of their community. Littering in the town centre happens because the bins fill up too quickly and rubbish ends up blowing everywhere. We need to make sure we have adequate size bins. We will work with businesses to understand their needs and we will look at a different system than having the plastic boxes that end up blowing down the street on a windy day with the recycling following behind." Photo: WNC
7. Liberal Democrats
Sally Beardsworth is leader of the Liberal Democrats in West Northamptonshire. The party said: "Everyone deserves to live in a pleasant, clean environment. This is an issue of fairness and West Northants Council needs to step up. Fly-tipping is a blight across our area and in particular in Northampton and additionally, once reported, seems to often take a long time for action to be taken by West Northants Council. Liberal Democrats would push for the council to advertise the licensed waste disposal services that householders can access and for greater penalties along with better enforcement. There are opportunities for better use of CCTV and reporting mechanisms, and more affordable access for bulky items at Household Waste Recycling Centres." Photo: WNC
8. Reform UK
Mark Arnull is the chairman of Reform UK West Northamptonshire. The party said: "It’s interesting looking back over the past four years at the number of opposition motions rejected by the current administration, in a failed attempt to resolve the huge fly-tipping and litter issues across West Northamptonshire. Our council is fundamentally broken. Many of the contracts are no longer fit for purpose, and do not provide the service level to deal with the demand and issues we face today, years after the contracts were originally signed. What we are seeing time and time again is the public losing confidence in their local authority when they read in the press of new multimillion pound contracts being signed that bind the authority and the administration for years to come. To provide a little context. West Northamptonshire Council is £587 million in debt and spends £65,000 per day servicing its debt. Something is fundamentally wrong when the public, in addition to the council-funded contract, relies on the great volunteer team at the Northants Litter Wombles to help clean up the county. It was recently reported that in 2024, the team of over 4,000 volunteers physically picked more than 35,000 bags of litter. Reform UK won’t make empty promises when councils like ours spend eye-watering sums on failed schemes and vanity projects. Reform UK will bring in the auditors, evaluate wasteful contracts, and cut wasteful spending." Photo: Reform UK