University of Northampton student calls on authorities to prioritise safety and restore 'right to walk home without constantly checking over our shoulders'

Speaking at a police, fire and crime panel meeting hosted by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC), on Thursday December 4, student Amy Fuzzard raised concerns that safe routes designed to help university students travel confidently around Northampton had quietly fallen into neglect and disrepair.

The designated route, which leads directly from the Waterside campus up towards the Market Square, has been a constant guide for young people at the university for years, marked with signposting, floor stencils and additional lighting.

However, the final year student said the pathway into town has now “become invisible” after a lapse in maintenance, lighting and clear signage.

She told local leaders at the meeting: “It wasn’t just a pathway for us, it was a promise – one that said the council recognised student safety as a priority and that the town welcomed us. That promise has faded.

“With that invisibility has come something far more concerning – vulnerability. Students, many young, many living away from home for the first time, are now walking routes that they don’t recognise through areas that are poorly lit and without clear guidance.

“Students who once felt comfortable walking into town now avoid it altogether, taking expensive transport or resort to staying isolated inside. When students don’t feel safe moving around Northampton they become less connected to local community, local culture and the town itself.

“We don’t ask for luxury, we ask for dignity, for safety and for the right to walk home without constantly checking over our shoulders.

“The route already exists, the framework is already in place, we are just missing the support from local leaders like those of you in this room.”

The ‘Safe Route’ project was first formed as a joint venture between West Northamptonshire Council, Northamptonshire Police, the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and the University. It was made possible through Home Office Safer Streets funding, which had a focus on tackling crime, anti-social behaviour and violence against women and girls.

Councillor Sally Keeble, local Labour group leader and panel member, also highlighted safety issues she had noticed in Northampton, particularly during the winter months when it gets darker earlier.

“There’s issues about the street lighting, about the state of the pavements about the amount of refuse and environmental damage which ends up making an area feel unsafe,” she said.

“I have noticed that late at night in Northampton that some of the pedestrian routes that students would use to get down to the campus and back again that there’s no lighting.

“There’s a lot of straightforward measures like that that could actually be tackled and could produce results quite quickly so that students don’t feel trapped in a halls of residence and can’t get out and enjoy the town.”

Responding to Amy’s request for greater support, Police Fire Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone said she was “delighted” to hear the routes were valued by the students, but added that the responsibility of upkeeping them fell on the council and the university.

She added: “My job is to help support safety measures so my office did put in just over £8,000, I think, to support safety measures along that route.

“What I really want to do though, is make sure that wherever we are young people are safe and women and girls are safe. I’ll be delighted to work with partners to help improve the situation.”

Councillor Richard Butler, WNC’s cabinet member responsible for transport and highways who was also present at the meeting, said he would look to organise a walkabout with the student to go through her concerns and liaise with partners to find solutions.

A University of Northampton spokesperson said: “The safety of our students, whether they are on campus or around the town centre, is always a high priority for the University. In addition to our on-campus police team and CCTV at Waterside, students have free access to the Safe Zone security app, and our 24/7 Security team is also available to chaperone students, through Beckets Park, if requested to do so.

“Although the safe walking route into town for students is well-lit and well maintained generally, the University will continue conversations with West Northamptonshire Council about how this continues.”

The university added that new signage for the safe route, which has been renamed the ‘student route’, was put up this year in September.