Nene Valley
D Beales - Labour:
If elected what will you do to speed up the planning process to ensure the Central Area Action Plan and Sixfields Area Action plan are given some urgency / priority?
If elected I assure you that I would fully support the development at Sixfields. The town needs to continue to grow, expand and develop its infrastructure not only for its existing residents, but the many thousands who will be moving into the massive amount of Government supported housing development. In my opinion NTFC is central to this and a professional successful football team key in putting Northampton on the map nationally and even internationally. As the town grows to an area the size of nearby Coventry or Leicester its facilities must match theirs, anything but this would be grossly unfair to its residents and cause many problems in the future socially and economically, in my opinion ultimately hitting the poor hardest, which extremely angers me. I see no reason why development of the stadium should not be fully backed and even encouraged by the Council
What do you feel a professional football / sports team brings to a town / community?
As Northampton continues to progress with promotion, and I am sure consolidating its position in the next league this year its fan base will expand further as you know. The stadium and facilities of Sixfields must also be allowed to grow with the club, not as currently holding it back from future progression, which would benefit the whole town. The proposed development including I believe a hotel and study centre would benefit not only fans but the nearby community, local children and the whole town, which is why the current conservative councils delays and unacceptable progress is shockingly incompetent
What will you do to inact NBC’s policy of maintaining and helping professional league football in Northampton?
A timescale needs to be put in place for the progress of decision making, one which is stuck too and not spread over many years, instead in the short-term as already enough time has been wasted and elapsed. Their handling of this symptomatic of their running of the council as a whole cutting basic services and hampering beneficial development (this not the first occasion either) whilst increasing tax and paying huge sums to consultants. NTFC is at not only being damaged but the town as a whole I guarantee that I if elected I would not allow this to continue, as I am sure
my Labour colleagues would also. The time for action by the council is now, and I greatly hope that come the May 3rd elections a labour council will be in place, including myself which will work to resolve this farcical process immediately, and I promise I will work tirelessly in this case to do so.
B M Bream - Liberal Democrat
If elected what will you do to speed up the planning process to ensure the Central Area Action Plan and Sixfields Area Action Plan are given some urgency / priority ?
As I understand it at the moment, it is important that the plans submitted are robust to ensure the approval of Government inspectors and thus avoid any further delays. The Liberal Democrats are commited to this.
What do you feel a professional football / sports team brings to a town / community ?
As far as professional sport is concerned, it can be a very cohesive factor in a community provided that good standards of sportsmanship are maintained. Professional sport provides a focus for local pride and a sense of identity within a community. It is also beneficial in that it attracts visitors and businesses. In addition when clubs and fans are away from home they have an excellent opportunity to act as ambassadors for the town and engender a sense of pride. Many families too get a lot of fun out of the teams they support and it can provide a positive influence on the young, which in turn places a responsibility on professional sport.
What will you do to enact NBCs’ policy of maintaining and helping professional league football in Northampton ?
As you will see from the Liberal Democrats manifesto on the website, http://www.northamptonlibdems.org.uk - should we take control of the council, regeneration of our town is a high priority and working towards a high standard of sports facilities is certainly part of that.
Professional sport is one aspect of the community that I believe has a valuable contribution to make and I would do my best to encourage it. I would like to see us all work together to build our community as a unified whole and one that everyone can be proud of.
J Glynane - Liberal Democrat - see collective response below:
If elected what will you do to speed up the planning process to ensure the Central Area Action Plan and Sixfields Area Action Plan are given some urgency / priority ?
“If the Liberal Democrats take control of Northampton Borough Council at the elections on 3rd May we will be giving the regeneration of our town a much higher priority than it has received up to now.
We will look carefully to see if increasing the number of people working in the Planning Policy team would significantly improve the quality or speed of their work. However, much of the time taken in the overall process is for the government to check and validate NBCs’ plans, so increasing staff might have limited effect. We will have to ensure that the plans submitted are robust and high quality to ensure they are approved by government inspectors. Any rejection would add significant further delays and must be avoided.
Regardless of who is in control we will press for the Central and Sixfields Area Action Plans to be completed at the earliest possible opportunity and with no undue delay on the part of the Council.”
What do you feel a professional football / sports team brings to a town / community ?
“Professional sport is very important. It provides a focus for local pride, a sense of identity and of community. If one or more of our professional teams is doing well it lifts the spirit of the town. Clubs and their supporters are ambassadors for our town. Professional sport also attracts a significant number of visitors to our town with the consequential economic benefits.”
What will you do to enact NBCs’ policy of maintaining and helping professional league football in Northampton ?
“We will want to encourage any business that brings jobs, entertainment and other economic and social benefits to Northampton – including our professional sports clubs. We will work with the professional sports clubs to maximise the benefits of their community programmes and to realise the promotional benefits to the town and to the clubs of working together. We cannot and will not show favouritism to any club over other local businesses or landowners.”
M J Hill - Conservative - Response awaited
C S Lill - Conservative - Response awaited
