Today on 1st of April 2025, the Northamptonshire Green Party unveiled their innovative plans to introduce portable pedestrian crossings, aiming to enhance pedestrian safety and navigation across Northampton’s bustling streets. This initiative addresses growing concerns among residents about increased traffic and the lack of action by the current council to prioritise walking, cycling, and public transport.

The portable pedestrian crossings, originally designed by William Heath Robinson in the 1970s, offer a modern solution to contemporary urban challenges. These crossings work by unfurling a black and white zebra pattern where pedestrians need to cross. According to the Highway Code, drivers must stop and give way to pedestrians using these crossings. Once the pedestrian has safely crossed, the portable crossing can be easily rolled back up and carried away.

This innovative approach not only empowers pedestrians to create safe crossing points as needed, but also encourages more sustainable transportation methods. By providing a flexible and visible solution, the Northamptonshire Greens hope to install confidence in pedestrians and promote a shift away from car-dominated streets. This initiative aligns with broader efforts to invest in sustainable transport infrastructure, fostering a healthier and more environmentally friendly urban environment.

The Northamptonshire Green Party’s plan reflects a commitment to addressing modern urban challenges with innovative solutions. As the demand for safer and more sustainable transport options grows, these portable crossings offer a practical and adaptable tool for enhancing pedestrian safety and promoting active travel.

The post Greens unveil portable Pedestrian Crossings appeared first on Northamptonshire Green Party.

It’s been a long road, getting from there to here

Our journey has been long and challenging, involving extensive website work, leaflet design, social media engagement, and continuous feedback and testing. This effort has paid off, demonstrating that the people of Northamptonshire are looking for something better.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported us, whether by contributing to our crowdfunding efforts or volunteering their time. The fact that all our candidates retained their deposits empowers us to build on this success and stand again in future elections. It would also show Green Party HQ, that greens in Northamptonshire can (and will) win and who knows. We may even be a target area in the future!

Looking Ahead: Building on Success

Our recent success proves that there is no such thing as a wasted vote. If Greens are a wasted vote, how come we have just over 800 councillors and now four MPs? People are seeking something different, and the Green Party offers a comprehensive vision for a better future. It’s because people want something different, and it shows that the Greens are not some “environmental” “hippie” group with just a single mp; we are committed to creating a “solarpunk” future—one in which there is accountability on climate issues, where the accusation of wealth is no longer the driving force of our lives, brings railways back into public ownership to lower journey costs and emissions, and ensures the NHS serves the people and not for profit.

Join Us in Shaping the Future

Our achievements are only possible with your help. As we plan our next steps, we aim to learn from our experiences, refine our strategies, and develop a new action plan. If you want to be part of the next generation of changemakers and futurologists, consider joining the Green Party for just £6 a year. Membership offers access to exclusive events, opportunities to participate in policymaking, and much more.

Thank you

Jack Gold
Webmaster & Social Media

The post Celebrating Success in Northamptonshire: Green Party Achieves Milestone appeared first on Northamptonshire Green Party.

This is primarily attributed to its proximity to London, extensive green areas for building and well-established rail networks.

However, the unrestrained construction of warehouses for short term profit on greenfield sites, instead of brownfield sites (land previously developed on), has raised concerns regarding noise, light pollution, and the exacerbation of climate-related issues. Such as flooding for local residents. Additionally, there are growing concerns about the impact on wildlife and bird migration patterns.

Northants greens have continued to support Northampton air pollution protests and that it’s a disgrace that the town has the worst air in the country due to lack of intervention by the council.

The Green Party in Northampton is pushing for increased scrutiny of planning permissions for warehouse construction and exploring alternative methods to conserve valuable countryside and biodiversity. Many hearings and committees, often scheduled at inconvenient times for residents, feel pressured to make decisions under the misconception that their rulings cannot be appealed. Despite resident opposition to warehouses, as evident in Kislingbury, councillors frequently approve their construction, citing job creation benefits. However, many of these jobs are seasonal, and the warehouses often remain empty for the majority of the year. This discrepancy arises because these decisions do not directly impact councillors residing near the proposed warehouse sites.

Fortunately, when many residents band together, such warehouse planning can be fort off. As was the case with Weekly Hall Wood in Kettering. The more residents that turn up at such hearings, the likelihood such planning can be overturned.

 A good deal of built warehouses fail to incorporate solar panels, which could mitigate energy costs. Considering the substantial energy consumption and physical size (most are larger than the whole six fields football ground) associated with warehouses, especially as automation and AI technologies continue to advance, the Green Party widely advocates that warehouses should be mandated to install solar panels on their rooftops.

Source:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-61082171

The post West Northants has the most warehouses in the country appeared first on Northamptonshire Green Party.

Will Morris, 55, and his wife have lived in the constituency for 23 years, spending the first ten years in Wellingborough and now living in Bozeat. He works as an insurance underwriter – a job he’s been doing for almost 30 years. He has two children, aged 21 and 17, who were raised and educated in the constituency. Will is a long-time season ticket-holder at Northampton Saints.

Will has been a member of the Green Party for five years and takes an active interest in local politics. He previously stood as Green Party candidate for North Northants Council in Irchester and Rushden South.

He says, “What Wellingborough needs is a representative who knows and cares about local issues, rather than someone concerned with furthering their personal agenda in the national political arena. Local matters will always come first for me.”

Will has served on Bozeat Parish Council for three years. He is the Chair of BEES, its Environment and Ecology Working Group.

Will is proud to have been selected as the Green Party candidate for the Wellingborough constituency and is looking forward to giving residents the opportunity to vote for a fairer, greener, Wellingborough. He hopes to build on the success the party has had in local elections throughout Northamptonshire.  The Green Party already has a strong presence in the county, with three councillors serving on North Northamptonshire Council and holding 15 seats on town and parish councils.

The post Will Morris selected as Parliamentary Candidate for Wellingborough By-Election appeared first on Northamptonshire Green Party.

The West Northamptonshire Green Party is fielding more candidates across the area than ever before, so more residents will have the opportunity to vote for a genuine change. Your local candidates are as follows

The post Elections 2021 – Your Green Candidates appeared first on Northamptonshire Green Party.

Last weekend the government created a £250 million emergency fund to support councils to deliver pop-up cycle lanes with protected space for cycling, wider pavements, safer junctions, and temporary infrastructure that enables people to walk or cycle whilst maintaining social distancing.

New statutory guidance has also been published on reallocating road space, making it clear that the Government “expects local authorities to make significant changes to their road layouts to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians”.

As part of this, we would like to see “School Streets” implemented outside Primary Schools across the town, and 20 mph zones widened in residential areas to enable parents and children to travel to schools safely without relying on motor vehicles.

We would also like the Council to consider how they can make our Town Centres more safe for people to cycle in, and look at closing some routes to motor vehicles to enable more active travel, and consider where they can widen pavements to make the town centres safer for pedestrians. 

Green Party campaigner Steve Miller said, “We’ve been saying for years that the Council has to make our roads safe for pedestrians and cyclists. Now that the government is on board with this idea, we’d love to see Northamptonshire County Council, Northampton Borough Council and Kettering Borough Council grasp this opportunity. It just needs political will and some imagination, and we are keen to support our Councils to take measures that help ensure social distancing can be maintained across the town as people go back to work and schools are asked to reopen.”

The post Northants Green Party demands support for cyclists and pedestrians. appeared first on Northamptonshire Green Party.