Half a million to help Wellingborough and Kettering communities affected by gang violence and drug dealing on agenda

A bike track on Wellingborough’s Queensway estate could be refurbished alongside other community safety projects thanks to £550k of Government funding.

North Northants councillors at next week’s executive meeting will hear that there are a significant number of young people in Wellingborough involved in gang violence and that motorcycle nuisance has increased since the tragic murder of Dylan Holliday.

They will also hear improvements are on the cards for areas of Kettering that are hotbeds for crack cocaine and heroin dealing.

The Home Office’s Safer Streets round 4 cash is designed to fund schemes to tackle neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour and violence against women and girls.

The cash allocated to North Northamptonshire will be spent in left-behind areas where problems are at their worst – with NNC working with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OFPCC) and social housing providers to implement the schemes.

The Council was awarded £261,000 for the project in part of the William Knibb and All Saints area of Kettering. Home security and crime reduction measures will be targeted at the most vulnerable residential properties, alley-gates will be placed in areas suffering from anti-social behaviour and the town’s CCTV network will be extended to the area.

The Queensway funding being manged by the OFPCC and NNC will act as a partner.

The schemes will be discussed at next week’s NNC executive meeting.

A report to councillors states: "Both project areas suffer from disproportionate levels of crime and ASB.

“William Knibb and All Saints have suffered with stubborn neighbourhood crime due to the structure and physical nature of the buildings, which provide opportunities for offenders to move around undetected. Restricting access to alleyways and increasing CCTV will help combat this. “Furthermore, William Knibb and All Saints are within the Kettering town area, which has been identified as having issues with heroin and crack cocaine supply.

"The Queensway area has also seen higher levels of violent and knife crime including the murder of a then 16-year-old male in August 2021. “There are a high number of young people involved in gang culture and this is seen as a generational issue with in the Queensway area. “Motorcycle nuisance has become a prevalent factor across the estate and that has grown since the tragic murder last year, of which the victim was enthusiastic about motorbikes.

“In both areas, the funding will help control access to alleyways where anti-social behaviour and crime are causing problems for local residents, as well as plans to extend the CCTV networks.

"It is also proposed that work is completed to provide and improve community facilities, such as outdoor gym equipment on the Queensway, to divert young people away from crime.

Executive Member for Housing, Communities and Levelling Up Cllr Matt Binley said: “The funding would make a real difference to the communities. If the report is agreed at next week’s Executive, the projects will be able to start, and residents should begin to see noticeable differences across the Queensway estate in Wellingborough and All Saints area of Kettering.”

The meeting takes place at the Corby Cube on Thursday, October 13 from 10am.