Borough of Wellingborough

The Borough of Wellingborough is a Non-metropolitan district and borough in Northamptonshire, England. It is named after Wellingborough, its main town, but also includes surrounding rural areas.

The local council prefers to call itself the 'Borough Council of Wellingborough' rather than the more usual form 'Wellingborough Borough Council'.

The borough covers almost the same area as the Wellingborough constituency. It was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the borough of Wellingborough with Wellingborough Rural District.

Settlements and parishes

Other than Wellingborough itself the borough includes:

Future developments

The Borough Council have approved major building work to the East of the main town of Wellingborough as part of the government's 'Milton Keynes and South Midlands plan'. The area called 'Stanton Cross' will increase the size of the town by 30%.

Wellingborough

Coordinates: 52°17′38″N 0°41′47″W / 52.2939°N 0.6964°W / 52.2939; -0.6964

Wellingborough is a market town and borough in Northamptonshire, England, situated 11 miles (18 km) from the county town of Northampton. The town is situated on the north side of the River Nene, most of the older town is sited on the flanks of the hills above the river's current flood plain. Due to frequent flooding by the River Nene, the town was mostly built above the current level of the flood plain. Originally named "Wendelingburgh", the settlement was established in the Saxon period and is mentioned in the Domesday Book under the name of "Wendelburie". The town was granted a royal market charter in 1201, by King John of England.

As of 2011 the census states the borough has a population of 75,400, which the town itself accounts for 49,087. The town of Wellingborough is governed by The Borough Council of Wellingborough, with their office located in the town centre. The town is twinned with Niort in France, and with Wittlich in Germany.

HM Prison Wellingborough

HM Prison Wellingborough is a defunct Category C men's prison, located in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England. The prison was previously operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service and is retained as reserve site for use in the event of other prisons being at capacity.

History

Opened as a Borstal in 1963, Wellingborough continued to hold Young Offenders until 1990, when it was re-rolled as Category C Training Prison for male adults.

In December 2003, an inspection report from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons stated that Wellingborough was not meeting the criteria for its role as a training prison. Inspectors found that only half the prisoners were working or in education, with the other half locked up for extended periods of time. The report also noted that the prison had an out of date race relations policy. However, inspectors also highlighted Wellingborough's good overall safety record, as 80% of inmates reported that they felt safe and 75% reported that staff treated them with respect. Wellingborough was also praised for its induction programme and reception procedures.

Wellingborough (UK Parliament constituency)

Wellingborough is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Peter Bone, a Conservative.

History

This seat was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918.

Wellingborough's earliest years were left-leaning. Since the 1964 the seat has kept on producing examples of bellwether results and rarely showed itself to be safe for more than one government term. Departing from this are two years where the result has defied the most common result nationwide, by leaning towards the Conservative Party, in 1974 (twice) and in 2005.

Sir Geoffrey Shakespeare was a Lloyd-Georgist National Liberal who served in junior minister roles through much of World War II including, briefly as the Secretary for Overseas Trade in 1940.

The lack of other senior positions is assisted by no majority having been gained by the winner which is in national terms generally shown to be insurmountable, see marginal seat.

Boundaries