Friday brief: More arrests in Northampton skatepark murder
Here's our regular end of the week news round up
Four teenage boys from Northampton, including a 14-year-old, have been charged in connection with the murder of a man in a town skatepark earlier this year.
Northants Police has said this morning that two 15-year-olds, a 14-year-old, a 17-year-old, have been charged with perverting the course of justice and possession of an offensive weapon.
The force said the four were originally arrested in February and following the charges, will appear at Wellingborough Youth Court on August 18.
Mason Miller, 20, died following the violent incident in Briar Hill Skate Park on Wednesday, February 18. A provisional inquest in March found he had died from a stab wound to his chest.
A 17-year-old boy received life-threatening injuries in the same incident.
Three other boys, two aged 16 and a 17 year old, have been charged with murder in connection with the incident with two of those also charged with attempted murder. They appeared in court earlier this summer.
Northants Police says detectives investigating Mr Miller’s death say they still want to hear from anyone who has information about the incident that happened on Wednesday, February 18.
People can call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 quoting incident number 26000098294.
Information can also be submitted online at www.northants.police.uk/RO
Other news
Plans to build up to 80 new homes next to a Northampton village have been recommended for approval, despite the scheme receiving 100 letters of objection from local residents.
Kislingbury Farm LLP submitted plans for the residential site on land off Upton Valley Way North, next to Pineham Village, which is a housing estate of around 559 homes to the west of Hunsbury.
The proposals will go to a meeting of West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) non-strategic planning committee next Thursday (August 6), where it is recommended that councillors rubber-stamp the 80 homes.
Documents state the homes will include a range of 2-bed and 5-bed properties across both houses and apartments, as well as the provision of 18 (22.5 per cent) affordable homes. The exact layout would be submitted during the reserved matters stage.
The application has proven controversial, with Hunsbury Meadow Parish Council objecting to the development and raising concerns about potential flooding in the area, traffic and congestion on local roads, and the strain on limited infrastructure in the area.
The site is separated from Pineham Village by a narrow green corridor of hedges and trees directly next to the properties in the Pineham development. Local residents have also objected to the scheme in numbers, as well as attaching photos they have taken of flooding incidents at the proposed housing site.
One person wrote:
“As a resident of Pineham, it concerns me greatly that it is impacting the flood defences and putting our homes and school at risk.
“Furthermore, I know many residents enjoy this walk through the country park and adding additional housing will ruin the wonderful views which many of us considered when we bought our homes here.”
Another said:
“The land in question has ALWAYS been known as a flood plain area. We are already at risk of flooding with the new industrial units being built along with the new houses that have gone up alongside us, all this water will flow directly towards our properties.
“The current proposal has nothing in place to support our local infrastructure. The local hospital is already at breaking point and our local doctors are unable to take on new patients.
“These fields are an integral part of the landscape providing glorious views and natural landscape stretching over Upton Valley Country Park. If this development was to go ahead, this would cause irreversible damage to them, the environment and the area.”
Comments from WNC’s planning policy team state that design of the housing project “must consider the nearby floodplain; mitigation is required”. However, the council’s Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) has stated that documents submitted are “satisfactory” and that it has no objections to the scheme, subject to relevant conditions on drainage and surface water discharge being met.
An earlier application in 2020 for 80 homes on the same site was also submitted by the same developer, however never made it to committee stage after it was met with concern from local residents. In 2023, when the current scheme was submitted, the applicant said that the issues of flooding had been addressed.
A report to the planning committee said benefits of the scheme include the delivery of market and affordable housing, improved walking and cycling links and contribution to the economy through investment in construction.
It concluded:
“It is considered that the benefits of the current scheme would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the identified adverse impacts when assessed against the policies.
“It is therefore the view of officers that the application should be approved subject to: the Completion of a 106-agreement securing the obligations set out above and to the conditions set out below with delegated authority to the Assistant Director – Planning and Development to make any necessary amendments to conditions as deemed necessary.”
The planning meeting will take place at 4pm on August 6 at the council chamber in the Towcester Forum, and the scheme will be heard alongside a number of other planning applications.
By Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
A pensioner who verbally abused his neighbours for four years has been fined after breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order.
Kevin Lowe, of Byfield Road, Woodford Halse, was fined £307 at Northampton magistrates court on July 9 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £123 and another 85 in court costs after he breached the order which he had been given at the end of June.
Lowe had been verbally abusive and intimidating to his neighbours over several years and on July 4 and July 6 breached the conditions of the order which had banned him from contacting or communicating with them.
PC Tom Wills, from Northamptonshire Police’s Anti-Social Behaviour and Civil Orders Team, said:
“Everyone has the right to a peaceful home life and to enjoy where they live, but Kevin Lowe’s behaviour has left his neighbours often feeling too scared to leave their own homes or take part in community events.
“I am pleased that he has pleaded guilty to the breaches, but I also hope he understands the seriousness of the CBO, the strict conditions he must abide by, and the negative impact his anti-social behaviour has on others.”
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More than 6,000 people have responded to the council’s draft Local Plan, which sets out where thousands of homes, new employment areas and supporting infrastructure will likely be built over the next 20 years.
The latest consultation on the important planning document took place between January 29 and March 27, 2026. West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) said it had been publicised through a variety of channels including online social media posts, public posters and banners, and in-person exhibitions.
A report updating members on the responses received will go to the council’s planning policy committee next Tuesday, August 4.
In total, 6,184 respondents made submissions to the consultation – the majority of which came from members of the general public. These were handed in alongside 100 nominations for new areas to be designated as specially protected Local Green Spaces and 140 new calls for sites.
All representations received during the consultation will be considered by the authority to help shape the next stage of the plan before it goes to the government for final approval.
The current draft outlines plans for up to 47,300 new homes to be built across Northampton, Daventry, Brackley, Towcester and surrounding villages up to 2043. It also includes policies on protecting the environment, supporting the local economy, and shaping the places where we live, work, and spend time.
The record-breaking public response trumps the number of people who were reached in WNC’s previous Local Plan consultation in Spring 2024, which was not taken forward any further due to the government’s changes to national planning policy and housing targets. According to reports at the time, the 2024 consultation received just 712 responses.
The officer’s report going to committee next week highlights a number of specific housing projects across West Northamptonshire that individually received the most public feedback.
According to WNC, a policy allocating 100 homes to be built at Harlestone Firs received 3,638 individual responses that were delivered by hand by the parish council, in addition to the general consultation responses.
Other controversial projects that received a higher number of objections – and have in the past been the subject of public outrage and local campaigns – include plans for up to 300 homes at Collingtree Golf Course, 1,000 homes in Long Buckby, up to 1,000 homes on land to the north of Newport Pagnell Road, Northampton, and residential allocations to rural villages.
Cllr Thomas Manning, cabinet member for planning, previously said that the feedback will “will help us ensure that future growth is well-planned, sustainable, and reflects what matters most to local people”.
An opportunity to make representations on the next version (the Regulation 19 Plan) will be available in the autumn, subject to approval of next stages by committee. Submission of the final plan to the Secretary of State for examination is expected by December 2026.
By Nadia Lincoln
Recommendation
Northants journalist Dave Phillips has a Substack newsletter and this week he published this lovely article about his introduction to fishing and gaining his first job at the Angling Times in the 1970s. You can read it here.
For lovers of the Nene, Dave has also written a brilliant book about the river called Valley of Dreams: The River Nene from source to sea, which follows the river as it makes its way through the county’s villages and towns. The book is packed with stories about river, has beautiful photography and can be purchased here.
NN Events
☀️The Sunflower Festival is happening at Poplar Lodge Farm, Finedon tomorrow (August 1) from 3pm -11pm. There will be music, food and hopefully sunshine.
🎼The Overstone Arms in Pytchley, is hosting its Battle of the Bands tomorrow from 3pm.
🎭 The Jungle Book is being staged outdoors at Canons Ashby tomorrow starting at 5.30pm. More info and ticket prices here.