The Immediate Justice Team from the Office of Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone has connected with 50 parish councils to help make improvements to our community spaces, parks, and communal areas across Northamptonshire.
Local authorities were asked to get in touch with the Team at the beginning of last year to suggest locations that could be cleared up by offenders taking part in the programme, which sees them complete reparative work after being caught committing anti-social behaviour.
The Team has since visited over 80 locations in the county.
The areas have been restored through over 1900 hours of work completed by 360 offenders referred to the scheme by Northamptonshire Police after they had committed low-level offences such as possession of drugs, criminal damage and being drunk and disorderly.
Across both the North and West of the county, the Team have accompanied offenders at:
- 37 parks, including painting benches at Corby Boating Lake, planting at St Katherine’s Gardens in Northampton and repairing play equipment at Brodie Lodge Playing Fields in Flore
- 14 community spaces, helping to garden at the Veggie Patch in Wollaston, rejuvenating the memorial garden at St Lawrence’s Church in Towcester and sprucing up the exterior of the Daylight Centre in Wellingborough
- 30 communal areas, making road signs visible in Little Harrowden, covering graffiti on the Grand Union Canal Path in Northampton and clearing the Greenway in Rushden to improve the safety of those using it
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone wants the programme to have a positive impact on our communities and offenders.
Danielle said: “By partnering with our Parishes, my Immediate Justice Team has been able to repair areas that often go unnoticed and restore pride in parks and communal areas that are vital to our communities.
“Immediate Justice makes the consequences for anti-social behaviour visible, and even small improvements have made a huge impact in so many areas across our county.”
