Views being sought on parking and anti-social behaviour at Northampton Racecourse

16 October 2024

People are being encouraged to give their views on parking and anti-social behaviour at Northampton Racecourse to help West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) put new plans in place to address the issues.

The Council is seeking information from residents as it considers a number of proposals to address ongoing issues at the Racecourse car park, which includes instances of anti-social and nuisance behaviour and parking being taken up by people who are not visiting the site.

The Racecourse, which is about a mile from the town centre, is a popular local sport and community destination, boasting a number of sports pitches (including changing facilities) and playgrounds.

WNC is seeking residents and businesses to give their feedback on a number of options they are exploring to address the issues at the Racecourse, including:

• The possibility of introducing a residents parking scheme for local households and their visitors to help better manage and ease parking pressure and demand in and around the Racecourse
• Potentially introducing a car park charging structure for both daytime, evening, and night-time use – a short stay car park from 8am to 6pm and available for overnight parking at a charge. It is hoped the proposals would enable those who visit the park for recreational use enough time to do their activities and allow nearby residents overnight parking whilst also dissuading those currently using the car park for other unrelated purposes – helping to free up parking for people visiting local businesses.
• Introducing more CCTV cameras to help deter anti-social behaviour at the park.
   

As a result of the Council’s 2023/24 budget consultation, car parking charges were not introduced at The Racecourse, however it was indicated this would be reviewed in the future as the Council progressed work with residents to address issues at the site.

People can give their views on the current Racecourse issues by completing a short survey on the Council’s website.

Should feedback generally support a residents’ parking scheme, further consultation would take place with residents to determine how it might operate.

“Northampton Racecourse is a popular recreational space enjoyed by many residents but we are aware of ongoing issues at the car park, including reports of anti-social behaviour and people using it for other reasons than to visit the park.

“We are looking at a number of ways that could help address this, including the possibility of introducing new parking charge structure to deter people who aren’t local or using the Racecourse from parking there. It’s also clear that we need to resolve parking issues for people living nearby and we’re keen to hear their thoughts on the possibility of introducing a residents parking scheme at the site. We previously looked at Racecourse parking and potential charges as part of our budget consultation two years ago, however at that time it was clear from the feedback of residents and businesses we needed the options put forward weren’t the right fit at the time.

“We’ve now reviewed and developed some initial proposals which we think will address the parking and anti-social behaviour issues and we’re keen to hear from residents, local businesses, community groups on these.”

Cllr Phil Larratt, WNC’s Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport

The survey closes on 24 November and people can share their views on WNC’s Consultation Hub.