It has a string of lakes along the Nene Valley Conservation Park, associated heritage railway, the village of Fotheringhay which has tombs of the House of York as well as a towering church supported by flying buttresses. This division has a well-preserved medieval castle in private hands next to Corby – Rockingham Castle – and about 20 other notable country houses, many of which have visitor gardens or days.
In March 2018, following financial and cultural mismanagement by the cabinet and officers at Northamptonshire County Council, the then Secretary of State for Local Government, Sajid Javid, sent commissioner Max Caller into the council, who recommended the county council and all-district and borough councils in the county be abolished, and replaced by two unitary authorities, one covering the West, and one the North of the county.[7] These proposals were approved in April 2019. It meant that the districts of Daventry, Northampton, and South Northamptonshire were merged to form a new unitary authority called West Northamptonshire, whilst the second unitary authority North Northamptonshire consists of the former Corby, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, and Wellingborough districts.[8][9]
The Council logo depicts Rockingham Castle, the River Welland and a Red kite - a bird of prey that has become strongly associated with the county of Northamptonshire and is particularly commonplace in the north-eastern parts of the county around Corby and Rockingham Forest.[10]
Corby, the administrative centre and largest settlement in North Northamptonshire
North Northamptonshire Council provides both county-level and district-level services. The whole area is also covered by civil parishes, which form a second tier of local government.[16]
Political control
Since its creation in 2021, the Conservatives have held a majority of the seats on the council:
Russell Roberts, outgoing leader of the old Kettering Borough Council, had served as leader of the shadow authority set up to oversee the transition to the new arrangements.[17]
Composition
As at December 2023, the composition of the council was:
Elections for a shadow authority were due to be held on Thursday 7 May 2020, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These elections were instead held on 6 May 2021 and the Conservatives won a majority of seats. The Council comprises 78 councillors elected across 26 wards.
Premises
The council inherited four sets of offices from the predecessor authorities, being the Corby Cube, the Kettering Municipal Offices, Swanspool House in Wellingborough, and the old East Northamptonshire District Council offices on Cedar Drive in Thrapston. The Corby Cube was chosen as the main meeting place.[15] The other buildings serve as area offices.[18][19]
The parish councils for Burton Latimer, Corby, Desborough, Finedon, Higham Ferrers, Irthlingborough, Kettering, Oundle, Raunds, Rothwell, Rushden, Thrapston and Wellingborough have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council".[20]
Population pyramid of North NorthamptonshireWellingborough, the third-largest settlement in North NorthamptonshireRushden, the fourth-largest settlement in North Northamptonshire
