Baroness Margaret Eaton, Chairman of the Local Government Association, yesterday (Wednesday 11 May) visited the Borough of Kettering to view, first hand, the progress that is being made in areas such as eco homes, economic development and public sector partnership working. Baroness Eaton is the latest in a long line of high profile people coming to the Borough to understand the reasons for our success.
During the day, Baroness Eaton visited Rothwell to view progress on the exemplar ‘Carbon Light Homes’ development being built by Velux. She also witnessed the progress that is being made on the Market Place buildings in Kettering town centre, along with the other improvement works taking place in the area.
She ended her trip with a tour of Kettering Borough Council’s Customer Services Centre and was shown the range of innovative partnership initiatives such as the successful new phlebotomy (blood testing) service run in partnership with Kettering General Hospital.
Jim Hakewill, Leader of the Council said: “We are very pleased that Baroness Eaton is interested in finding out more about the area. The projects she visited are unique. Kettering Borough has an impressive track record in attracting new business and environmentally friendly, good quality housing. Kettering’s town centre is also rapidly developing to become more distinctive, by attracting new retailers and shoppers, building on our already significant town centre economy. We were delighted that she wanted to find out more about what is being achieved in our Borough by working with local people and businesses.”
Baroness Eaton said: “I was delighted to be invited for my first ever visit to Kettering and to be able to see the pioneering work that the council is doing in partnership with other local public services, such as the NHS and the police, through the Customer Services Centre.”
“It is this kind of innovation, bringing together local services under one roof, that is helping councils like Kettering save money from the back office and help protect front-line services for residents.”