Northampton Speed Limits: Only One Deadline Left, 3 Sept

West Northamptonshire Council has six proposed speed limit orders on its Traffic Regulation Orders consultation page. Between them they would change the limit on more than 30 roads, including 24 in one Northampton neighbourhood.

Five of the six have already passed their deadline for objections. Only one is still open, and it closes on 3 September 2026.

The council’s page is the only place most of these were published in full. Each order comes with a Notice of Intention, a Statement of Reasons, a draft order and a plan, and the deadline for representations is buried in the notice rather than shown on the page itself.

The six orders, and when objections closed

The one you can still object to

Order P2192 covers four stretches around the north edge of Brixworth, where the village meets the A508. The notice was signed on 13 August and representations must arrive by 3 September 2026.

A 30mph limit is proposed on:

• Mercedes Avenue, from its junction with Scaldwell Road northwards for 257 metres
• Morgan Drive, from its junction with Mercedes Avenue westwards for 12 metres

A 40mph limit is proposed on:

• Scaldwell Road, from a point 65 metres east of its junction with Quarry Road eastwards to the northern arm of Scaldwell Road
• A508 Harborough Road, from a point 46 metres south of the Scaldwell Road roundabout, northwards for 98 metres

The council’s stated reasons are to avoid danger “particularly due to changes in road geometry, increased traffic volumes, and historic collision data”, to cut noise, and to manage the transition between rural and developed stretches. It describes the order as part of “the Council’s ongoing speed limit review programme”. (Statement of Reasons, P2192, PDF)

Objections go in writing to the Traffic Orders Section, Kier Highways, Brixworth Depot, Old Harborough Road, Brixworth NN6 9BX, or by email to WNCParkingenquiries@kier.co.uk, quoting P2192. (Notice of Intention, P2192, PDF)

St Crispin’s: 24 roads, and the window shut on 20 August

The largest of the six by number of streets is P2142, which would make 20mph the limit across the St Crispin’s Drive and Kent Road area of Northampton. The schedule lists 24 entries. Twenty-three are “for its full length”; the twenty-fourth is St Crispin Drive itself, from its junction with Kent Road extending 905 metres south.

The roads named are Austen Close, Balmoral Close, Bronte Close, Brown Close, Dave Bowen Close, Dover Close, Eden Road, Eden Way, Hardy Close, Hever Close, Howarth Way, Jack English Close, Jack Parnell Close, Jennings Close, Kent Crescent, Kent Road, Kent Road South, Milburn Drive, Rowthorne Close, Scott Close, St Crispin Drive, Thompson Close, Walmer Close and Weedon Close.

The notice was dated 30 July and gave 20 August as the deadline. It is the same date as the two village orders at Murcott and Hackleton. (Notice of Intention, P2142, PDF)

What the other four propose

• Moulton, P2164. A 20mph zone on Overstone Road, Park View, Thorpeville, Ashley Lane and Wantage Close. This is the only one of the six that comes with physical measures: the notice says the zone will include existing and new traffic calming, “including but not limited to speed humps, cushions, buildouts and other physical measures”.
• Brixworth, P2180. A 20mph limit on 240 metres of Spratton Road west of Northampton Road, and 665 metres of Northampton Road north of Froxhill Crescent.
• Murcott, P2184. A 30mph limit extended along 310 metres of the B5385 Long Buckby Road. The council says this “aligns with national guidance for speed limits in built-up areas”.
• Hackleton, P2190. A 40mph limit on 160 metres of Newport Pagnell Road north of its junction with Stoke Goldington Road, and 640 metres of Stoke Goldington Road running south west from its junction with Newport Pagnell Road and Eakley Lanes.

Two of the documents do not match themselves

Small errors in the paperwork are worth flagging, because the reference number is what an objection has to quote.

The Statement of Reasons for the Moulton order is headed P2110 at the top of the page and signed off Ref: P2164 at the foot. The Notice of Intention for the same order, and the council’s own web page, both use P2164. (Statement of Reasons, P2164, PDF)

In the Murcott notice, the schedule heading reads “30 miles per hour speed limitTeal Close”, with a road name attached to the heading that appears nowhere in the schedule below it. The schedule itself lists only the B5385. (Notice of Intention, P2184, PDF)

What it means for you

• If you live off the A508 at Brixworth, you have until 3 September. That is the only one of the six still open. Quote P2192 and say why you support or object.
• If you live at St Crispin’s, Moulton, Murcott or Hackleton, the objection window has closed. The proposals have not been abandoned; they have moved to the next stage.
• You will only hear the outcome if you wrote in. The council’s own page states that once a decision is reached, “only those who submitted a comment or objection will be notified of the outcome”. Everyone else finds out when the signs go up.
• Expect a wait. The council says the decision-making procedure “can take anywhere from 4 to 16 weeks” after the consultation closes, longer if objections force a re-advertisement.
• Watch the local press notices. A TRO must be advertised by formal notice in the local press and by notices on the roads affected. That, plus this page, is the whole of the publicity.

How the process works

A Traffic Regulation Order is the legal instrument behind almost every restriction you see on the road: yellow lines, one-way streets, banned turns, weight limits, bus lanes and speed limits. Without one, neither the police nor a civil enforcement officer can enforce anything.

The council sets out four stages: statutory consultation with the emergency services and other bodies; advertisement by formal notice, starting a 21-day objection period; consideration of objections through the council’s Delegated Decision Procedure; and then the order is made, with a Notice of Making published in the local press.

Note the 21 days. That is the statutory minimum, and it runs from the day the notice is advertised, not from the day you happen to find the PDF. (Traffic Regulation Orders Consultation, West Northamptonshire Council)

The same page carries one order that is not about speed at all: N392, the variation that raised on-street parking charges by 25% on four Northampton town centre streets. We covered what that notice contains in Northampton premium parking: 4 streets up 25% from Monday.

For what is actually closed on the roads this fortnight, see Northampton roadworks and travel.

Sources

• Traffic Regulation Orders Consultation, West Northamptonshire Council, read 26 August 2026.
• Notice of Intention, P2192, Scaldwell Road, Harborough Road and Mercedes Avenue, Brixworth, dated 13 August 2026 (PDF).
• Statement of Reasons, P2192 (PDF).
• Notice of Intention, P2142, St Crispins Drive and Kent Road area, Northampton, dated 30 July 2026 (PDF).
• Notice of Intention, P2184, Murcott, dated 30 July 2026 (PDF).
• Notice of Intention, P2190, Hackleton, dated 30 July 2026 (PDF).
• Notice of Intention, P2164, Moulton, dated 16 July 2026 (PDF).
• Statement of Reasons, P2164 (PDF).
• Notice of Intention, P2180, Brixworth, dated 16 July 2026 (PDF).