Whats it really like in Wellingborough ?

adspro00

carefullycautious wrote: »

You say you have lots of extended family here why have they not helped you find out about the area you intend to live in?

You could have easily googled local community groups/churches e.t.c and contacted them to give you a feel of what the area is like.

Also Police UK will tell you what crimes there have been in the area.

I would have also asked a member of your family to drop by and speak to the neighbours.

I'm afraid there are problems everywhere and with the best will in the world you could be lucky and then a few months down the line things could change.

Good Luck and welcome back home.

Most of the family we have live in London, most of them are too old to drive long distances, and the young ones in the family are living abroad, simply because they hated London.

But yes, time will tell what its like, I'm hoping it isn't to bad.

usefulmale

adspro00 wrote: »

We move to Australia in 1998. We first live in a very nice place. Belfield, it was nice then but oh has so much changed since then.

in 2003 we moved to Campsie, which was a decent area, we stayed there till 2006 when all the robberys and "Youth Gangs" came around. My son was only about 15 at the time and he was robbed after school around the corner from our house 3 times in a span of 1 year.

Mind you that was in late 2006.
We then moved to Bankstown in early 2007.
The area was fine, where we lived there was little to no crime at all.
My son finished year 12 in 2009 at Punchbowl boys high school, where he met a lot of troubled friends.
2 months after completing school my son went to prison.

In 2010 our car got stolen, and 2 months later someone had broke into our home and held us at knife point for cash, which we didn't have so they decided to take all the "expensive stuff".

We moved from there to Marrickville in late 2010.
from 2010 - 2013 my wife had been robbed 2 times at Marrickville station, my car broken into once. Someone tried to break into our house, but failed.

About mid 2013 was when all the problems came into play, we had a few shootings/stabbings 2 blocks away from us, lots of fighting on weekends, mind you nothing directly happened to us but it came to the point that it would be normal to hear a gun shot every other day, or hear on the news about a fight, or death.

It came to the point where waiting for our son to be released and my wife would be scared to even get off the train at any of the stations near our home. I had retired and had to ultimately drive to the city every night to pick her up.

We decided to find somewhere else to live.
In our budget, we couldn't move anywhere that was "nice".

We did find a place in Richmond, which had a really low crime rate from what we had heard, but the place quickly sold and we decided that Australia was not for us anymore.

Generally, I didn't like Australia. My son has no family over there other than my wife and I.

Over in the UK we have a vast amount of family, which is one of the main factors moving over here.

My brother spent half his life in prison and now works for a community youth outreach company. To stop Teens "Going down the path to prison" which is another reason why I thought it would be good to introduce my son to his uncle he never met.

Anyways, thats the areas that we stayed in.

I think you have just been very unlucky. Belfield and Campsie were both decent areas. Don't know about Bankstown. As for Marrickville, that has been an up and coming area since 2000, so I think you were deffo unlucky there. If all that had taken place in Redfern or somewhere, I could understand that.

However, you should have rented first. Buying into an unknown area from the other side of the world is a little naive.

fannyadams

Bletchley (South Milton Keynes) is Wellingborough Lite.
Your son will fit right in, especially when he mentions his prison record.
There seem to be a lot of people with disabilities who congregate in the Swansgate Shopping Centre.
Think you need to learn an Eastern European language (Polish or Latvian are good for a start).
There was a massive fire on Finedon Industrial Estate recently one of the food places went up.
And they've recently jailed someone for the churchyard murder in Northampton.
There are international motorcycle 'gangs' in the town and nearby connurbations.
Other than that I think you've landed on your feet. GOOD LUCK!

gardengull

All areas have published crime information:
http://www.police.uk

and you can search for your local town, or put the postcode in to get specific information.

For example:

http://www.police.uk/northamptonshire/SCT131/crime/

http://www.police.uk/northamptonshire/SCT131/performance/compare-your-area/violent-crime/#msg_comparison

adspro00

gardengull wrote: »

All areas have published crime information:

and you can search for your local town, or put the postcode in to get specific information.

For example:

That's great help. Thanks for the links

JIL

I have been to Wellingborough lots of times. Its really not that bad. Lots of people from London live there and commute.
Its town centre is a little run down but I've seen worse. Its easy to get to Northampton and Milton Keynes. Its close to rushden and there's a Waitrose there. There's also planning permission just been given for a new development called the lakes. There's a number of lovely villages around and about.
Hope you will be happy in your new home.

alice_kate_2

I am from Wellingborough.

Like all towns, there are good and bad parts.

I grew up in a 'bad part' - lived there for 13 years - had no problems at all with crime or bad neighbours etc etc.

Moved to a 'nice' part and have lived there for 10 years now - again no problems at all.

The town centre leaves a lot to be desired - not many shops or good pubs for an evening out. But you are close enough to bigger towns that it's not an issue.

It depends which end of Finedon Road Industrial Estate you are near to see if it's near a 'bad' area or not!

Jobs wise there are a few but much more if you're happy to travel 20 mins into Northampton.

GwylimT

Campsie, youth gangs, Campsie is oap city!

wishus

Some of the Wellie pubs are a bit rough. Northampton is much nicer apart from Bridge St/Gold St which get a bit lairy of a weekend. Some bijou shops in Northampton, great designer boutiques on Wellie Road, nice theatre district. Big shops and high street branches in MK. The great thing about Northants is you have easy access to urban locations and beautiful countryside on your doorstep. Welcome to the Shire! (yes, ShiRe! )