12 April 2023

Throughout the month of May, we will be leaving certain green areas to grow as we support No Mow May.

The national campaign encourages organisations and individuals across the country to reduce or stop mowing through May to allow space for nature to bloom.

Designated green areas across West Northants will be left to grow throughout May, encouraging biodiversity and giving nature a helping hand to bloom.

There are many benefits on our environment to reducing or stopping moving for a month, these includes:

• Provides a vital food source for pollinators – helping our global food supply
• Healthier lawns
• Gives wild plants a head-start before summer
• Encourages different types of plant life to grow

This spring, we’re encouraging residents to support no mow may and put their mowers away for a little longer to give a much-needed boost for wildlife throughout the summer.

Smaller plants such as daisies, dandelion, selfheal and clover will get a chance to flower. You can continue to mow less and at different lengths and frequencies throughout the summer to support biodiversity in the community.

Cllr Phil Larratt, Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste at West Northamptonshire Council

For more information about No Mow May and how you can take part visit Plant Life’s website.

12 April 2023

Northampton’s most popular street food pop up is launching a new series of community events at Northampton's Commercial Street Market.

Bite Street NN will be taking over the town’s market one Sunday a month during April, May and June.

Styled as Bite Street Sundays Socials, the events will be free to enter and feature a rotating selection of the region’s top street food traders.

There will also be pop-up bars, one run by Roman Way Brewery with local ales and spirits, a vintage market and artisan food and maker stalls.

The first three events are a limited edition series, a trial run if you like.

We are starting off gently but we hope to grow big and attract people from all over to come to town on a Sunday and mooch while they munch.

We want to recreate an East London vibe – Columbia Road meets Brick Lane kind of thing – but all here in Northampton on a Sunday.

Bite Street founder, Crispin Slee

The street food traders featuring in the first event on Sunday April 23 include Bite Street favourites: Disco Fries – serving loaded hand-cut fries, Santina’s Wood Fired Pizza Co and Gyro Guys – serving Greek street food.

Artisan food stalls include Northampton cheesemaker Gary Bradshaw, Vicky’s Kitchen, The Cake Away and Gander’s Goat with their goat ice cream.

Local makers include Sophie Slade Art, Fred and Betty handmade soaps from Moulton and Scruffy Dog Silver with jewellery handcrafted in Duston.

We are mustard keen to hear from other artisans who want to take part in April or at one of the later events.Bite Street founder, Crispin Slee

This is going to be a great event. We’re delighted to be part of it. It’s just what Northampton needs.Phil Lawler, Roman Way Brewery

Bite Street is working with West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) to run the Sunday Socials which take place on April 23, May 21 and June 25 with a changing roster of street food traders.

We’re delighted to be welcoming a wide-range of vendors and stallholders to Commercial Street Market as Bite Street delivers a series of bespoke events this spring.

Set to offer something for everyone, including food, drink and a vintage market – we’d encourage everyone to come down and see what they have on offer.

Cllr Dan Lister, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Town Centre Regeneration and Growth at WNC

The vintage market is being curated by Roger Judkins, who is a long-standing trader at Northampton Market with his collectables stall.

To see the menu for the Bite Street Sunday Socials and line up for their other events, go to the Bite Street website.

Tickets for the Bite Street Sunday Socials are free and can be found on the website.

Local residents can find out more about regular traders at the Commercial Street market from Monday to Saturday by visiting ‘Love Northampton Market’ on Facebook.

11 April 2023

Unsure what goes in each bin, or when your bin day is? The ‘West Northants’ app is now available across West Northants and has a host of helpful information which is available to access on your phone or tablet.

The easy-to-use app provides a search function to find out how you can recycle or dispose of your waste, making sure the right stuff goes in the right bin, helping to avoid contamination. Simply type in the item you’re looking to recycle, and it will tell you how best to recycle or dispose of it.

You can set reminders the day before your bin collection day and receive notifications on service changes in your area, meaning you won’t miss out on helpful information. As well as stay up to date with Council news, such as reminders to subscribe to garden waste or when your annual collection calendar is available for the upcoming year.

There is a handy feature which can help you find out the opening times and location of the facilities in your area, including the nearest car park, household waste and recycling centre, public toilets and food bank. You can also use it to find the closest place to grab a bite to eat and what their food hygiene rating is.

With more features being developed in the coming months, the app will continue to expand to meet the needs of residents.

Free to download, search ‘West Northamptonshire Council’ on the app store on your mobile or tablet, to stay up to date.

12 April 2023

Contractors OnTrack returned to carry out the work after prolonged winter rain forced operator Northamptonshire Sport to close trails on the western side of the site.

While other trails remained open, standing water meant several of the trails were not accessible until drainage work could be carried out.

We’re obviously delighted that Northamptonshire Sport has been able to reopen the affected trails and that the whole site is now back in operation in time for part of the Easter break.

I know the parks users have been champing at the bit to get back onto some of the trails and I’m sure they’ll also be excited by this news.

It’s important for everyone to remember that it’s not unusual for trails to close for maintenance and repair from time to time, but the park was more extensively affected than we would have anticipated.

I’d like to thank OnTrack for returning to remedy the issues and get things back up and running, and I’d encourage everyone to get down there and make good use of this free facility.

Cllr Adam Brown, West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) Cabinet Member for Housing, Culture and Leisure

The park opened in October last year thanks to funding from WNC, and Sport England, British Cycling and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport through their Places to Ride fund.

We are so pleased that the works have been completed. It has been a great team effort between WNC and On Track.

The weather is getting better, perfect for riding all the trails across the park so we are looking forward to seeing the riders back, enjoying the sunshine and practising their jumps!

Gabrielle Deere, Northamptonshire Sport Strategic Director – Business Development and Commercial

There are some great videos from users of the park on YouTube and we’d encourage everyone to get down there, try it out, and perhaps add to them.

06 April 2023

Last week, building work began to rescue the Old Black Lion public house in Marefair, Northampton.

The milestone was marked by a small gathering of those involved in the project including the contractors – Midland Conservation Limited – the Churches Conservation Trust, the Friends of St Peter’s Church and representatives of West Northamptonshire Council.  

The works are part of the Churches Conservation Trust’s ambitious project to regenerate the Old Black Lion, which is a Grade II listed building, next door to St Peter’s Church. The church dates to the 12th century and is listed at Grade I, but closed for worship in 1995 and was vested in CCT in 1998. Despite periods of use by the community and an active Friends group of volunteers, in recent years St Peter’s has struggled to function as a heritage landmark and venue due to a lack of hospitality facilities or WCs.

We are delighted to be working with Church Conservation Trust to bring this derelict former pub back into use for our local community. The building is a real focal point for the local area and I look forward to seeing it be transformed over the coming months. Once complete, this asset will form part of the wider gateway into the town, complementing the Marefair Heritage Park and deliver a hub for local residents at the heart of the community.Cllr Daniel Lister, WNC’s Cabinet Member for economic development, town centre regeneration and growth,

Enabling and demolition works took place last summer and now the main conservation repair works can begin; a third contract for fitting out the pub and offices will follow in November 2023.

The aim of the project is to restore the Old Black Lion as a pub, open for business and once again serving the local community. The idea is that the refurbished pub will provide hospitality for visitors and volunteers at St Peter’s Church, supporting the work of the Friends of St Peter’s Church and encouraging beneficial uses of the church for concerts, performances and events.  

The revitalised pub could also generate funds for the repair and conservation of St Peter’s Church and to support the work of CCT more broadly, providing the church with a more sustainable future. In addition, CCT’s national office will be located on the first floor of the Old Black Lion. It’s been a huge effort from the CCT team, the design team, contractors, and our partners and friends in Northampton to reach this major milestone of starting conservation works on site; we are excited to see the building transformed over the coming months.

Hannah Parham, Regeneration Project Manager, the Churches Conservation Trust 

The project will cost £3.5m, of which £3m is capital expenditure. CCT was awarded a National Lottery Heritage Fund Enterprise Grant of £1,841,800 in 2016; in November 2022, this was augmented by £794,405, to reflect rising costs.  Funding has also been granted by HM Treasury’s Towns Fund, West Northamptonshire Council, the Architectural Heritage Fund and West Northamptonshire Development Corporation.

The project has received £315,000 of Towns Fund support, and the delivery is supported by the Northampton Forward Board and forms part of the Marefair ‘Heritage Gateway’.

The refurbishment should be completed by Spring 2024, with the publican opening the pub shortly afterwards.