Please see the Highways and Traffic section to see the latest updates.
Blisworth Parish Council Newsletter Round and About No 151 June_July 2023
Thank you to all the residents that attended the Annual Parish Meeting and for your engagement with the voting process about Blisworth Parish Council’s future priorities. It was great for the councillors to hear your views and share ideas, as well as enjoying cake!
If you were not able to attend the meeting, here is your opportunity to express your opinion!
Below are seven different suggestions of where we might want to spend our limited funds. You have seven votes (to match the 7 options). You can vote for one item 7 times or vote once for each option – or any combination in between. It’s up to you. We do not have the funds to complete all of these options.
The pound signs are an indication of the costs involved.
- A traffic calming chicane on Stoke Road (within village limits) similar to a chicane in Shutlanger village. ££££
- Further Signage: 20 mph limit near the school, improve weight-limit signage for Stoke Road etc ££
- Traffic operated crossing across High Street, near Blisworth School (where the current bus lane is). ££££
- Happy to Chat Bench in the village to improve village interaction. £
- A footpath from the Tunnel Carpark into the village ££££
- Electric E charge on the streets to encourage electric car take up Free
- Improve pavements including installing dropped kerbs £££
The village shop, St John’s Church and Blisworth Baptist Church have all very kindly agreed to display voting information, voting forms and a voting box. Please take a few minutes to complete a form and post your response. Results will be checked on 5th June 2023.
Blisworth Parish Council Surgery
We will continue to host informal surgery sessions where councillors will be present at the Blisworth Baptist Church for discussion on any parish issues. It will be a great opportunity to join us for a chat and air any concerns over a cup of coffee and maybe a bit of cake! We are extremely grateful for the support of the Baptist Church and the free use of their facilities to further support our local community. Our next session will be on Tuesday 13th June 2023 (10:00 – 12:00). If you are concerned about the traffic issues in the village or have any other worries please come and have your say.
S137 Grants
The parish council can award small grants of up to £500 to local groups/organisations to promote community activities in our village. Contact the parish clerk for details on Blisworthparishcouncil@gmail.com or view our Policies page and scroll down and select the BPC s137 Policy and Form document.
BLISWORTH CELEBRATIONS CORONATION of KING CHARLES III
Thank you to all the volunteers that helped to make this such a successful event. All proceeds from the tea/coffee and fabulous food, especially the cakes, will go towards projects in the village to support the local residents. Picnics, Parties and Lunches Day: What beautiful weather – BPC hope you enjoyed the weather and your parties. Designated day for Volunteering: There was a great turn out from residents eager to volunteer to help maintain the Closed Cemetery (opposite St John’s Church). A special thank you to the children who worked so hard to clear many of the weeds! Please contact the Clerk if you would like to help in future.
Subsidence at Stoke Road – New Update 23/03/2023
Residents have noted an increase in the volume and weight of the traffic this week along Stoke Road, through the village. May we ask you, friends and neighbours to take videos, if at all possible, and then post them on the Police website: https://snap.northants.police.uk/snap/ This helps to highlight the problem, rather than having just one email from the Blisworth Parish Council. The Police may be more inclined to act if they get multiple emails from residents. Please note that it is an offence to video another vehicle while actually driving. Alternatively, if you could take the registration number and the name of the company etc on the overweight vehicle and notify the Police, they will investigate further. Blisworth Parish Council have notified the Bridge and Highway Structures Team Leader to alert them to the fact that there is increased and increasing volume of traffic using Stoke Road and an increasing amount of traffic that contravenes the 3.5 T weight restriction.
‘while it may seem to have deteriorated, the settlement (at Stoke Road, Blisworth) is the same as previously inspected.’
Cost of Living Support
Residents across West Northamptonshire can now sign up for optional, chargeable garden waste collections from April 2023.
Garden Waste Collections
The annual subscription charge for the fortnightly service from April 2023 to the end of March 2024 is £55 per bin and can be made online at www.westnorthants.gov.uk/gardenwaste
Residents now have the option to sign up for an annual direct debit to save having to remember to renew every year. Residents who are unable to access the internet can subscribe to the service by phoning the council on 0300 126 7000.
Once households are signed up to the service, they will receive their new 2023/24 garden waste permit which they will be asked to stick on their garden waste bin. Any bins that have not subscribed will not be emptied after 4 April 2023.
People who do not wish to sign up to the service have the option of composting their garden waste at home, either in a traditional compost heap or by purchasing a compost bin by visiting www.getcomposting.com and typing in their postcode to see offers available in their area.
People can also recycle garden waste for free at any of the Council’s household waste recycling centres. A comprehensive list of FAQs are also available on the Council’s website at www.westnorthants.gov.uk/bins-recycling-and-street-cleaning/garden-waste-collection-faqs
More information can be found at www.westnorthants.gov.uk/gardenwaste
Increased volume of trucks through Blisworth
Blisworth Parish Council has received a number of complaints regarding the increased volume of heavy-goods vehicles using the village roads to access the EMERGENCY EARTHWORK INTERVENTION at Blisworth Embankment.
While Blisworth Parish Council recognises the importance of these works, the Council has contacted Network Rail and submitted a detailed letter outlining residents’ concerns and requesting that their suppliers/contractors use alternative routes to access the site to safeguard Blisworth’s residents and to safeguard the fabric of our roads as well as the homes along the main routes through Blisworth. We would like to thank residents who have already contacted the Clerk with their concerns and photos of the heavy-goods trucks in the village. You can use the following link to submit individual concerns on the Network Rail website: Network Rail Contact Form
Important Update: Network Rail have sent the following response to the Council’s concerns:
Thank you for contacting us about our trucks going through Blisworth village and creating traffic problems. I raised this with the project team and drivers have been advised to take a diversionary route along the A43 which means that no lorries should be entering Blisworth village. We take this very seriously and if any truck drivers ignore this they will be banned from site.
Charging units for electric cars
Blisworth Parish Council have been contacted by Char.gy. Char.gy supplies options to allow drivers to charge an electric car on the street (where there is no off-road parking). Their charging units can be fixed to lampposts or onto purpose installed bollards. We would like to hear residents’ views about this proposal. Would you be interested in having a charging unit on the street near your property or do you envisage that this may increase parking issues?
Interested in a charging unit on your street: bit.ly/iwantacharger
WNC offers cost of living support
- West Northamptonshire Council Online Cost of Living Support Hub
- Cost-of-Living Support Line 0300 126 7000 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday
WNC have set up a new area on their website to help people access a range of support and advice to help them through the current cost of living crisis. Financial help for low wage workers, households with children, and those most needing help towards rent, council tax, household bills including gas and electricity, childcare costs and important daily essentials.
Have you ever considered working in a Poll Station or at a Count Venue during an election and supporting the democratic process? For further details please visit: www.westnorthants.gov.uk/electoral-services/employment-opportunities-elections.
Public Spaces Protection Order
- pick up their dog’s mess and dispose of it properly
- carry the means to pick up after their dog
- prevent their dog from entering public places from which dogs are excluded, including children’s play areas, schools, skateparks, tennis courts, multi-use games areas (MUGAs) and bowling greens
- keep their dog on a lead when in cemeteries, burial sites, graveyards, memorial gardens, allotments, car parks, sports grounds, fields and pitches – when in use for authorised sporting activity
- put their dog on a lead when asked to do so by an authorised officer
- Also restricts a person from walking more than four dogs at any one time and prohibits smoking in: children’s play areas, schools, skateparks, tennis courts, multi-use games areas (MUGAs), and bowling greens. You must have the appropriate means to pick up dog faeces deposited by your dog. It is recommended that you take out several bags with you so that if your dog decides to go to the toilet more than once, you are not without a bag. Dispose of the bag correctly in either a dog waste or litter bin, or take it home and place it, suitably wrapped, in your own waste bin. Do not dump the bag in a hedge or hang it from a branch, this is littering. Littering is also an offence and you can receive a fine of £150.
Parking and Mobility issues
Blisworth Notice Boards
Funding for Community Renewal
Some community groups and organisations are struggling to bounce back after the Coronavirus pandemic, and a bit of money to fund a new activity or to energise a relaunch might go a very long way. The Janet and Bryan Moore Trust is a local charity which is inviting applications for funding for projects that help enhance and unite local communities such as childcare, scout groups, fitness groups and churches. Parish and town councils are not eligible bodies themselves, but if you know of, or are a member of, a community group in need of funding it might be just what you’re looking for. Grants up to £20,000 are available. See www.janetandbryanmooretrust.
Citizens Advice Bureau – If you are worried about debt, benefits, housing or anything else – Drop in to see an advisor at the Towcester Foodbank every Tuesday 12-2pm. Citizens Advice & Food bank
Blisworth Football Club
Blisworth Football Club have asked Blisworth Parish Council to post their presentation detailing their forthcoming plans. Football Club Presentation
Don’t forget to contribute to the Northants Police current priorities survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.
Police & Neighbourhood Watch Scheme (helping to prevent and detect crime and anti-social behaviour). If residents would like to receive notifications direct, you can register with: www.northamptonshireneighbourhoodalert.co.uk/
Please help Blisworth Parish Council to support residents. Click on the ‘Operation Snap’ link below to find out how to report vehicles that exceed the 3-Tonne weight limit situated on the Stoke Road (near the canal tunnel entrance). Operation Snap
Yet more warehousing developments
Eastfield Play Area
Please contact the parish council if you have any concerns/issues regarding the play area.
Details of End of Year Accounts and Exercise of Public Rights to view accounts for 2021 – 2022: Please click on the Documents Tab, Finance.
WE STILL NEED YOU! Parish Councillor Vacancies
There are four vacancies for a member of the public to become a Parish Councillor. If you feel you would like to get involved in making decisions about your local community, local issues and make a significant contribution to the area in which you live or work, then this is the position for you! Do you have an interest in your local environment, local transport, local government finances, amenities, planning and housing issues, community events, anti-social behaviour and policing, and want to make a difference then please apply!
- You must be aged 18 years and over, eligible to vote and have lived or worked in the parish of Blisworth for 12 months or more, or within 3 miles of the parish boundary.
- Any elector can identify a potential councillor and nominate candidates for election and have the right to elect a councillor who represents their interests.
- The role of Parish Councillor is unpaid however training and support is provided. If you are interested please contact the Parish Clerk on blisworthparishcouncil@gmail.com.
Support to elderly residents
Northamptonshire Age UK provides support to elderly residents with a wide range of services including domestic cleaning, gardening, handy person, carer sittings service, day care at home, information and advice. For more information please call 01604 611200 or email access@ageuknorthants.org.uk or visit www.ageuknorthants.org.uk.
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Grass cutting
Residents with any questions, concerns or issues about grass cutting in the village please could you contact the Clerk of the Parish Council and not the contractors that way we can make sure issues are logged and tracked. Blisworth Parish Council: blisworthparishcouncil@gmail.com
Blisworth is a thriving, picturesque village in South Northamptonshire situated 5 miles south of the county town. It has some 900 homes and an estimated population of 1870 (2010 village survey).
The West Coast Railway runs close to Blisworth and the Grand Union Canal passes through the village which extends from the famous Blisworth Tunnel, to the outlying residential areas of Blisworth Arm and Blisworth Park.
Village amenities include a primary school, a village shop with news agency and post office and two local pubs. Many small businesses surround the area, largely in discreet attractive business parks.
Please contact the Clerk for a copy of the signed minutes.