Black bins, Silverstone witnesses and Sawpits

Howdy, Towcester!

The week has landed as a very Towcester mix: black-bin changes still rumbling towards South Northants, a police appeal from Silverstone, Saints semi-final seats to sort, and enough Sawpits activity to justify checking the diary twice.

If you know about a result, meeting, event, concern or correction we have missed, reply and send it over. The Waffle gets better when local knowledge arrives before it turns into queue-chat.

West Northamptonshire Council's plan to move most South Northants and Northampton households with individual wheeled bins to three-weekly residual waste collections has survived another scrutiny step.

The council says its Place and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee looked again at the Cabinet decision on Tuesday 26 May and decided to take no further action. That means WNC will keep preparing for the change, which is due from spring 2027, while engaging with residents over the next 12 months.

For Towcester readers, the useful bit is not the committee choreography. It is the practical shape of the change: black wheeled bins would move from every two weeks to every three, while food waste stays weekly and recycling stays fortnightly. Flats, communal bin stores and sack collections are not meant to move onto the same timetable.

Northamptonshire Police have put out a witness appeal after a dog bite incident in Silverstone, and it is one where a local reader may genuinely be able to help.

The force says it happened at about 7pm on Saturday 9 May in the beer garden of the White Horse pub, where a three-year-old boy was bitten by a Doberman. Officers especially want to hear from anyone who saw the moments before the bite.

If you were there, or know someone who was, the useful detail is the reference: call Northamptonshire Police on 101, report online, or contact Crimestoppers, quoting incident 26000270261.

Northampton Saints' week has moved on sharply. Saints beat Gloucester 36-32 on Saturday 30 May, and the club says that result has secured a home Gallagher PREM semi-final at Franklin's Gardens on Friday 12 June, 7.45pm.

The useful bit for readers is the ticket timing. Season-ticket holders started on Monday 1 June, members and new 2026/27 season-ticket holders get windows from Thursday 4 June, and general sale opens at 12pm on Friday 5 June if anything is left.

So yes, the Harlequins trip still sits in the diary, but this is the bigger Saints story now: a four-point home win, a Friday-night semi-final, and not much time to sort a seat if you want one.

Northampton Saints' official fixtures page lists Harlequins v Saints at Twickenham Stoop on Saturday 6 June at 3.15pm.

That makes this the last listed regular-season fixture before Saints' home semi-final at Franklin's Gardens on Friday 12 June.

Towcestrians Cricket Club's club fixture listing shows another three-match senior Saturday on 6 June. The 1st XI host Weekley & Warkton 2nd XI, the 2nd XI travel to Rothwell Town 2nd XI, and the 3rd XI host Barby 4th XI.

That gives the section a slightly more useful shape than a single-score glance. Towcestrians are back into the rhythm of proper weekend cards now, and the home 1st XI fixture is the clearest place to look for the next local scoreline with a bit of consequence to it.

If you only track one local scorecard this weekend, the 1st XI home game is still the obvious pick.

Towcester Town Council and Northamptonshire Police are both listing a Crime Prevention & Community Event at the Sawpits Centre for Thursday 4 June, 12pm to 4pm.

The details are still lighter than you would ideally want, but the basics are solid: place, time, and a straightforward chance to speak to people about crime and anti-social behaviour without needing a saga first.

Not every useful civic thing needs to arrive with a glossy campaign. Sometimes it is enough that it exists, it is local, and it is soon.

Towcester Town Council's events calendar is promoting the Volunteer Fayre at Towcester Town Hall on Friday 5 June, 10am to 3.30pm.

That is the sort of event Towcester tends to need more than it says out loud: local groups in one room, asking for time, help, and practical support rather than abstract good intentions.

If you have been meaning to do something helpful but have not fancied a long recruitment obstacle course, this looks like the low-fuss version.

West Northamptonshire Council is running a set of SEND community conversations as it works on the next SEND and Inclusion Strategy for 2027 to 2030.

The Towcester session is at The Forum on Monday 15 June, 10am to 2pm, with parents, carers, young people, professionals and community members invited to register interest. WNC says the surveys are also open until 17 June.

This is one for families and professionals who usually end up saying "nobody asked us" after the plan is written. This time, the local room is actually in Towcester.

Climate Action West Northamptonshire is bringing The People's Emergency Briefing to the Sawpits Centre on Friday 5 June, 7pm to 8.30pm.

The format is deliberately useful: a 45-minute film on climate and nature risks, followed by a 45-minute structured local discussion. Spaces are limited and the listing asks people to reserve a seat.

That makes it a better local action than another vague climate nudge. It is in Towcester, it is this week, and it gives people a room to talk in rather than just another thing to worry about alone.

Saints Schools Cup regional day - Wed 3 Jun, Towcester RFC. Northampton Saints' Schools Cup page still lists the Northamptonshire regional tournament at Towcester RFC today. Same-day nudge only: this was already covered earlier in the cycle.

Towcester Leisure Centre Beat Bus visit - Wed 3 Jun, 2.30pm to 3.30pm, Towcester Centre for Leisure. Northamptonshire Police lists it on the Towcester local events page.

Crime Prevention & Community Event - Thu 4 Jun, 12pm to 4pm, Sawpits Centre. Towcester Town Council has the current listing here.

Volunteer Fayre - Fri 5 Jun, 10am to 3.30pm, Towcester Town Hall. Towcester Town Council's events calendar lists it as a Volunteers' Week community event.

The People's Emergency Briefing film screening - Fri 5 Jun, 7pm to 8.30pm, Sawpits Centre. Climate Action West Northamptonshire's What's On page lists the Towcester screening and discussion, with limited spaces to reserve.

English Greyhound Derby Final - Sat 6 Jun, Towcester Racecourse. Derby Final night is the biggest date in the racecourse's Derby calendar, with the competition reaching its last stage in town this weekend.

SEND community conversation - Mon 15 Jun, 10am to 2pm, 2nd Floor Council Chamber, The Forum. WNC has the registration details and survey links.

Towcester Midsummer Music Festival - Thu 18 Jun to Sun 21 Jun, Towcester town centre. The festival site has tickets, get-involved links and fundraising details.

There is a particular kind of local usefulness that looks suspiciously like admin.

It looks like a volunteer fair in a town hall. It looks like a police event at Sawpits, a club fixture, or someone remembering to put the actual time and venue somewhere people can find it.

None of that is glamorous. Very little of it will make anyone's group chat explode. But it is the difference between "I would have gone if I'd known" and "Oh yes, that's today".

So this week, the win is simple: know the room, know the kick-off, know where to turn up. That will do nicely.

If this helped, forward it to one NN12 person who likes being usefully nosey. And if you have tips, events, results, questions, worries or corrections, just reply and send them over.

-- Atlas & Lee, somewhere in NN12