Pitches, care, Saints and a packed weekend

Morning Towcester!

This week is mostly about things getting close enough to act on: the new community building and pitches still aren't over the line, Towcester Forum is named in a WNC adult social care decision, Saints have Leicester on Friday night, and Saturday is doing that thing where every NN12 calendar suddenly looks full.

Forward it to one local person who likes knowing what's coming. And if you know about a result, event, concern or correction before it turns into hearsay, reply and send it over.

The delayed transfer of Towcester's new community building and football pitches is still stuck.

The sticking points are legal arrangements, liabilities and funding. The commuted sums tied to the Section 106 agreement still need securing if the site's going to have a sustainable future.

That's bureaucratic language for a very practical local irritation. A community asset people can already see still isn't one they can actually use, and the town council is now being clear that the delay is about risk, money and legal sign-off rather than somebody just forgetting to unlock the door.

West Northamptonshire Council said its Cabinet was due to consider a 12-week consultation on council-run adult social care services on Tuesday 9 June.

Towcester matters here because the list of services in scope includes day services at Towcester Forum, alongside homes and services elsewhere in West Northamptonshire. If Cabinet approves the consultation, local families and service users will need to read the small print rather than assume this is somebody else's county-wide admin problem.

By Tuesday evening, WNC hadn't published a Cabinet outcome. The consultation route may open later in June, but the result needs one last check before scheduling. Towcester is named in the service list rather than just hovering at the edge of the story.

West Northamptonshire Council has published its provisional 2025/26 financial position, and the headline isn't cosy: the council finished the year with a £7m overspend.

The local angle is the pressure. Children's social care, adult social care, EHCP demand and the dedicated schools grant deficit are exactly the sort of budget lines that turn into real decisions for families and residents.

The council says it delivered more than £20m of savings and kept the overspend to 1.6% of the budget. Translation: keep an eye on this when consultations, service changes and next year's budget start arriving with polite language and sharp consequences.

Saints lost 38-31 at Harlequins on Saturday 6 June, after a late Quins try turned the regular-season finale.

The useful bit is now clear: the play-off is an East Midlands Derby against Leicester Tigers at Franklin's Gardens on Friday 12 June, 7.45pm. A final ticket release is set for 12pm Wednesday 10 June, with around 400 tickets available first come, first served.

So the rugby line is a bit of both: Saints lost the dress rehearsal, but the practical bit is simpler now. If you still want a seat, check the 12pm Wednesday release route before assuming there's a way in.

Towcestrians Cricket Club had a decent Saturday on Play-Cricket: one abandonment, two wins, and enough scoreline detail to make the weekend feel less like guesswork.

The 1st XI made 189/8 against Weekley & Warkton 2nd XI before that match was abandoned, which is frustrating rather than disastrous. The 2nd XI had the cleaner afternoon, beating Rothwell Town 2nd XI by 27 runs after posting 146/6 and then bowling Rothwell out for 119. The 3rd XI were tidier still, chasing down 82 from Barby 4th XI to win by five wickets.

That's a decent return: runs on the board, two wins completed, and only the weather robbing the 1s of a full afternoon.

The 2026 Towcester Town 6 A Side Tournament runs across Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 June at Towcester Town FC, NN12 6AU, covering age groups from U7 to U16.

It's proper grassroots sport rather than a token fixture mention: free entry, short nine-minute matches, Cup and Plate knockouts, and food and refreshments on site. Good one for parents, players, grandparents and anyone who prefers their weekend sport with a bacon roll nearby.

Race The Night Towcester is at Towcester Racecourse on Saturday 13 June, with runners trying to complete as many 2.7km laps as possible between 6.30pm and 10.30pm.

If you're near the racecourse on Saturday evening, expect runners, teams and a bit more movement than usual around the site.

Silverstone's BRSCC Summer National runs on the National Circuit on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 June, with tickets listed from £18.

This isn't Grand Prix traffic chaos territory. It's the more approachable end of Silverstone: Formula Ford, Mini Racing UK and C1 endurance racing, with the circuit describing open paddocks and close-up club racing. Handy if you want a motorsport fix without pretending the whole weekend has to revolve around F1.

The Adult Social Care "Big Conversation" has a survey open until 30 July and a Rural South & East event at The Riverside Centre, Towcester, on Thursday 2 July from 2pm to 4pm.

This is the more obviously useful twin to the Cabinet consultation story above. One item is about what the council may change; this one is about getting local carers, families and people using services to say what's working and what isn't before those decisions harden.

The SEND community conversation is at The Forum on Monday 15 June, 10am to 2pm, with surveys open until 17 June.

This has been in the orbit for a while, but it's now close enough to stop being a vague future nudge. If you're a parent, carer, young person, school staffer or local professional who ends up dealing with the system in real life, this is the bit where WNC is at least claiming to want your view before the next strategy is set.

Towcester Midsummer Music Festival runs from 18 to 21 June 2026, with tickets, mailing-list sign-up and the usual asks for sponsors, volunteers and practical help.

That still makes it more than a save-the-date. The festival is one of those town fixtures that only looks effortless if you ignore the number of people and small businesses carrying it, and the organisers are still looking for more hands as well as more punters.

Parent carers, children and young people have until 12 June to give views on annual reviews of Education, Health and Care Plans.

If your family deals with an EHCP, this is worth doing. The feedback is meant to feed into annual review forms, the online system, and guidance for schools before changes come in for the next school year.

We had this in a previous issue, but it's now close enough for the diary nudge: Towcester Community Garden's Open Day is on Saturday 13 June, 10.30am to 3.30pm, at the Tove Valley Centre, Northampton Road, Towcester, NN12 7AH.

It's a side project of renew169 Wellbeing Cafe, and the day is built for both keen gardeners and people who just fancy seeing what's growing. Expect garden tours, plant sales, craft stalls, a raffle, bacon butties in the morning, cream teas in the afternoon, and a midday unveiling of the new sign.

Saints v Leicester Tigers, Gallagher PREM play-off - Fri 12 Jun, 7.45pm, Franklin's Gardens. Saints' final ticket-release update says around 400 tickets are set for release at 12pm on Wednesday 10 June.

Open Mic with Lewis - Thu 11 Jun, Towcester Mill Brewery. Part of the brewery's June what's-on list.

Race The Night Towcester - Sat 13 Jun, 6.30pm to 10.30pm, Towcester Racecourse. A 4-hour lap-based endurance run for solo runners, duos and teams.

BRSCC Summer National - Sat 13 to Sun 14 Jun, Silverstone National Circuit. Club racing across the weekend, with tickets from £18.

Towcester Town 6 A Side Tournament - Sat 13 to Sun 14 Jun, Towcester Town FC, NN12 6AU. Two days of age-group football, with free entry.

Towcester Community Garden Open Day - Sat 13 Jun, 10.30am to 3.30pm, Tove Valley Centre, Northampton Road, Towcester, NN12 7AH. Expect garden tours, plant sales, craft stalls, a raffle, bacon butties, cream teas and a midday unveiling of the new sign. The garden is part of renew169 Wellbeing Cafe.

SEND community conversation - Mon 15 Jun, 10am to 2pm, 2nd Floor Council Chamber, The Forum. Details here.

Towcester Midsummer Music Festival - Thu 18 Jun to Sun 21 Jun, venues across town. Tickets and get-involved details.

Let's talk about the community building for a second.

A finished-looking building that nobody can use is one of those things that quietly winds people up. Fair enough. You can see it. You can imagine the football, the meetings, the kids' sessions, the groups that could use it, the cups of tea that could be poured in it. And then the answer is still: not yet.

The difficult bit is that "not yet" sometimes has real reasons behind it. Legal transfer, liabilities, funding, Section 106 money. None of that is exciting, but it is the difference between opening a useful community space and inheriting a problem that costs the town later.

Still, residents are allowed to be impatient. In fact, they should be. Not rude, not silly, just clear. What still needs signing? Who has it? What's the next step? When does the town get to use the thing it can already see?

That's the sort of local question worth keeping alive.

If this helped, forward it to one NN12 person who likes being usefully nosey. And if you've got tips, events, results, questions, worries or corrections, just reply. The best Waffle material is usually the thing someone local nearly forgot to mention.

-- Atlas & Lee, somewhere in NN12