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Cosgrove village
Welcome to our village website, where you'll find information about Cosgrove and the community.
Cosgrove village is a rural community located in South Northamptonshire and is served by West Northamptonshire Council.
Use the menu and dropdowns above to find information, news and points of interest for our village, where to eat, drink & stay, local businesses and our country walks. The Events calendar page shows what's on in the village, when and where it's held and which rubbish bins will be emptied each week for the current and next month.
Spend some time to meander through our gallery of village views, both present and yesteryear. To help provide more interesting information and photographs, we have our News roundup and Village Events pages. Please take a look and see what's made the news.
For an email notification of important news, select the News tab, where you can add your email address. You will receive an email informing you, whenever items of news are added to the website.
Development and Planning information can be selected from the menu above.
If you can't find what you're looking for, please let us know by selecting Contact from the options above.
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Recent updates
Click the blue hyperlink to be directed to the page on the website containing the information.
18th December - Home: screen re-organised. Speedwatch 2025 volunteering opportunity. West Northamptonshire Council: Community support services and information updated. Finance - Cosgrove Parish Council: Budget for 2025-2026 added.
5th December - Events calendar: December events updated. Parish Council Meeting Minutes 2024: Draft minutes of the December meeting and approved minutes of the November meeting.
17th November - Home: Poppy Appeal collection details.
13th November - Home: Winter fuel payment information.
15th October - Development and Planning: Applications pending a decision updated.
3rd October - Parish footpath warden: October update of our local footpath network.
Bin collections over the Christmas and New Year period only
Bin collections will be moved forward to the Monday of Christmas week and the Monday before New Year's Day. View the events calendar for details.
Waste and recycling collection arrangements for the festive season in West Northants
Community Speed Watch 2025
I am writing to invite you to be involved in the Northamptonshire Police Community Speed Watch programme in 2025. The Scheme remains free to join and will run from March 2025 to October 2025.
The Community Speedwatch Programme in 2024 generated 2039 Police educational letters being sent to keepers of vehicles who were detected exceeding the speed limit in 20, 30 and 40 mph areas. We believe this is an invaluable scheme that helps educate drivers and modify their driver behaviour in our towns and villages.
Volunteer groups will receive on-line training which has been well received and helped recruit more volunteers across the county. Access will be given to calibrated police speed laser enforcement equipment, thus enabling the volunteer groups to operate roadside speed monitoring patrols in their own area over a four-week period. Groups
will have our full support and are also able to apply to use the equipment for more than
once a year where availability allows.
It is a requirement for all communities to have at least 6-10 willing volunteers.
A coordinator is also needed to act as a point of contact for us, to hold records of their local CSW volunteers and to help them plan their activity. Smaller communities may be allowed to take part with fewer than 6 volunteers and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
For groups who did not participate in the 2024 programme we will also require either Parish Council support (in the form of a headed letter which can be emailed to us) or collect pledges of support (500 signatures or 20% of the electoral role – whichever is the least).
The closing date to join the programme is 31st January 2025.
If you wish to get involved please notify Jenny Evans, Parish Council clerk, to ensure that the minimum number of volunteers are registered.
Winter Fuel Payment - do you qualify?
To receive a Winter Fuel Payment, you will now need to qualify via means testing. That means
testing will be based on whether you are eligible for Pension Credit or not during the week of
16 – 22 September 2024. You only need to be eligible for one day during this qualifying week to
benefit from a Winter Fuel Payment this winter.
You have until 21 December 2024 to apply for Pension Credit, which is the last possible date
to make a successful backdated claim in order to receive a Winter Fuel Payment.
It is really important that you check whether you, or a loved one, might be eligible for Pension
Credit.
You can do this online at: apply-for-pension-credit.service.gov.uk/start
You can also call the claim line on 0800 99 1234. You’ll need the following details to hand:
• Your National Insurance number.
• Your bank account details.
• Information about your income, savings and investments.
• Information about your pension (if you have one).
• Details of any housing costs (such as service charges or ground rent) and your partner’s details
(if relevant).
You can call Age UK Northamptonshire to get more help on this via their advice line on 01604
611200, or go online to their website at www.ageuk.org.uk.
Citizens Advice hold drop-in sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays 0930-1230 in the
Northampton Guildhall.
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC)
WNC provide support services and advice for the community. Information is available on the WNC dedicated screen and can be accessed by clicking here.
Parish Council Election 2025
All parish, town, and community council seats will be up for election on Thursday 1 May 2025, which is now less than a year away. All unitary council seats will also be up for election, which means the costs of the elections will be shared between the two tiers of local government in the county.
All councils should aim to have a contested election, i.e. where the number of candidates standing is greater than the number of seats available. Only 1 in 5 councils achieved that in 2021 at the last election, which isn't ideal for a sector that is part of democracy. There are many reasons why councils have uncontested elections, i.e. where the number of candidates standing is the same as or less than the number of seats available. Some of those reasons are outside a council’s control (such as the reduction nationally of people wanting to be formally involved in the running of their communities). Cosgrove Parish council wants to make everyone aware and encourage those that may be interested to attend meetings before the election and see if joining the council is for them.
Playing Field and Equipment needs of the community
Do you have aspirations to help improve the Village Playing Field?
If you do, gather your thoughts, determine what your children wish for, check out suppliers, potential costs and options to aid funding. Funding is an issue, but you may have the knowledge and skill to access grants.
Please let our Parish clerk, Jenny Evans or a Parish Councillor know if you can help. Contact Jenny by email at clerk@cosgroveparishcouncil.org.uk
Parish Councillor vacancies
Notice of Casual Vacancy for the two vacant Parish Council positions can be viewed on Parish Council screen.
Parking
With increasing volumes of traffic through the village it is vital that pavements and paths are kept clear, and pedestrians not forced to walk in the road.
Concerns have been raised at the March Parish Council about vehicles being parked inconsiderately. In one location vehicles are forced over the centre white line when passing the vehicle.
Vehicles parked near to the crossroads create blind spots for drivers, as it's impossible to see if a vehicle is approaching from the opposite direction.
The Parish Council appreciate that parking is difficult, but appeals to everyone to consider whether their parked vehicle creates an unnecessary hazard. Please check that your vehicle is parked as safely as possible and that you've checked if another location may be safer for everyone.
Organisations & Services
Access Services and Support screen from the dropdown menu above, under Home