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Upper and Lower Benefield is situated in East Northamptonshire, along the A427 in between Corby and Oundle.

Benefield Parish Council consists of 7 elected members who represent both Upper and Lower Benefield. The Parish Council Meetings are held approximately every 6 weeks in the Village Hall, Brigstock Road, Lower Benefield.

The Draft Minutes from the Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 22nd February 2021 are now available. The  date of the next Parish Council Meeting is due to be held on Monday 12th April, the agenda will be available by Thursday 1st April

There is a growing Cricket Club, the Cricket Pavilion has been extended, which is situated in Upper Benefield.

The Village Church is in Lower Benefield, along the Brigstock Road, which holds regular services on Sunday’s along with an Annual Flower Festival and Garden Fete.

The Village Hall is also available for hiring, and events along with contact details are on the Village Hall News Page.

Community Email

Benefield Parish Council would like to set up a community email; if you would like to receive an email communications from the Parish Council, please do send an email to benefieldparishcouncilclerk@gmail.com saying “I consent”.

By doing this you will be consenting to Benefield Parish Council holding your email address and using it to communicate with you. This will be done in accordance with the Councils data protection policy which can be found on the Council’s website. The policy summarises your rights, including your right to withdraw your consent at any time.

Please note that all emails to be circulated to the village by the Parish Council will be “closed emails. In other words, no recipient of an email will be able to see the name or email address of any other recipient of that email.

Final consultation stage for East Northamptonshire’s Local Plan

 East Northamptonshire Council is seeking the views of interested parties on the pre-submission version of the district’s Local Plan.

The Local Plan sets out planning policies for East Northamptonshire and helps to shape new housing opportunities and deliver community and green infrastructure to support future growth. It will also help to ensure future planning applications including up to date policy requirements adding local quality to development.

The council’s Planning Policy committee approved the Pre-Submission Local Plan on Wednesday, 27 January which enables the start of the final consultation, known as Regulation 19. This particular regulation concentrates on whether the Local Plan meets the ‘Test of soundness’ – whether the plan is sound and has been prepared in accordance with all the necessary legal and procedural requirements and is positively prepared, effective and is justified by the evidence.

Once the Regulation 19 consultation ends, responses will be compiled with the Local Plan and its supporting documentation before being submitted for independent examination by the Planning Inspectorate. If the Plan is found to be sound, it will be presented to North Northamptonshire Council for adoption.

This consultation will run for six weeks, from Friday 5 February to Friday 19 March 2021. Further details about how to respond and to view the consultation documents are available at www.east-northamptonshire.gov.uk/consultation

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, paper copies of the draft policy cannot be displayed in libraries or the Council’s contact centre. Should you experience any difficulty in viewing the document, please contact the Planning Policy team on 01832 742140.

Dog Fouling – Clean Up After your dog – It is the Law

There have been several reports of dog poop bags being thrown into the hedgerows along the permissive footpaths, please take it home and put it in your black bin.

The Law

Using powers in the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (2005), East Northamptonshire Council has implemented four dog control orders including “Failing to remove dog faeces”. This applies to all land that is open to the air and the public are entitled or permitted to have access to with or without payment. Using these powers the council can issue a fixed penalty notice of £100 to any person that lets their dog foul and does not pick it up. Being unaware that your dog has fouled is not considered a reasonable excuse for leaving it.

If you are issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice and you don’t pay it you could be taken to court. The maximum penalty then rises to £1,000. Whenever you go out with your dog carry some bags with you, just in case. Having no bags with you isn’t a reasonable excuse for not clearing up and you could still be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice.

Enforcement

East Northamptonshire Council’s Environmental Services Officers patrol areas where problems with dog fouling have been reported to try to catch the offender or act as a deterrent. If you would like to report a fouling problem it would be helpful if you could give them as much details such as approximate times when the fouling is happening and if possible descriptions of the dog and/or its owner. We may also be able to put up some signs warning owners not to let their dogs foul. Please see our dog fouling page for more information.

Please use the reporting dog fouling form to report an area to us where dog fouling needs to be cleaned up.

St Mary’s Church, Benefield

Church News Page has been updated on 17th December 2020

Village Hall Events page updated on 24th March 2020

Local Events page updated on 6th November 2019

Neighbourhood Plan Document has been added and Details of How the Council Tax is Calculated on Tuesday 3rd September 2019.  These Documents can be found under the heading of Parish Council.