Annual Meeting of the Council, 14 May 2007

07/ 1
HELMDON PARISH COUNCIL
Draft Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Helmdon Parish Council held on Monday 14th May 2007
in the Reading Room, Church Street, Helmdon at 7:30 p.m.
Present: Councillors Barnes, Burns, Crouch, Coatsworth, Duncombe, England, Thorne, Turner.
Parish Clerk: Liz Hart
Approximately sixteen members of the public were present.
Action
1 Election of Chairman for 2007/2008
Cllr England proposed, seconded by Cllr Crouch that Cllr Burns be nominated for Chairman.
Cllr Turner proposed, seconded by Cllr Barnes that Cllr Thorne be nominated for Chairman.
Cllr Burns – 4 votes, Cllr Thorne – 4 votes. Cllr Burns used his casting Chair’s vote for himself – Cllr Burns was therefore elected 5-4.
2 Signing of Chairman’s declaration of acceptance of office
Cllr Burns duly signed the declaration which was countersigned by the Parish Clerk.
3 Apologies for Absence
Cllr Stothard was absent due to a prior holiday arrangement.
4 Election of Vice Chairman for 2007/2008
Cllr Barnes proposed, seconded by Cllr Turner that Cllr Thorne be nominated for the position of Vice Chair. All were in favour.
5 The appointment of committee members
The membership for 2007/8 is as follows:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
6
Finance: Cllrs Burns, Barnes, Stothard, Thorne and RFO
Planning: Cllrs Burns, Barnes, Coatsworth, Thorne, Duncombe, Crouch
Road Safety: Cllrs Turner, Crouch, England, Stothard
Playground: Cllrs Turner, Duncombe, Crouch
Allotment: Cllr Coatsworth
The appointment of Parish Representatives
The following were appointed with all in favour:
a) Parish Paths Warden – Roger Miles b) Parish Highways Representative – Cllr Stothard c) Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator – Cllr Crouch d) School Liaison Councillor – Cllr Turner e) PC Rep on Reading Room Committee – Cllr England f) PC Reps on Parish Plan Monitoring Group – Cllrs Barnes and Coatsworth g) Poppy Organiser – Cllr Burns to approach interested parties h) Health and Safety Officers – Cllrs Coatsworth and Turner
Cllr Burns

07/
7
2
To appoint the Responsible Financial Officer
Cllr Burns proposed, seconded by Cllr England that Liz Hart, Parish Clerk continue as RFO.
All in favour.
8 To appoint the Internal Auditor for y/e 2008
Cllr Burns informed the meeting that this was agreed as NALC by the previous Council at th the 28 March 2007 meeting – Minute 5b).
9 Updating of Register of Interests
The Clerk distributed copies of the Register of Interest forms to be returned within 28 days.
10 Approval and signature of the Minutes for the AGM held on 24th May 2006
Cllr Burns proposed, seconded by Cllr England that the Minutes be approved by Council. All were in favour and Cllr Burns duly signed the Minutes.
11 Matters arising from the minutes of 24th May 2006
None.
S Committee & Representative Reports a) Finance – the RFO circulated the budget for 2007/8 and the actual v budgeted expenditure for y/e 2007.
b) Planning – there were 21 planning applications which necessitated 13 planning meetings. Cllr Brookhouse thanked the members for their support as attendance was
96%.
c) Road Safety (Parish Highways Representative) – NCC had run out of money before the end of the financial year meaning that there was no budget to carry out repairs.
d) Playground – no report received e) Allotments – the Clerk has managed the lease agreements since Cllr Gittens resigned.
All except one cultivated plot is let and the site is now secured by a padlocked gate.
There are a number of issues to be forwarded for consideration by the new Committee.
f) Helmdon Parish Plan – this was drawn up in July 2004 after widespread consultation with the community. It has helped shape the development and progress of the village and surrounding areas over the last three years. We have celebrated many successes and we feel that we live in a better place for having the plan. Of course, at the same time there have been frustrations, with some action points not progressing as far or as fast as we would like.
Consultation – In 2006 the Parish Council asked the Parish Plan Monitoring Group
(PPMG) to carry out a survey of public opinion to ascertain the level of support for the proposal by the Sports Club to include a hall in the redevelopment plans of the sports pavilion on Wappenham Road. The PPMG issued a consultation document to the thirty five groups and organisations in the parish, and subsequently made the document available to members of the public via the notice boards, public buildings and web site.
The formal consultation was followed by a public meeting at the school on 18th
November 2006. The PPMG collated all of the evidence in to a final document in mid
January and presented it to the Sports Club to be forwarded to SNC. The consensus was that there is overwhelming support for the Sports Club’s ambitions to build a new hall for sporting and general community use, whilst at the same time maintaining and improving the existing facilities in the village.
Road & Community Safety – The Parish Plan clearly identified several areas of concern to do with the roads and pavements in the village. Whilst the resurfacing works carried out in early 2006 went some way to improving the road surface, there are still safety concerns in some areas, particularly at Jeffs Bridge and the Welsh Lane crossroads.
The PPMG sees this action point as its main focus for the coming 12 months g) Parish Paths Warden – Roger Miles commented on the active footpaths working
Clerk

07/
groups, the success seen in repairing certain areas this year and the proposed cycle route to Brackley.
h) Neighbourhood Watch – Cllr Brookhouse is to hand over to Cllr Crouch as the new co-
ordinator.
i) School Liaison – The lack of progress in agreeing a new lease has been a source of frustration throughout the year. There have been several factors at play, not least the very slow, and sometimes inadequate, response from Northants County Council. It was hoped that the lease agreement produced by NCC after a joint meeting in October 2006
would be satisfactory to both sides but the school has not had any correspondence from the parish council since. It is very much hoped that the new council will pick this subject up and work towards a conclusion as quickly as possible. Any improvements or additions to the play equipment, or maintenance of the existing equipment would be most welcome. The school is considering a capital project to enlarge the teaching accommodation at the school and tenders have been obtained to build a new classroom to the rear of the school. Many options are under consideration so it is unlikely that there will be any building work this academic year. The school will endeavour to keep the parish council informed of progress and it is hoped that the whole community will take an interest in, and ultimately benefit from, the development project.
j) Reading Room – the Reading Room is putting out for tenders for a new ceiling. A fire risk assessment highlighted a few minor issues. There is currently £12 858 in the bank account.
The meeting closed at 8pm.
3