Annual Meeting of the Council, 20 May 2009

09/ 1
HELMDON PARISH COUNCIL
Draft Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Helmdon Parish Council held on Wednesday 20th May 2009
in the Reading Room, Church Street, Helmdon at 7:30 p.m.
Present: Councillors Barnes, Burns, Coatsworth, Crouch, Duncombe, England, Stothard,
Thorne, Turner
Parish Clerk: Liz Hart
Twenty nine members of the public were present.
Action
1 Election of Chairman for 2009/10
Cllr England proposed, seconded by Cllr Duncombe that Cllr Burns be nominated for
Chairman.
All were in favour.
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
None.
4 Election of Vice Chairman for 2009/2010
Cllr Barnes proposed, seconded by Cllr Crouch that Cllr Thorne be nominated for the position of Vice Chair. All were in favour.
5 To appoint the Responsible Financial Officer
Cllr Burns proposed, seconded by Cllr Stothard that the Parish Clerk, Liz Hart continue as
RFO. All were in favour.
6 To appoint an Internal Auditor
Cllr Burns proposed, seconded by Cllr Stothard that NCALC be retained as the Internal
Auditor. All were in favour.
7 The appointment of committee members
The membership for 2009/10 is as follows:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Finance: Cllrs Burns, Barnes, Stothard, Thorne and RFO
Planning: Cllrs Burns, Barnes, Coatsworth, Thorne, Duncombe, Crouch
Road Safety: Cllrs Duncombe, England, Stothard
Playground: Cllrs Turner, Duncombe, Crouch
Allotment: Cllrs Barnes, Coatsworth, Turner

09/
6 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 Burns 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 h) PC Reps on Blackpits Monitoring Group – Cllrs Thorne and Turner i) Health and Safety Officers – Cllrs Coatsworth and Turner
9 Updating of Register of Interests
The Clerk reminded all Councillors of the need to update copies of the Register of Interest forms within 28 days when applicable.
10st Approval and signature of the Minutes for the AGM held on 21 May 2008
Cllr England proposed, seconded by Cllr Thorne that the Minutes be approved by Council.
All were in favour and Cllr Burns duly signed the Minutes.
11st Matters arising from the minutes of 21 May 2008
None.
S Committee & Representative Reports a) Finance – Cllr Stothard confirmed that the Finance had met periodically throughout the year to review progress and report back to the Full Council Meeting as required. He was pleased to report that the precept for year ending 2010 had been held at the 2008/9
level.
b) Planning – Cllr Burns informed the meeting that the Commiteee had diligently reviewed applications and passed back comments to SNC in a timely manner. The planning department had concurred with the recommendations in the majority of cases. There had been no need to call any special meetings during the year.
c) Road Safety (Parish Highways Representative) – Cllr Stothard reported that improvements on several footpaths and on Station Road had been completed during the year and that a request to extend the 30mph speed limit was being progressed.
d) Allotments – Cllr Coatsworth reported on a successful year at the allotments with all plots now being cultivated to a higher standard overall than previously. Two meetings had been held during the year; the first to review an application made by Mr R Wray to purchase the allotments behind his house. This meeting was attended by many allotment holders and after some lively discussion Mr Wray had subsequently withdrawn the application. The waiting list procedure had been changed to give priority to those living in the village. The second meeting was on site to meet with tenants and look at the plots. Cllr Burns commented that the Primary School were also working on a plot.
e) Helmdon Parish Plan – Cllr Barnes that the current Plan needs to be revisited as many of the “quick wins” have been achieved; it had been hoped to recent a grant from ACRE
to make this possible but the PPMG were still awaiting news on their application.
f) Parish Paths Warden – Cllr Barnes reported as Roger Miles had sent apologies. The
Paths Group meets every 6 weeks and a number of working parties have done clearing work on undergrowth. The Group feels frustrated by a perceived lack of action by
MGWSP although it was pleased to report that some kissing gates have replaced stiles and that the stile opposite the school will be replaced in the near future. Roger Miles has been leading Health Walks in the area (an SNC initiative) with 12 walkers per group.
Landowners were to be thanked for allowing same deviations to the Rights of Way. Cllr
Burns thanked Roger Miles (in his absence) for all his hard work in this position.
g) Neighbourhood Watch – Cllr Crouch now receiving the email communications from the
2

09/
Police and attended a workshop at Wootton Hall.
h) School Liaison – The Parish Council continues to work with the school on relevant matters and the school was thanked for hosting the Judges for the Village of the Year
Competition. It was noted that the Interim Head teacher will be replaced by a permanent
Head next year.
i) Reading Room – Cllr England reported that the Reading Room was proving as popular as ever and that the Financial year had closed with £13,120. Caroline King was working exceptionally hard to obtain grant grants for the refurbishments; a new roof for the kitchen in also required. Cllr England urged those present to join a Fundraising
Committee to help drive the Refurbishment Project forward.
The meeting closed at 7.50pm.
3