Annual Meeting of the Council, 24 May 2006

06/01
HELMDON PARISH COUNCIL
Draft Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Helmdon Parish Council held on Wednesday 24th May 2006
in the Reading Room, Church Street, Helmdon at 7:30 p.m.
Present: Councillors Bearman, Brookhouse, Burns, Earl, England, Gittens,
Moody (Acting Clerk), Smith, & Spendlove.
There were six members of the public present.
1. Apologies
None.
2. Election of Chairman for 2006/2007
It was proposed by Cllr Spendlove and seconded by Cllr Smith that Cllr Moody be elected chairman. Cllr Earl proposed an amendment, seconded by Cllr England, that
Cllr Burns be elected chairman.
Cllr Moody For: Four, Against: Five
Cllr Burns For: Five, Against: Two, Abstentions: Two
Cllr Burns was duly elected as the chairman for 2006/2007.
3. Signing of Chairman s declaration of acceptance of office
Cllr Burns signed the declaration, witnessed by Cllr Moody as Acting Clerk.
4. Election of Vice Chairman for 2006/2007
It was proposed by Cllr Smith and seconded by Cllr Spendlove that Cllr Moody be elected vice chairman. Cllr Earl proposed an amendment, seconded by Cllr England, that Cllr Brookhouse be elected vice chairman.
Cllr Moody For: Three, Against: Four, Abstentions: One
Cllr Brookhouse For: Five, Against: Two, Abstentions: Two
Cllr Brookhouse was duly elected as the vice chairman for 2006/2007.
5. To appoint members for committees and Parish Representatives
The committee membership was re-elected en bloc, with the addition of Cllr Earl to the
Finance committee. The membership being therefore:
a) Finance: Cllrs Brookhouse, Burns, Earl, Gittens, Moody & RFO
b) Planning: Cllrs Bearman, Brookhouse, Burns, Earl & Gittens c) Road Safety: Cllrs Bearman, Brookhouse, Earl, England & Spendlove d) Playground: Cllrs Bearman, Earl, England & Smith e) Allotment: Cllrs Gittens, Smith & Spendlove
Action

06/02
Parish Representatives
The following were appointed with all in favour:
a) Parish Paths Warden Cllr Gittens b) Parish Highways Representative Cllr Bearman c) Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator Cllr Brookhouse d) PC Rep on Reading Room Committee Cllr England e) PC Reps on Parish Plan Monitoring Group Cllrs Moody & Smith
The appointment of the School Liaison Councillor was left in abeyance. Acting Clerk to write to the Board of Governors to ascertain what official relationship the school wishes to have with the Parish Council. Agenda for next meeting.
Acting
Clerk
6. To appoint the Responsible Financial Officer
In the absence of a clerk it was decided that a councillor should be appointed as
Acting Responsible Financial Officer, without pay, until such time as a new clerk is appointed.
Cllr Earl proposed that Cllr Moody be appointed Acting RFO. Cllr Brookhouse proposed an amendment, seconded by Cllr Spendlove, that Cllr Gittens be appointed
Acting RFO. With all in favour of the amendment Cllr Gittens was duly appointed.
7. To appoint an Internal Auditor
Cllr Gittens proposed, seconded by Cllr Earl, that NALC be appointed the Internal
Auditors for the 2006/2007 financial year. All in favour except Cllr Brookhouse; therefore NALC were duly appointed.
8. Updating of Registers of Interest
The Acting Clerk requested that all members update their Register of Interests so that a complete set of up to date registers can be made available for each meeting.
9. Approval and signature of the Minutes for the AGM held on 25th May 2005
Cllr Earl proposed, seconded by Cllr Smith, that the minutes for the AGM held on 25th
May 2005 be signed as a true and correct record. All in favour except Cllr Spendlove who abstained.
10. Matters arising from the Minutes for the AGM held on 25th May 2005
None.
11. Committee & Representative Reports a) Finance: The accounts for 2005/2006 have been finalised and certified by the
RFO.
b) Planning: 30 applications have been considered in the 2005/2006 year. 98% of decisions are in line with South Northants Council.
c) Road Safety: The committee has worked hard; there are now new safety railings and a crossing at the school, and the recent resurfacing works have recently been completed. Cllr Brookhouse said the Parish Council should be congratulated, and Cllr
Burns said Cllr Bearman should be specially commended for all his efforts which have ultimately achieved the desired effect.
All

06/03
d) Playground: Progress has been slow in getting a new lease agreement in place and Mr O Garro (representing Northants County Council) has now left.
Cllr Earl said that the areas of health & safety and risk assessment were now being adequately managed.
e) Allotments: 15 of the 17 available plots are under cultivation. There has been more interest recently. The existing holders have requested better security for the allotments.
f) Helmdon Parish Plan: In the two years since its publication the Helmdon Parish
Plan has resulted in more accessible rights of way, more entertainment and a better protected countryside. The main focus of the Parish Plan Monitoring Group in the forthcoming year will be looking at the possibility of providing a new meeting place in the parish.
g) Parish Paths Warden: Cllr Gittens is a member of, and provides advice to, the newly formed Parish Paths Group. A new ROW Officer has joined NCC (Jenni Butler)
which has renewed interest and enthusiasm in the local paths network although, as always, funds to carry out works are limited.
h) Neighbourhood Watch: Cllr Brookhouse reported that there had been 10 recorded crimes in 2005/2006 against 16 for the previous year. Cllr Brookhouse urged councillors and members of the public to oppose the merger of the county police forces in to a larger regional constabulary and said that this could be done online. Cllr
Brookhouse also gave a warning about the recent sharp rise in bogus e-mails warning of viruses.
i) School Liaison: Nothing to report.
j) Reading Room: The kitchen and passageway have been refurbished. Next on the list are the kitchen floor and the committee room and these will be done this year. The
Reading Room Management Committee is going to survey the whole village in the autumn and ask for suggestions for further improvements. The Reading Room bank account balance is currently £12,000.
The meeting closed at 8:27 p.m.
dcm/30may06