Annual Meeting of the Council, 26 May 2010

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HELMDON PARISH COUNCIL
Draft Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Helmdon Parish Council held on Wednesday 25th May 2010
in the Reading Room, Church Street, Helmdon at 7:33 p.m.
Present: Councillors Barnes, Burns, Coatsworth, Crouch, Duncombe, England, Earl, Thorne
Parish Clerk: Liz Hart
Six members of the public were present.
Action
1 Election of Chairman for 2010/11
Cllr England proposed, seconded by Cllr Earl 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
Cllr Turner had given apologies due to work commitments..
4 Election of Vice Chairman for 2010/11
Cllr England proposed, seconded by Cllr Crouch that Cllr Earl 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 Earl that the Parish Clerk, Liz Hart continue as RFO.
All were in favour.
6 To appoint an Internal Auditor
Cllr Thorne proposed, seconded by Cllr England that NorthantsCALC be retained as the
Internal Auditor. All were in favour.
7 The appointment of committee members
The membership for 2010/11 is as follows:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Finance: Cllrs Burns, Barnes, Earl, Coatsworth, Thorne and RFO
Planning: Cllrs Burns, Barnes, Coatsworth, Thorne, Duncombe, Earl
Road Safety: Cllrs Duncombe, England, Earl
Playground: Cllrs Earl, Duncombe, Crouch
Allotment: Cllrs Barnes, Coatsworth
The Clerk will ask Cllr Turner to confirm if he wishes to continue on the Playground and
Allotment Committees.

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8 The appointment of Parish Representatives
The following were appointed with all in favour:
a) Parish Paths Warden – Roger Miles b) Parish Highways Representative – Cllr Crouch 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 – Cllr Thorne i) Health and Safety Officers – Cllrs Coatsworth and Earl
The Clerk will ask Cllr Turner to confirm if he wishes to continue on the Blackpits Monitoring
Group and as a Health and Safety Officer.
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.
10th Approval and signature of the Minutes for the AGM held on 20 May 2009
Cllr Barnes proposed, seconded by Cllr Thorne that the Minutes be approved by Council. All were in favour and Cllr Burns duly signed the Minutes.
11th Matters arising from the minutes of 20 May 2009
None.
12 Committee & Representative Reports a) Finance – The Clerk informed the meeting that the Committee had reviewed the end of year accounts and grant applications and would continue to meet periodically throughout the year to review progress and report back to the Full Council Meeting as required.
b) Planning – Cllr Burns highlighted planning decisions where it was felt that SNC had not heeded comments made by the Committee, specifically the site adjacent to 55 Church
Street where the Development Control Committee had approved the planning application despite the fact that they were awaiting a report from the Environment
Agency.
c) Road Safety – Cllr England reported that despite having made requests to the police to observe traffic speeds in Station Road, no police presence had been apparent.
d) Playground – no report.
e) Allotments – Cllr Coatsworth would provide a report later at the Ordinary PC meeting.
f) Helmdon Parish Plan – Cllr Barnes reported that the Plan would be refreshed with funding having been received from ACRE and the Parish Council. Chris Thorpe and
Sarah Adhemar had been recruited on to the Committee and it was hoped to recruit another member to represent the younger residents. The next meeting was scheduled th th for 9 June when plans would be made for the Future Needs Day to be held on 11
September.
g) Parish Paths Warden – Roger Miles reported that local farmers had sprayed out crops to allow footpaths to be conspicuous. There was an ongoing issue with a footpath condition on land towards Greatworth where the landowner Mr Mead has been told to reinstate the footpath by NCC. He noted that NCC is not able to fund gates but that grants may be available in some instances for the landowners to apply for. The details on the permissive footpath map were being finalise by NCC; once complete the issue of the restoration of the bridge will need to be addressed.
h) Neighbourhood Watch – No report.
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i)
j)
School Liaison – Cllr Burns would provide a report later at the Ordinary PC meeting.
Reading Room – Cllr England gave a comprehensive report including the details of the works carried out and due to be completed. Grants had been secured from Andrew
Grant (£920), Awards for All (£9.868), Constance Travis (£1,000). A fundraising
Committee has been formed to concentrate on further funding opportunities. Cllr
England gave a summary of the Committee changes highlighting the good works carried out by Harold Seckington and Caroline King, Total funds currently stand at £17,138. The issue of whether the Parish Council could pay for repairs and then reclaim the VAT was discussed and it was requested that the Finance Committee consider this and report back to the July meeting. The question of whether to re-instate the ceiling was being addressed and Parish Councillors were invited to complete the response form available on the website.
The meeting closed at 8.03pm.
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