Parish council record

Annual Parish Meeting 2013

2013

Louise Gibney from South Northants Council briefed attendees on the new recycling scheme.
The Annual Parish Meeting for Helmdon was held on Wednesday 24 April 2013 in the Reading Room, Church Street with twenty five members of the public present and invited speakers.

Cllr Peter Burns, chairman of Helmdon Parish Council, opened the meeting and welcomed everyone saying that Helmdon was “an excellent portrayal of a village community”. He welcomed newcomers to the village and noted that “the village constantly changes and with the changes we get new people coming in to village groups, or even starting new groups”. Cllr Burns paid tribute to the Clerk to the Council, Liz Hart, and to all the parish councillors who had worked diligently throughout the year. Progress on key projects was recognised, including the agreement with Bulkhead Properties to carry out flood alleviation works, the imminent and long-awaited commencement of works to strengthen the bridge on Station Road and the ongoing planning battles with Broadview Energy. Cllr Burns noted the difficult parking situation in the village, with many households having at least two or three cars when the village had been laid out before motor cars had been invented. He appealed for a little thought and consideration from residents to avoid minor niggles becoming a bigger problem. Finally, he thanked everyone who had worked with or supported the council during the year and reminded all present that council meetings are held every other month and that members of the public were very welcome to attend and to contribute during the public participation session.

Liz Hart then gave a summary of the parish council’s financial position and reported that the council closed the year ending 31 March 2013 with £18,099 in the bank against £21,198 the previous year. The precept for 2013/14 is £13,663, a modest increase of 2.08% over the previous year. Liz reminded attendees that the council considers requests for community grants and that details of the current round of funding would be available on the web site soon.

The next speaker was Keith Jones, chairman of the Helmdon, Stuchbury & Greatworth Wind Farm Action Group (HSGWAG). Keith gave an overview of events to date and said that a new inquiry would commence on 8 October 2013 with Inspector John Woolcock BNatRes(Hons) MURP DipLaw MPIA MRTPI presiding. HSGWAG has obtained “Rule 6” status and so will be able to ask questions and cross-examine witnesses. Keith said that it was possible that HSGWAG would need further funds to pay for the barrister’s costs but that in the short term the group needed new people to join the committee, particularly to bolster PR and communications. Keith said that residents should write letters to the local planning authority about the proposed development before 26 May, even if letters had been sent previously in 2011. He said that it was important to demonstrate that the community does not want the development to go ahead.

Following Keith was Louise Gibney, Waste Management Officer at South Northants Council who described the new recycling arrangements that will soon be in place in the village. The collection day for the village has recently been moved from Tuesday to Friday and between June and August each household will receive a new blue wheelie bin for all household recyclables. The blue bins will replace the current green and black boxes and are better because they are more secure, don’t get blown about and are easier for the bin men to handle. The old boxes can be reused as garden containers or tool/toy storage or they can be taken to the Farthinghoe Recycling depot for collection and recycling. In addition to the blue bin each household will receive two new caddies for waste food; one small one to keep in the house and a larger one to keep outside. The larger one has a lockable lid to keep foxes out. The schedule of collections will see the black bin and food caddy collected one week and then the green bin, blue bin and food caddy again collected the alternate week. Even household batteries can now be left out for collection by putting them in a plastic bag on top of the blue bin.

Last but by no means least the four candidates in the upcoming county council election had been invited and were present to introduce themselves. Helmdon’s present county councillor, Cllr Andrew Grant, is standing for re-election in a different division, so Helmdon will definitely have a new representative after 2 May. The four candidates are Scott Collins (Lib Dem), who lives in Helmdon, Peter Conquest (UKIP), who lives in Towcester, Lucy Mills (Lab), who lives in Silverstone and Ian Morris (Con), who lives in Upper Boddington. Each candidate gave a brief presentation about themselves and their policies and ideas and then they took questions from the audience on a range subjects from potholes to health and safety.

Cllr Burns thanked everyone for their attendance, interest and participation and invited those present to stay and enjoy some light refreshment, which many did!

The next Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Wednesday 23 April 2014, so put the date in your diary now!

Danny Moody

Topics: Parish council

Kept from the parish council's own records. Corrections and additions are welcome.