Council Meeting, 24 January 2007

HELMDON PARISH COUNCIL
All Councillors are summoned to a meeting of Helmdon Parish Council to be held in the Reading Room, Church Street, Helmdon on Wednesday 24th January 2007, commencing at 7.30 pm
Members of the public and Press are invited to attend this meeting and to participate in the Open Forum
AGENDA
1. Apologies for Absence
2. Approval and Signature of the Minutes for the Ordinary Meeting held on 22nd
November 2006
3. Matters Arising from the Minutes of 22nd November 2006
4. Open Forum
5. Finance a) Financial statement b) Bills for Payment c) Payments Received d) Grass cutting tenders and fencing tenders e) VoY – to consider how to spend £125 prize money f) Agreement of budget and precept proposals for 2007-8
6. Correspondence
7. Recycling Plant Statement
8. Councillors’ Undertaking to Work within the Code of Conduct
9. Proposal that planning applications sent for consideration from SNC be received by the clerk (as per Standing Order 71b).
10. Proposal that for planning and finance committee meetings the Clerk, if available, be present to take the minutes.
11. Village of the Year 2007
12. School Playground update a) Lease agreement – Consideration of Heads of Terms b) Update on outstanding repairs/improvements
13. Jenner’s Piece a) Unauthorised removal of lower branches of copper beech
14. To receive the decisions of the Planning committee on applications since 22nd
November
15. Update on Local Government White Paper from NCC
16. Consideration of Dog Control Orders from NCC
17. Northants Police – request for funding for police community officers
18. Response to Post Office Network consultation paper
19. To consider what actions to take to ensure a contested election in May 2007
20. Allotments Update

21. To form a working party to organise the Annual Parish Meeting 2007.
22. The condition of Church Street due to the ongoing building works
23. To consider the report from the Parish Plan Monitoring Group on the Village Amenity
Consultation.
24. Risk Assessments
25. Notice Boards and benches – repair schedule update
26. Councillors’ Questions
Signed _______________________
Liz Hart, Parish Clerk
[address removed]

06/29
HELMDON PARISH COUNCIL
Draft Minutes of the meeting of Helmdon Parish Council held on Wednesday 24th January 2007
in the Reading Room, Church Street, Helmdon at 7:30 p.m.
Present: Councillors Bearman, Brookhouse, Burns (Chair), Earl, England, Moody, Spendlove.
Smith, Watson. Parish Clerk: Liz Hart
Eight members of the public were present.
Action
1 Apologies
None received.
2 Approval and signature of the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 22nd
November 2006
Cllr Moody proposed, seconded by Cllr Earl that the Minutes be signed as a true and correct record with the following amendments:
th st 3) second “27 September” corrected to “1 November”
5) Recycling Site – “likely” amended to “unlikely”
8) second “general” substituted with “for”
9) “attide” corrected to “attitude”
12a) and b) “attendee” corrected to “attender”
All in favour.
Cllr Burns duly signed the Minutes.
3. Matters arising from the Minutes of the meeting held on 22nd November
3a) Cllr Bearman confirmed that he had had no response from John Robertson, the
Highways Representative. Carried forward.
7) Cllr Burns had not been able to attend the Government White Paper Conference.
9) Clerk confirmed that she was chasing up SNC regarding the potential TPO on Church
Street.
4.
Cllr Bearman
Clerk
Open Forum
The following points were raised by members of the public:
Poor condition of the footpath opposite Church Street: Cllr Bearman confirmed that
Margaret Andrews from SNC had previously inspected the area and found it to be acceptable. This was not felt to be satisfactory especially with issues regarding liability should an accident occur. Cllr Bearman agreed to draft a letter for Clerk to follow up to be sent to Cllr Brookman. This would also reference the state of the path at the bottom of
Wappenham Road prior to the bridge.
Cllr Bearman
Clerk
Poor condition of Church Street, Falcutt: – the verges are very muddy. Lower down the road building work has caused damage to the footpaths and verges and the road is dangerous due to pumping of water on to it.
Fence repairs to the playground: noted that these were outstanding.
Incident at The Square involving a delivery lorry and resident’s car: Clerk to acknowledge Clerk

06/30
letter received from the Gulliver family.
HPPMG – query regarding funding and expenditure. Cllr Moody confirmed that no funding was received from the Parish Council; the School had been used for the consultation rather than the Reading Room as this was not one of the amenities being considered and parking was easier.
Parish Paths Warden – commented on good support and progress.
A request for details of the Budget 2007-8 to be discussed under “Open Forum” was turned down by Council.
5. Finance a) To receive the financial statement
Cash & Investments
Current Account (Coop) 20825.50
To Be Presented 5.00
Deposit Account (closed) 0.00
Nottingham Bond 500.00
Total b)
21,330.50
Bills for Payment
Cllr Brookhouse declared an interest in the Brackley Cottage Hospital donation.
Accounts Payable Cheque
Brackley Cottage Hospital – donation 1000.00 500005
ABB 110.92 500006
Village of the Year 15.00 500007
NALC – training day for clerks 65.00 500008
Clerk’s Wages (Nov and Dec) 337.38 500009
Clerk’s expenses (stationery and phone calls)
22.36 500009
Churchyard of the Year (The Wildlife Trust) 5.00 500010
Total 1555.66

06/31
c) Payments Received
Accounts Received
Yorkshire Bank – cheque for closure of account – pd into Coop 8228.15
Interest (Coop) 15.24
Allotment key deposit – receipt no A/002 Helen Cook 5.00
Total 8248.39
Cllr Earl proposed, seconded by Cllr Moody, that Council accept the financial statement, bills for payment and payments received as a true and accurate record. All in favour.
d) Grass cutting and fencing tenders
The grass cutting tenders were opened and read out; Cllr Moody proposed, seconded by
Cllr Earl, that the tender of £740 by C+E be accepted. All in favour. Clerk to write to all companies which had tendered.
Clerk reported that she required more details from Cllr Bearman regarding the fencing tenders; these would be presented at the March meeting.
e)
Clerk
Cllr Bearman
£125 prize money from Village of the Year
Cllr Moody reported that an honours board would cost £345 with the possibility of further discount. Cllr Earl suggested more dog fouling bins/signage would be useful.
Cllr Burns raised the possibility of replacing some/all of the notice boards. It was mooted that HYHO may consider donating additional funding to facilitate this. Cllr England proposed, seconded by Cllr Moody, that we wait to see if funding can be agreed. 6 in favour,
1 abstention.
f)
Agreement of budget and precept proposals for 2007-8
Cllr Brookhouse declared an interest in the Brackley Cottage Hospital donation – line 501 of the budget. Cllr Smith queried the wisdom of continued support; payments are to be split into 4 donations of £250 in case of closure.
Council considered the summary paper submitted by the Clerk (Appendix A).
Cllr Burns highlighted that the exceptional expense of the election meant that the budget was in excess of £10 000 (£10 775). Cllr Bearman, seconded by Cllr Smith that the budget of £10 775 be adopted but that £1000 of its cost be absorbed by the monies available at the end of March 2007 to give a precept of £9775. 7 abstentions; motion carried.
6
Clerk
Correspondence
Listed separately: Appendix B.
Letter from Helmdon Primary School regarding comments made by Cllr Brookhouse referring to Mrs Sue Blackburn. Clerk confirmed that there was no record in the Minutes. Cllr
Brookhouse felt that any comments he had made were referred to out of context; his primary concerns had been and continued to be the improvement of the safety aspects of the school by erecting a secure fence around it. Clerk was actioned to respond to the school.
Myriad Contracts – details passed to Cllr Earl.
Clerk

06/32
Wildlife Training sessions – details passed to Cllr Moody for HAFWEG.
Letters to Clerk from Cllr Burns – Cllr Burns explained that his email was not working and so he had written to the Clerk regarding his wish to expand on the recycling statement (see 7).
7 Recycling Plant Statement
Cllr Burns read out the following statement:
“Following a number of complaints, including involving the Clerk of the Parish Council, Cllrs
Brookhouse and Burns visited the site to express the concerns of the parishioners. They were met by the lady manager and later joined by Douglas Humphrey who provided an email address for those concerns to send in their comments. On return home this was forwarded to the Helmdon website. Cllr Moody responded to this by suggesting that the message be altered and that the inference that Cllrs Brookhouse and Burns had been
“entertained” and that their conduct might be viewed with suspicion by the public. Cllr Burns assured Cllr Moody that they had not been “entertained” nor did he believe that there would be public suspicion as both Councillors were well known and had many years’ service for the village and that you are elected for this type of action. As a result the website entry should go forward in its original state.”
Cllr Moody emphasised that attending such a meeting was in itself not the issue; Standing
Orders stated that visits not agreed in advance by the Parish Council were in fact
“unauthorised”. Cllr Burns maintained he was there as an individual; Cllr Moody pointed out that his response was as Webmaster of the Helmdon site. Cllr England highlighted the need for common sense to prevail; Cllr Moody responded that Cllrs cannot be seen to act unilaterally. Cllr Earl queried the distinction between a “visit” and an “inspection”. It was pointed out that some roles have tacit approval in advance to make visits, for example
Highways Rep. Cllr Smith maintained that rules are there to be adhered to; if they are considered too constrictive then Council should consider reviewing and changing them.
8 Councillors’ Undertaking to Work within the Code of Conduct
Cllr Spendlove emphasised the importance of Councillors working within the Code of
Conduct at all times, regardless of any health issues which may make this difficult.
Specifically she highlighted the instance where the Chairman of the Planning Committee refused to leave the room whilst his own planning application was discussed. This was against the Code of Conduct and also put all other Councillors present in the same position as all were implicated. She felt it important that electors vote for candidates who will keep to their word as well as public-spirited men. Cllr Brookhouse commented that he felt serious allegations had been made and he wished to respond to members of the public and
Councillors who had not been present. As recorded in the Minutes, he had declared an interest, handed over the Chair, declared that he would not speak and had withdrawn from the discussion. He had not left the room as he was in a great deal of pain and felt that this issue highlighted the stupidity of the Code of Conduct where common sense could not prevail.
9 Proposal that planning applications be received by the Clerk (as per Standing Order
71b)
Cllr Brookhouse confirmed that he was happy for this to take place; Cllr Moody proposed, seconded by Cllr Smith, that this should happen in future.
10
Clerk
Proposal that for planning and finance meetings, the Clerk, if available be present to take the Minutes
Clerk agreed to do so. Clerk

06/33
11 Village of the Year 2007
a) It was suggested that Clerk fill out the application for the VoY and circulate to the Council prior to submission; Cllr Spendlove volunteered to pass on the cheque and form for the
Churchyard competition to Will Adams. Cllr Burns proposed, seconded by Cllr Moody, that this be agreed. All in favour.
12 School Playground update a) Lease Agreement
Cllr Burns thanked the Clerk for her efforts in obtaining the document.
Clerk was actioned to check whether our public liability insurance was for £5 million as required in the lease.
Cllr Earl proposed, seconded by Cllr England, that legal opinion be sought by the
Playground Committee before Council agreeing to the terms. All were in favour. Cllr Burns agreed to forward details to the Clerk with the Playground Committee reporting back to the
March Meeting.
Cllr Smith suggested reviewing the lease annually in future.
b)
13
Outstanding Repairs/Improvements
Cllr Bearman confirmed that all outstanding repairs would be completed before the next meeting.
Clerk
Cllr Burns
Cllr Bearman
Cllr Bearman
Jenner’s Piece – removal of lower branches of copper beech.
Cllr Spendlove praised Peter Payne’s work on keeping Jenner’s Piece tidy but lamented the loss of some branches on the copper beech. Cllr Burns explained they had been removed due to safety concerns of the contractors when mowing the plot. Clerk was actioned to write to Peter Payne, thanking him for his work.
14
Clerk/Cllr
Spendlove
To receive decisions of the Planning Committee on applications since 22nd November
Application No: S/2006/1480/P – Land adjacent 27 Church Street
Proposal: Single Detached, Garage
Decision: Support
(Cllr Brookhouse had declared an interest in the above application)
Application No: S/2006/1497/P – 17 Church Street
Proposal: Single and two storey extension
Decision: Support
Application No: S/2006/1578/P – Building adjacent to 48 Wappenham Road
Proposal: Conversion of workshop to dwelling with attached garage
Decision: Helmdon Parish Council strongly support this application as it clear up a site in the village
Application No: S/2005/0900/P – 72 Wappenham Road
Proposal: Amendment to windows and doors
Decision: Amendment noted – application not considered as timescales over the Christmas period did not allow statutory notice timetable to be adhered to.
Application No: S/2006/1296/P – land off Church Street
Proposal: Amendment to plot 1 proposed French doors and rear door to garage
Decision: Amendment noted
Application No:S/2006/1183/P – Grange Farm Barn
Proposal: Amendment to re-siting of garage
Decision: Amendment noted
Clerk

06/34
15 Update on Local Government White Paper from NCC
Clerk had circulated this prior to the meeting; Council awaits further details of the next conference.
16 Consideration of Dog Control Orders from NCC
Cllr Burns summarised the affected area and commented that DCOs are not enforceable by the Parish Council. Clerk was action to respond with no further proposals.
17 Northants Police – request for funding for PSCOs
Clerk was actioned to contact the Police for more details.
18
Clerk
Post Office Consultation Paper
All Cllrs to submit answers to Clerk for collation by mid February.
19
Clerk
Clerk
To consider actions required to ensure a contested election in May 2007
Cllr Burns invited Richard Wray (Talkabout editor) to comment. Richard wishes to use
Talkabout both to publicise the election and to encourage candidates to stand; he will contact SNC to ensure that no rules are contravened as the process must be fair and open to all and will report back to the Clerk.
20 Allotments Update
Cllr Watson reported that the Allotments Committee had considered how to divide up the workload regarding paperwork and enquiries. Clerk agreed to action all paperwork whilst the
Committee dealt with any disputes.
21
Clerk
To form a Working Party to organise the Annual Parish Meeting
Cllrs Burns and Spendlove will form this year’s Working Party.
22 The condition of Church Street due to the ongoing building works
Concern was raised by Cllr Smith due to the water on the road; Clerk to write to Groves to express concern and to speak to Planning Control.
23 HPPMG – Village Amenity Consultation
Cllr Burns commented that no “decision” had yet been made regarding whether the application would be made as it depended on trustee agreement; Cllr Moody to amend this prior to forwarding the report to Dave Bridger for submission. Cllr Moody confirmed to Cllr
Spendlove that the report emphasised that parishioners do not view the Chapel as an amenity.
24
Cllr Moody
Risk Assessments
Carried forward as Cllr Earl had accidentally submitted November’s report.
25
Clerk
Notice Boards and Benches- Repair Schedule
Cllr Earl

06/35
Clerk was asked to request that Bernie Wadeson delay painting the boards until Council is informed whether HYHO wish to fund new ones. Repairs are to be completed regardless.
26
Clerk
Councillors’ Questions
Clerk to chase up NCC regarding the outstanding repair on gravel path.
The meeting closed at 10:15 p.m.
The date of the next meeting is
Wednesday 28
th
March 2007
Clerk