Council Meeting, 24 July 2024

HELMDON PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES
of the meeting of Helmdon Parish Council, held in the Reading Room, Church
Street, Helmdon on Wednesday 24th July 2024 at 7:30pm.
Present: Cllrs Holloway, Marchant, Minshall, Moody, Shepherd and the clerk (Charmaine
Jay via Zoom call)
Members of the public: 4 members of the public were present
Cllr Moody opened the meeting and called for a minute’s silence for Jean Spendlove who passed away on 12 July 2024 aged 93. Jean was Clerk to Helmdon Parish Council from
1974 to 1980 and a councillor from 1983 to 2006, including one year as chair in 1989
and two stints as vice chair from 1986 to 1988 and 1992 to 1993.
256. Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Cllr’s Harris, Hart, Plunkett and Wheeler.
RESOLVED: To approve Cllr’s Harris, Hart, Plunkett and Wheeler’s absence.
257. Declarations of Interest
It was noted that all Cllr’s had an interest in item 261B
258. Approval and signature of the minutes of June 26th, 2024
RESOLVED: That the minutes of June 26th, 2024, are approved and signed.
259. Matters arising
– It was noted that the item 246 on the minutes of 26th June 2024,
(Jenners’ Piece is in dire need of a tidy up. ACTION: Clerk to get quotes from 3 tenders) was in transit. Cllr Moody met with KPS Tree
Care; the clerk awaits 2 more quotes.
– Item 251 (To consider a Freedom of the Parish policy) is to be discussed in the September or October meeting.
260. Open Forum (15min max- 3 min per person)
An update was requested for the defibrillator at the top of Helmdon. To get an update in September meeting.
261. Finance:
A. To receive the financial statement: note payments received and consider invoices to be paid
Payee
Invoice No
Reason
Amount
HMRC
N/A
PAYE
£2.34
R&G
120892
Grass Cutting
£49.20
Reading Room
Invoice 438
Reading room
£105.00
hire
Helen Tims
Inv- 4
RoSPA
81007
Pump Garden and War
Memorial
Play area inspection
£100.00
£98.40
RESOLVED: To note financial statement and approve payments.
B. To recommend small grants scheme applications 2024/25
RESOLVED: That the following small grants scheme applications are approved under the circumstances that the St. Mary Magdalene Church and Friends of the Church provide plans to make the main access more even and non-slip and reducing the grant amount to £350 in total to keep in line with the parish council’s annual budget.
Applicant
Purpose
Friends of the
Church
Helmdon
Community
Larder
To help the church make the main access more even and non-slip.
There is a growing need for lowcost food to be supplied in our village. 37% of our members are in hardship, 40% are disabled.
This grant is to buy food and to enable the long-term provision of the larder.
To help the church make the main access more even and non-slip.
St Mary
Magdalene
Church
Helmdon
Bridge Players
Helmdon
Rainbows and
Brownies
Helmdon
Acorns
We are currently looking into expanding out lighting system which will be housed in the reading room. This will include a new lighting desk and potentially new lights should the budget allow this. Not only will the lighting system be used for the
Bridge P
To purchase sports equipment for both units for example: Foam balls, tennis balls and rugby tag belts
We have plans to create a sensory room which will be somewhere where the children can relax, calm down and have quiet time, we will also use this area for support and intervention e.g. speech and language support. To enhance this space, we would like to purchase sensory lights and equipment
Accounts/Bank
Statements
Supplied
Amount
Yes
£250
NO
£250
Yes
£250
No
£250
No
£150
Yes
£250
Helmdon
Guides
The Guides would like to make birdboxes and hedgehog boxes.
We would like a contribution towards the cost of this. £100
We also want to organise trips both locally and further afield to
Birmingham or London. To make sure that we keep the price of these affordable we try to subsidise the cost of the travel.
£100
The rest of the grant we would spend on resources (craft materials, camp equipment and cooking ingredients) £50
No
£250
262. To review membership of the Planning Committee
Due to Cllr Minshall stepping down from the Planning Committee, the Terms of Reference state that All members of the committee shall be members of the Parish Council. The committee shall consist of no fewer than four parish councillors. The question that has been asked is if the Planning
Committee would like to assign a new councillor or remain with 4 Cllr’s.
RESOLVED: For Cllr Minshall to resign and for the Planning Committee to continue with 4 Cllr’s.
263. To receive an update from Station Road working group
RESOLVED: To receive an update in September meeting.
264. Update and recommendations from Parish Plan Working Group
It is proposed that a survey is launched on 9 September 2024 and is live for two weeks until 23 September 2024. The survey will be hosted on Microsoft
Forms, so there will be a web link to it which can be widely shared via the village Facebook groups, by email to the chairs of groups and organisations, and on posters in the notice boards, Reading Room, and pub. There will be hard copies of the survey available at the café and on request from members of the Parish Plan Working Group.
RESOLVED: That the parish council notes the progress of the working group to date and approves the suggested plan of action.
265. To review Standing Orders
RESOLVED: To re adopt the Standing Orders with the following amendments:
– 13e and 13g to delete the option for the council to grant dispensations.
– 18a and 18c to amend the amount from £25,000 to £30,000
– 24a and 24b to delete the option to become just Unitary Council for communicating with district and county or unitary councillors.
266. To receive an update regarding improving local amenities such as benches and notice boards
RESOLVED: To defer to September meeting.
267. To consider adopting statement of key objectives for Helmdon parish council
RESOLVED: To defer to September meeting and receive update from Cllr
Hart.
268. To note recent RoSPA report for play area and consider any works that may need to be carried out
The report was received with some tasks to be completed.
ACTION: Clerk to retrieve a quote from Wicksteed for repairs required.
Clerk to find out where the council has previously bought bark from and do a doodle poll to arrange a weekend for bark top up.
RESOLVED: To update in September meeting.
269. Close
To close the meeting at 20.21