Council Meeting, 26 November 2025

HELMDON PARISH COUNCIL
COUNCIL MEETING
Minutes of a Meeting of Helmdon Parish Council held in the Helmdon Reading Room, Church
Street, Helmdon on Wednesday 26th November 2025 at 7:30pm.
Present: Cllrs Hart (Chair), Moody, Plunkett, Marchant, Fitzroy-Ezzy, Minshall, and the Clerk.
Members of the public: 2 members of the public present.
482.
To receive and approve apologies for absence – Apologies were received and approved from Cllr Sparrow, and Cllr Shepherd. The PC also noted the apologies of Unitary Cllr Eastwood.
483.
To co-opt a new councillor – It was RESOLVED to co-opt Tracey Fitton on to the Parish Council (PC).
484.
Declarations of Interest – None.
485.
Approval and signature of the minutes of October 22nd, 2025 – It was noted that under item 472 at the last meeting Cllr Marchant asked for his vote to be recorded. The PC’s Standing Orders require everyone’s vote to be recorded when any Cllr asks for their vote to be recorded so in future all votes will be recorded. It was RESOLVED that the minutes be approved and duly signed.
486.
Matters arising from the minutes a. To receive an update on the actions agreed in relation to Play Area repairs – The repairs to the swing have been completed. The slide steps repairs, and replacement posts have been instructed. The Clerk is trying to get more advice regarding the option for repairing/replacing the surfacing.
b. Update on communications with Amplius regarding land registry of the
Station Road land – Still no update despite chasing a number of times. Clerk to call them.
c. Article re e-mail scam awareness and diligence – Cllr Plunkett has reduced the document to 2 pages and a video which he will send to the Clerk for publication soon.
d. Update re order for bollards to be installed in the layby near the B4525
entrance to Helmdon – The work has been instructed and the invoice was received after publication of the agenda. As the work will not be scheduled until the payment has been made the Clerk requested authorisation from the PC to pay the invoice asap. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk can pay the invoice with the November payments. Clerk to make payment and find out lead time on the bollards so the village can be informed.
e. Update re purchase of Northamptonshire Flag – The flag has been received and is already in use. Clerk to update the flag on the Asset Register.
Thanks were expressed to Cllrs Minshall and Shepherd for planting the tree. Cllr
Marchant has not yet sent the invite to councillors for a visit to Blackpits. It was agreed that Cllr Marchant should get a date from Blackpits for a visit.
487.
Open Forum (15min max, 3 min per person) –
Representations were made on:
•
488.
489.
The idea of a village shop – A resident raised concerns about the idea viability of a village shop given the availability of shops in Brackley.
Another resident agreed, but also pointed out that a village shop could be very useful for those without their own transport.
Parish Plan a. To appoint a member of the council to lead on fibre broadband (FTTP)
for Helmdon – It was RESOLVED to approve the proposed remit for this role, and to appoint Cllr Moody to lead on fibre broadband for Helmdon.
b. To create a working group to explore the issues and options for creating a village shop for Helmdon and to appoint two members of the council to lead the working group – It was noted that this group would be to explore potential options about the running of a shop, including the viability of a shop.
The group will merely look into whether this is a possibility for Helmdon. It was
RESOLVED to create a group and appoint Cllr Fitzroy-Ezzy, and Cllr Hart. It was also agreed that the councillors on that group can appoint members of the public to the group. Village Shop Working Group to bring a draft Terms of
Reference to the next meeting for consideration.
c. Feedback from the 20mph Working Group – The group would like to get
Community Speedwatch scheme up and running again. The group propose that the Parish Highways rep expresses an interest with the police to be part of the
2026 Community Speedwatch Scheme. This was RESOLVED. Cllr Moody to inform the Police that Helmdon PC would like to be part of the 2026 scheme.
Highways Issues on B4525
a. Layby parking – It was noted that parking continues in the layby despite the new double yellow lines. Small signs have been put up and they say no loading.
It appears that people don’t realise that the double yellow lines mean they are not meant to cross the double yellow lines and park there. It is a civil enforcement matter so the police could not be asked to help with this. It is believed that WNC are taking enforcement action on vehicles parked in that area.
b. Speeding in the 40mph zone – A Cllr advised that they have seen people overtaking in the 40mph zone and wondered if the PC should make any requests for police monitoring in the area. Cllr Marchant advised that he has spoken to the police about this and they are looking into possible locations for a speed van.
490.
To consider adopting an Allotment Allocation Policy – It was RESOLVED to adopt the policy with a review date of May 2026.
491.
To confirm the remits for the following roles: It was agreed that an
Allotment Working Group remit is required. Clerk to put together a remit to be considered at the next meeting. It was agreed that all remits should be clear who they are reporting to (the Clerk) and that the roles should be clearly
‘limited to’ rather than giving examples of what the role holder could do but leaving it open to the role holder to choose to add in other activities. To allow for circumstances that are outside of the role holder remits but that may occur during long gaps between council meetings during the months when the PC does not meet, it was agreed that the introduction to the remits document should include a statement that if a role holder identifies something that they think needs to be done before the next meeting but is not part of their remit they should contact the Clerk to ask for approval to take the action they would like to take. It was RESOLVED to adopt the remits a, b, c, d, e, g, h, j, and k for now but that the Clerk should make the document formats more consistent for each role and put all remits into a single document.
a. Parish Highways Representative b. Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator c. School and Pre-School Liaison d. Police Liaison e. Parish Plan Monitoring Group f.
Blackpits Monitoring Group Representative – Cllr Marchant to send the clerk details of what he thinks the role is so a remit can be put together.
g. Health & Safety Councillor h. Defibrillator Monitor i.
Station Road Working Group – Cllr Hart and Cllr Plunkett agreed to put together a draft for the Station Road Working Group remit.
j.
HS2 Liaison k. Recycling Warden l.
Tree Warden – Clerk to send the draft remit to the tree warden to ask for his view and bring back to the next meeting for consideration.
m. Parish Paths Warden – Defer to next meeting when Cllr Shepherd, who is the
Parish Paths Warden, has provided a view.
492.
493.
494.
To consider recommendations from the planning committee regarding a response to the West Northants Council (WNC) consultation on their proposed Infrastructure and Developer Contributions Supplementary
Planning Document – It was RESOLVED to submit the response formulated at the planning committee meeting. Clerk to submit response.
To receive feedback from the public open meeting about the proposed development and to consider any next steps – It was noted that the planning committee decided at their recent meeting that they will not use their delegated powers to make a response to an application on this site and that it should be brought to a full council meeting for consideration. At the open meeting the developers advised that they were planning on getting an application in before Christmas. It was suggested that the PC should start preparing for an application as there may be limited time to respond, particularly as the PC doesn’t meet in December. Things to consider maybe what the planning law around such a site is, S106 requirements, what demands the village could or would want to make, and whether the support of a planning consultant may be needed. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk should contact 3
planning consultants to explain the situation and ask the following:
• What sort of support can a planning consultant offer to a PC in these circumstances?
• What would the cost be for that support?
• At what stage in the process would a planning consultant usually be appointed, and would they be available at short notice?
To consider the dog waste bin provision on Church Street – Prices were obtained for a number of possible solutions to the issue of the dog bins on
Church Street regularly overflowing between collections. It was RESOLVED to purchase two new larger bins to replace the two on Church Street at a cost of
£201.62 including installation, and keep the old bins just in case they are needed elsewhere in the village. Clerk to instruct to purchase and installation of the bins.
495.
496.
To receive the Tree Inspection Report and consider next steps – It was
RESOLVED that Cllr Hart will meet with the Tree Warden to go through the report with him and put together a plan for work. Cllr Hart to forward the plan to the Clerk who will obtain quotes for the work.
Finance:
a. To note the bank balances of £257.95 and £41,145.84 as at 19.11.2025
– Cllr Hart confirmed the balances are correct.
b. To note and approve receipts and payments:
Payments made since the last meeting using delegated powers/Direct Debits:
Pymt
Invoice
Date
Type
Payee
No
Description
Amount
31.10.25
10.11.25
DD
Unity Bank
N/A
Account fee
£6.00
Yu Energy
03165141
Electricity Oct 25
£52.15
Invoices to be paid:
Payee
H.Tims Environmental
Services
R&G Grounds
Invoice No
Description
Amount
PumpWarGarden11
122270
War Memorial and Pump Garden
Grass cutting Oct 25
£100.00
£304.80
Kirsty Buttle
N/A
Reimbursement for Northants Flag
£88.38
B J Unwin
WNC
INV-6829
424003098679
Tree inspection
Uncontested election
£780.00
£64.50
Staff costs
N/A
November
£759.51
HMRC
NEST
N/A
N/A
Tax & NI Nov
Pension Nov
£138.63
£63.14
Receipts:
Date
04.11.25
Received from
CCLA
Description
Interest
Amount
£102.09
It was RESOLVED to approve all payments and note the receipts.
Meeting closed @ 9:04pm
Signed……………………………………………………………… Date…………………………………………………