Council Meeting, 27 July 2011

HELMDON PARISH COUNCIL
All Councillors are summoned to an Ordinary Meeting of Helmdon Parish Council to be held in the Reading Room, Church Street, Helmdon on Wednesday 27th July 2011 commencing at 7.30 pm.
Members of the public and Press are invited to attend and to participate in the Open Forum
1. Apologies for Absence
2. Declarations of Interest
3. Approval and Signature of the Minutes of a) the AGM held on 16th May 2011
b) the Ordinary Meeting held on 16th May 2011
c) the Extra Ordinary Meeting held on 7th June 2011
d) the Extra Ordinary Meeting held on 22nd June 2011
4. Matters Arising from above Minutes
5. Open Forum
6. Finance a)
b)
c)
d)
Financial statement
Bills for Payment
Payments Received
To receive the Internal Auditor’s Report and agree any action necessary
7. To receive update regarding the Village of the Year Competition
8. Planning:
a)
b)
To receive decisions of Planning committee on applications since 16/05/11
To receive information from the Clerk regarding the call-in procedure for the revised delegation scheme (Cllr Robin Digby to be invited to comment)
9. Correspondence Review
10. To resolve responses to NCALC survey
11. To receive an update from the Parish Plan Group regarding a) Fast Internet Service for Helmdon (FISH) project.
b) proposals for forming a committee to develop the cycle route to Brackley
12. To receive an update from the Quality Council Working Party
13. Proposal to run a competition to seek ideas for a Jubilee project
14. To set up a panel to carry out the clerk’s appraisal and review the clerk’s terms and conditions
15. To receive information regarding “Pilot Villages” for Neighbourhood Plans and agree any action necessary
16. To receive information from the Paths Group regarding the proposed Right of Way along the Great
Central Line.
17. Health and Safety – to receive completed Inspections Reports
18. Allotments issues – to consider request from plot no 2A tenant for PC to fell tree
19. Highways Issues a) To receive update on traffic lights on Station Road bridge
20. Councillors’ Questions
Signed _______________________
Dated________________________
Liz Hart, Parish Clerk
[address removed]

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HELMDON PARISH COUNCIL
Draft Minutes of the Ordinary meeting of Helmdon Parish Council held on Wednesday
27th July 2011 in the Reading Room, Church Street, Helmdon at 7:30 pm
Present: Councillors Barnes, Burns, Duncombe, England, Coatsworth, Moody, Earl
Parish Clerk: Liz Hart
3 members of the public were present.
District Cllr Robin Digby was present to item 9.
Action
1 Apologies
Cllrs Simpson and Adhemar due to illness and holiday commitments respectively; these were accepted by the meeting.
2 Declarations of Interest
Cllr Moody declared an interest as Chief Executive of NCALC regarding item 10 (NCALC
Survey) and as a member of the PPMG (item 11) and as an allotment holder (item 18).
3 Approval and Signature of the Minutes of a) the AGM held on 16th May 2011
th Cllr Moody proposed, seconded by Cllr Barnes that the AGM Minutes of 16 May be approved with the following amendments: Item 1- “nominated” to be replaced by “elected”, Item 5 –
“nominated” to be replaced by “elected”. All were in favour and Cllr Burns made the amendments and signed the Minutes.
b) the Ordinary Meeting held on 16th May 2011
th Cllr England proposed, seconded by Cllr Coatsworth that the Ordinary Minutes of 16 May be approved with the following amendments: Item 13- the first “were” to be replaced by “where”,
Item 17 – second (a) to be replaced by (b). Item 20 (b) – heading to be amended to “To address any other Highways Issues”. All were in favour and Cllr Burns made the amendments and signed the Minutes.
c) the Extra Ordinary Meeting held on 7th June 2011
th Cllr Earl proposed, seconded by Cllr Moody that the Extra Ordinary Meeting Minutes of 7 June be approved with the following amendments: Cllrs Moody and Earl to be added to the list of attendees. All were in favour and Cllr Burns made the amendments and signed the Minutes.
d) the Extra Ordinary Meeting held on 22nd June 2011
Cllr Moody proposed, seconded by Cllr Coatsworth that the Extra Ordinary Meeting Minutes of nd 22 June be approved with the following amendment: Cllr Earl to be added to the list of attendees. All were in favour and Cllr Burns made the amendment and signed the Minutes.
4 Matters Arising from the above Minutes
Ordinary Meeting held on 16th May 2011
Item 4 – flooding meeting – carried forward.
Item 4 – Parish Online– Cllr Barnes confirmed that the Public Sector Mapping Agreement was all in order. The renewal details of Parish Online were awaited.
Item 15 – the Clerk confirmed that no further documentation had been forthcoming. Cllr Barnes questioned how the response rate of the Local Authority could be improved. The Clerk was asked to invite Cllr Grant to the next meeting to discuss the issue.
Clerk
Clerk

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Item 16 – permissive footpaths – a Draft agreement had been sent to Mr Humphrey; the agreement with Mr Pitt needed to be confirmed as an amended route needed to be negotiated.
5 Open Forum
It was noted that footpaths AP24 and 39 were much improved due to works carried out by
NCC. AP38 was still not able to be used due to thistles.
The Clerk was asked to produce a notice for the new Mobile Library times.
It was commented that there is often insufficient space for all village events to be advertised on the notice boards.
It would be beneficial if there was a Village Correspondent who would provide copy to local news publications.
6 Finance a) Financial statement
Current Account (Coop) 22,854.50
Cllr Earl proposed, seconded by Cllr Coatsworth that the financial statement above be accepted. All were in favour.
b) Bills for payment
Accounts Payable NET VAT GROSS Cheque
Brown and Barden (3327) 121.43 24.29 145.72 500216
Brown and Barden (3340) 121.43 24.29 145.72 500217
Clerk’s W ages (May and June) 425.64 0.00 425.64 500218
Clerk’s Expenses 45.00 0.00 45.00 500219
SNC (Electoral Services) 99.02 0.00 99.02 500220
Vanessa Vicars (W ar memorial plants) 45.18 0.00 45.18 500221
EON 151.41 7.57 158.98 500222
EON UK Energy Services 104.11 20.82 124.93 500223
1st Helmdon Guides and Rangers 300.00 0.00 300.00 500224
Helmdon Acorns Pre-School 180.00 0.00 180.00 500225
Helmdon Sports Club 140.00 0.00 140.00 500226
1st Helmdon Brownies 100.00 0.00 100.00 500227
Helmdon Parish Footpaths Committee – Helmdon PPMG 250.00 0.00 250.00 500228
Village Café – Reading Room 50.00 0.00 50.00 500229
Tuesday Lunches-St Mary Magdalene PCC 100.00 0.00 100.00 500230
St Mary Magdalene PCC 130.00 0.00 130.00 500231
Friends of Helmdon Churchyard 300.00 0.00 300.00 500232
Clerk

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The above payments were presented. Cllr Moody proposed, seconded by Cllr Earl that all bills be paid. It was noted that cheque payment numbers 500224 – 500231 were s137 payments.
c) Payments Received
The following were noted:
Payments Received Amount
Interest (May) 3.17
Interest (June) 3.45
Interest (July) 3.18
Mrs Davies 5.00
Mr Wray 5.00
Mrs Crouch 5.00
Mrs Blake 5.00
Mr Drew 5.00
Mr Francis 5.00
Mr Thorpe 5.00
Mr Radcliffe 5.00
Mr King 5.00
Mr Dunn 5.00
d) To receive the Internal Auditor’s Report and agree any action necessary
It was resolved that the Finance Committee should consider the current reserves policy and report back to the September meeting. It was felt unnecessary to list powers for all payments made.
7 To receive update regarding the Village of the Year Competition
Cllr Burns thanked Cllr Coatsworth for all his efforts and those of the participants of the welcoming committee for the Judges’ visit; he was delighted to announce that Helmdon had won Best Medium Village and also Best Village Overall. The Clerk was asked to check the insurance terms for the trophies. After discussion it was proposed by Cllr Moody and Cllr Earl that, for safe-keeping the trophies should kept at the Chairman’s house and the Clerk should inform all Village Organisations that they were welcome to borrow them for display at their meetings. All were in favour.
Cllr Barnes offered to organise the refurbishment of the village signs.
Clerk
Cllr Barnes

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Planning:
a) To receive decisions of Planning committee on applications since 16/05/11
The following were noted:
Application number: S/2011/0526/FUL
Location: Warren Farm Barns Falcutt
Proposal: Detached Stable Block
It was resolved to support the application; the development would have minimal impact.
Application number: S/2011/0710/FUL
Location: 17 Bell Close Helmdon
Proposal: Raise height of roof of original dwelling, addition of two new dormer windows to front and three new dormer windows to rear elevation to create a second storey
Cllr Burns closed the meeting to allow members of the public to make comments regarding their concerns. The meeting was then re-opened.
The Committee resolved to OBJECT to the application on the following grounds:
Bell Close was designed to be a mix of housing including small starter homes, this bungalow and some larger 4 bedroom homes. The development is therefore against the spirit of the original planning concept of Bell Close. The development would appear to contravene
Planning Policy H17 due to the scale of the proposed extension and increase in living space.
Visually the proposal would result in an over development of the site. Lack of parking spaces is already a serious problem in Bell Close; a larger property is likely to have more cars and there is no space available for any increase in vehicles.
The Councillors appreciated that disturbance caused during construction is not a valid planning consideration however in this case it is difficult to see how severe congestion on Bell Close could be avoided with construction traffic and deliveries should the proposal be granted by
SNC.
b) To receive information from the Clerk regarding the call-in procedure for the revised delegation scheme (Cllr Robin Digby to be invited to comment)
The Clerk explained that timing issues meant that it would usually not be possible for the
Planning Committee to review an application at a Planning meeting and request a call-in before the deadline to so had expired (25 days after its “received valid” date.) The onus therefore appeared to be on the Clerk to assess applications prior to the Planning Meeting. Cllr Digby acknowledged that all the District Councillors needed to be vigilant to ensure that, where necessary, applications were called in and that Councillors’ reactions to the scheme had not been wholly positive. He was not aware of other Parish Councils’ reactions to the scheme. The
Clerk informed Cllr Digby that she did not always receive paper copies of the plans in a timely manner; Cllr Digby agreed to follow this up with SNC to ascertain how quickly new applications were dispatched to consultees.
9 Correspondence Review
Correspondence as per Appendix A was reviewed.
Cllr Barnes wished to attend the NCALC AGM. Cllr Adhemar requested a copy of the training schedule.
10 To consider response to NCALC Survey
Cllr Earl proposed seconded by Cllr Barnes that the Clerk should respond with reference to the
Chairman if necessary. All were in favour.
Clerk

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To receive an update from the Parish Plan Group regarding a) Fast Internet Service for Helmdon (FISH) project.
Cllr Moody summarised the reasoning behind the proposal; the School was supportive of the plan. It was important that EMBC be aware that the Parish Council did not oppose the plan and
Cllr Moody sought also confirmation that a Public Meeting would be called to gauge the response.
It was resolved to support the project.
b) proposals for forming a committee to develop the cycle route to Brackley
It was resolved that Cllrs Barnes and Earl should form the Representatives from the Parish
Council on the Helmdon Cycle Path Committee with other representatives being Catherine
Ruffley, Brackley TC Reps and Global Mapping.
12 To receive an update from the Quality Council Working Party th Cllr Moody summarised the meeting of 20 July from which a report had been circulated.
Approximately 70% of the requirements had already been met. The first step was felt to be the
Newsletter as 4 publications were needed within a year before submission was possible.
Cllr Moody felt the timescales in the report were easily achievable. Cllr Burns thanked Cllr
Moody for all his efforts. Cllrs Barnes and Coatsworth both volunteered to help put the first issue together from which it was hoped to find a new editor.
13 Proposal to run a competition to seek ideas for a Jubilee project
Cllr Moody felt it was important to mark the Jubilee in some way; by organising a competition at this point, costings could be incorporated into next year’s budget.
14 To set up a panel to carry out the clerk’s appraisal and review the clerk’s terms and conditions
It was resolved that this should be carried out by the Finance Committee at their next meeting;
Clerk to set a convenient date.
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To receive information from the Paths Group regarding the proposed Right of Way along the Great Central Line
Cllr Barnes clarified that any costs would be borne by NCC. The proposed route was from the
Railway Bridge at the top of Station Road to Grange Lane. It was resolved that the Paths
Group should proceed with the application process which consisted of collecting statements from regular walkers over the years.
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Clerk
To receive information regarding “Pilot Villages” for Neighbourhood Plans and agree any action necessary
Cllr Coatsworth gave a summary of the Pilot Villages. The importance of having a
Neighbourhood Plan was highlighted. It was resolved that Cllr Coatsworth should investigate further and report back to the September meeting (Clerk to Agenda)
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Clerk
Health and Safety – to receive completed Inspections Reports
Cllr Coatsworth
Clerk

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Carried forward to September meeting.
18 Allotments issues – to consider request from plot no 2A tenant for PC to fell tree
It was resolved that the Clerk should provide the tenant with Cllr Coatsworth’s contact details so that he could have a site meeting to discuss the issue further.
19 Highways Issues a) Traffic lights on Station Road bridge
Cllr Barnes expressed his frustration at the poor service level received; he had had no reply from the Cabinet member. He would write again; the Clerk was asked to request that Andrew
Grant attend the September meeting to address this issue (as well as the poor service regarding the School Field licence)
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Clerk
Councillors’ Questions
Cllr Coatsworth confirmed that prize money would be received for winning Best Village.
There was still water on the road by the school.
There appeared to be an abandoned caravan on the Radstone Road.
The lack of space on the notice boards was noted.
There was a street light out by the War Memorial.
The meeting closed at 9.56 pm
Clerk

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th Appendix A – Correspondence Received – 15 May – 26 July 2011
South Northamptonshire Council
 Weekly Planning Application listings
 Planning Applications:
o S/2011/0526/FUL – Warren Farm Barns Falcutt – detached Stable Block o S/2011/0710/FUL – 17 Bell Close Helmdon – Raise height of roof of original dwelling, addition of two new dormer windows to front and three new dormer windows to rear elevation to create a second storey) – plans o S/2010/1437/MAF – Spring Farm Ridge, land to the north of Welsh Lane o between Greatworth and Helmdon – Wind farm comprising the erection of five wind turbines plus underground cabling, meteorological mast, access tracks, control building, temporary site compound and ancillary development (Includes
Environmental Statement) – notice of re-consultation, notice of site visit, notice of opportunity to speak at development Control meeting, summary of case officer’s report to the Cllrs, notice of decision o S/2011/0891/FUL – 54 Church Street Helmdon – Extend dormer windows to front and rear. Two storey side and single storey rear extensions – plans
 Communication regarding Parish Councils still to submit Register of Interest forms
 Details of Training session for Clerks and Cllrs regarding Council Tax setting process- response requested
 Colin Hull – details of People Play programme – capital grants available for community sports clubs
 Amendments to Electoral Register
 Details of SPLAT – Summer Activities for Children
Northamptonshire County Council
 Northamptonshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework – notice of revised SPD
consultation
 Mobile Library Timetables
NCALC
 Survey request – – to be completed by 31st July
 Update May/June
 Update Training Guide 2011 and additional information on July events
 Invitation to NCALC AGM on Saturday 22nd
Miscellaneous

th October – responses by 13 September
Allotment holder – request for PC to fell large tree on plot

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 HSGWAG – response to Reconsultation on Broadview application
 Sulgrave Parish Council – response to Reconsultation on Broadview application
 SNH – survey on grounds maintenance – completed
 Came and Company – Insurance premium receipt and certificate of insurance and schedule
 CPRE – Outlook Summer 2011
 Coop Bank Statement for June and July
 South Northants Homes – works briefing, details of Adopt-A-Garden scheme, details of
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apprentices scheme
 HMRC – New Coding Notice for Mrs E Hart
 Longhurst Group Annual Report
 The Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge – details of application process
 CA Traffic Ltd – details of Traffic Calming Products
 David Harries – internal auditor’s report
 Graham Lipson – comments on Bell Close planning application
 Request to support Leiston-cum-Sizewell Town Council’s proposals pursuant to the Sustainable
Communities Acts 2007 and 2010
Accounts received
 Brown and Barden – invoice 3327 – £121.43 + 24.29 VAT = £145.72
 Brown and Barden – invoice 3340 £121.43 + 24.29 VAT = £145.72
 EON – 151.41 + 7.57 VAT =£158.98
 EON UK Energy Services – 104.11 + 20.82 VAT =£124.93
 SNC – invoice for Electoral Services – £99.02