Council Meeting, 27 September 2006

HELMDON PARISH COUNCIL
A Meeting of the Helmdon Parish Council will be held in the Reading Room, Church Street, Helmdon on Wednesday 27th September 2006, commencing at 7.30 pm
AGENDA
1. Apologies for Absence
2. Approval and Signature of the Minutes for the Meeting held on 26th July 2006
3. Matters Arising from the Minutes of 26th July 2006
4. Open Forum
5. Finance a) Financial statement b) Funding for training courses c) Bills for Payment d) Payments Received e) Report on new account
6. Correspondence
7. To appoint delegates, nominations and resolutions for NALC AGM
8. To consider response to SNC document ref Number of Council Seats
9. To consider request from NCC to fund a Sustainable Transport Workshop
10. To consider response to “Keep Horton General” campaign
11. To consider the resignation of Cllr Gittens
12. School Playground update – Lease agreement a) Outcome of meeting between all interested parties b) Consideration of RoSPA report
13. Land Registry for Jenners Piece – update
14. To receive the decisions of the Planning committee on applications since 26th July
15. Allotments a) Condition of unmanaged plots
16. Risk Assessments
17. Parish Paths a) Helmdon information board
18. Notice Boards and benches a) repair schedule
19. To consider the re-introduction of “Councillors’ Questions” as a permanent agenda item.
Members of the public are invited to attend this meeting and to participate in the Open Forum
Signed _______________________
Liz Hart, Parish Clerk
[address removed]

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HELMDON PARISH COUNCIL
Draft Minutes of the meeting of Helmdon Parish Council held on Wednesday 27th September 2006
in the Reading Room, Church Street, Helmdon at 7:30 p.m.
Present: Councillors Bearman, Brookhouse, Burns, Earl, England, Moody, Smith, Spendlove
Parish Clerk: Liz Hart
Three members of the public were present.
Action
1. Apologies th None; note that Cllr Gittens had resigned on 20 September so was not due to attend.
2th Approval and signature of the Minutes of the meeting held on 26 July 2006
Cllr Moody proposed, seconded by Cllr Earl, that the minutes be signed as a true and correct record with the following amendments:
5c) – insertion of “the” before “value”
13 – later amended to latter
All in favour.
3. Matters arising from the Minutes of the meeting held on 26th July 2006
a) Ref 5b) Cllr Bearman to approach Highways Rep re line marking on the Green. Carried forward.
Ref 15a) Parish Paths Map – Letter of thanks to Mike Barnes. Cllr Moody proposed, seconded by Cllr Smith that the Clerk also send a letter of thanks to Mike Powell.
All were in favour.
Cllr Bearman
Clerk
4. Open Forum a) Mrs Forgham requested that a letter of thanks to Cllr Gittens should include the fact that he was instrumental in setting up the village website and receiving the award.
Clerk b) Mrs Lidgley queried why the footpath markings over the bridge had not been reinstated after resurfacing works had been carried out. Cllr Moody confirmed that Tony McFadden at NCC
had stated that the work was made more complicated as the old markings would have to be erased; the work was on the agenda when time and funding allowed. Cllr Bearman was actioned to ascertain predicted timescales.
Cllr Bearman c) Mrs Lidgley asked whether anyone is prepared to tend the war memorial garden; Cllr Moody confirmed that the Quiney family are happy to take over.
d) Cllr Burns confirmed to Mr Short that a meeting had taken place on 6 September 2006 with
SNC, Robin Digby and Cllr Burns regarding the proposed sports pavilion; the meeting was a positive one and the next step will be a proposal in connection with the Village Plan which will be put to the SNC in January 2007.
e) Cllr Burns confirmed to Mr Short that the cost of an election (if one is required) to fill the casual vacancy will be met by the Parish Council.
f) Cllr Spendlove recorded her disappointment at the perceived lack of interest in the village at th

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the loss of 4 species of increasingly rare wild flowers which had been mown before being allowed to flower and seed for next year.
5. Finance a) To receive the financial statement
Cash & Investments
Current Account 14120.43
Deposit Account 8,222.94
Nottingham Bond 500.00
Total 22843.37
Cllr Moody proposed, seconded by Cllr England that the statement be received as a true reflection of the accounts. All were in favour.
b) Funding for Training Courses
Cllr Moody wishes to attend a Code of Conduct course; the Clerk wishs to attend a New
Clerk’s Surgery. Total cost for these courses included under the bills for payment was £35.
c) Bills for Payment
Accounts Payable Cheque
ABB 110.92 580
Playsafety Ltd – annual inspection report 74.03 581
Mike Barnes – Parish Paths map 200.00 582
Northamptonshire Acre Support 32.00 583
NALC Courses – Code of Conduct (£25),Clerk’s
Surgery (£10)
35.00 584
Clerk’s Wages (July and Aug) 313.84 585
Total 765.79
Cllr Earl proposed, seconded by Cllr Moody that the accounts be paid. All in favour.

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d) Accounts Received
Accounts Received
Village of the Year Award 125.00
Precept 4737.50
Total 4862.50
e) Report on New Bank Account
The Clerk confirmed that the application forms have been sent off and we await our new account details.
6. Correspondence
The Council received the following correspondence:
South Northamptonshire Council

Electoral Register – Monthly Updates for August and September
Electoral Registration canvas – poster displayed
Small Grants for the Development of New Youth Clubs Projects and Initiatives
Youth Opportunity Fund and Youth Capital Fund
Arts News and Visual Arts Festival information
Council Seats Review – response by end of Sept
Performance Plan 2006/7 and summary copies for distribution at meeting
Animal Welfare Quarterly Report and notice on pet microchipping (displayed)
Northamptonshire County Council

Playing Field – Letter from Philip Brawn anticipating receipt of Heads of Terms
Medium Term Plan for 2006 – 2011
County Wide Byway Survey – forwarded to Mike Barnes
Bus Timetable Updates
Northamptonshire Local Transport Plan- Accessibility Strategy 2006 -2011 – view here:
http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/Transport/TP/tp_home.htm
Request for funding a Sustainable Transport Workshop for local primary school
NALC

Village Viewpoint –summer 2006, autumn 2006 (contains article on our Parish Plan)
Notice of AGM (17/10/06), delegate form, nomination form, resolutions
Bi-monthly update – June/July including o Help Sheet on Village Halls and Insurance – copied to Cllr England o Local Government Employees – VAT and Petrol Element within NJC Car
Allowances o Basic Charity Law – Legal Note 48 on Trustees o Briefing on Memorial Safety in Cemeteries o Training Course Applications rd Budgets and Precepting (3 Oct)
th New Clerk’s Surgery (10 Oct)
Code of Conduct (16th Oct)
th How to Respond to Planning Applications (Wed 8 Nov)
VOY Winners Report
Parish Constables Event – poster displayed and advertised on website

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Miscellaneous
Helmdon WEA – Talking About Gardens course (notice displayed)
BDO – Audit Return 2005/6 – request for copy of internal auditor’s report and our response to it by 11/09/06 – actioned
“Keep Horton General” asking for support via email (forwarded due to short timescale)
“Keep Horton General” – flyers (displayed) and questionnaires
Playing Field Newsletter – Northants ACRE
The Miracle Times
Northampton General Hospital – consultation regarding application to become a foundation trust with offer to attend a meeting and poster asking for views (displayed)
Yorkshire bank – statement X 2
Playsafety Ltd – Play Area Inspection Report – forwarded to Cllrs Earl & Bearman
Playsafety Ltd – Response to letter re risk categories – forwarded to Cllrs Earl &
Bearman
Atkins – Annual Parish Questionnaire on Highways Services – respond by 23rd Oct –
forwarded to Cllr Bearman
SNVB – “Road to Retirement” Workshops
SNVB – voluntary vacancies notices – for August and September – displayed
SNVB – September newsletter
Central Networks – grants available to local groups
Northamptonshire ACRE – VoY prize money – £125.00 cheque (banked)
Society of Local Clerks – benefits of membership and application form X 2
Society of Local Clerks and NALC – survey of Clerk’s Terms and Conditions
Civic Trust (email) – request for Green Flag entry figures
Lo-comotion Support (email) – offering risk assessment and internal audit services
Formal resignation from Cllr Gittens
Accounts Received

Getmapping – Imagery for Parish Paths Map £200.00
ACRE – Support form – £32
Playsafety Ltd – fee for annual inspection – 74.03
ABB Invoice for Lightening Maintenance – £110.92
Discussion:
Cllr Bearman queried the audience for the Small Grants. Clerk responded that we have received details of two separate funding schemes and asked the Cllrs to forward details of any interested parties to her for forwarding the information.
All Cllrs
Regarding the membership of the Society of Local Clerks, Clerk confirmed that we already have the support of NALC and that she would wait to see if further support would be beneficial.
7 NALC AGM
Cllr Burns asked if anyone wished to attend the NALC AGM; there was no positive response.
Cllr Moody reported that he felt last year’s AGM was poorly organised and did not inspire. No resolutions for motions were proposed.
8. Response to SNC document ref Number of Council Seats
Cllr Brookhouse commented that he felt the number was right and we are fortunate not to be in the position of many Councils who are unable to fill seats. Cllr Spendlove commented that this could be due to people moving house more often than previously and the meeting felt that a number of factors were involved. Cllr Smith maintained that nine seats was right for
Helmdon.
9. Request from NCC to fund a Sustainable Transport Workshop
All Cllrs agreed that the workshop was expensive for what it consisted of and that it was not appropriate for Helmdon Primary School where congestion was not a bad as it once was. Cllr
Clerk

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Moody also reported that the school was already addressing the issues by the provision of a larger car park and a new bicycle rack.
10 Response to “Keep Horton General” campaign
The Cllrs considered at length what the most pertinent response would be; it was felt that the response should be measured and we should be clear what exactly we are supporting. Cllr
Spendlove commented that we must not be against change per se as it can be positive. Cllr
Mood expressed concern at the methods of the Campaign group whom he felt were responding emotionally and in a somewhat militant fashion.
Clerk
Cllr Brookhouse proposed and Cllr Smith seconded that Clerk write a letter stating our concerns to the CEO, cc’ing the “Keep Horton General Campaign”. All were in favour.
11 Resignation of Cllr Gittens
.
Cllr Burns informed the meeting that he had written a personal letter to Cllr Gittens. Cllr
Burns proposed, seconded by Cllr Bearman that a formal letter of thanks be written by the
Clerk. All were in favour.
The meeting discussed the process for filling the casual vacancy; the Clerk confirmed that the notice of the vacancy had been put up on 27th September 2006 and that, once the notice period (14 days) had elapsed, we would receive confirmation from Electoral Services of whether an election needs to be called. If no election is called, a new Councillor will be co-
opted. Cllr Burns proposed, seconded by Cllr England that should this be the case,a Special
Co-option Meeting should be held on Wednesday 1st November. All were in favour.
Clerk
Clerk
12 School Playground a)
b)
Meeting between all interested parties regarding lease agreement
Cllr Bearman reported that this meeting was to be held on 18th October 2006 and a report would follow.
Consideration of RoSPA report
Cllr Bearman reported that most issues raised were already in hand.
Cllr Bearman proposed, seconded by Cllr Smith that the recommendations of the report be accepted by the Council. All were in favour.
13 Registration of Jenners Piece
Clerk reported that this matter was ongoing.
14 Decisions of the Planning committee on applications since 26th July
S/2006/1067/P – 20 Bell Close – Single Storey extension to rear – Supported
S/2006/1183P – Grange Farm Barn – Conversion Garage to Habitable rooms – Supported
S/2004/0520/P – Land adjacent 55 Church Street – Detached House, Garage – Observations made regarding the water courses
15 Allotments – condition of unmanaged plots
Cllr Burns stated that access was too narrow for farming equipment to gain entry. Cllr
Brookhouse proposed, seconded by Cllr Burns that the plots be left to the new tenants to manage. 5 Cllrs were in favour.
Cllr Burns asked if anyone wished to become part of the Allotment Committee as it now
Cllr Bearman

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consisted of only two Cllrs, namely Cllr Spendlove and Cllr Smith. There was no response.
The Clerk should let Cllr Smith know of any vacant plots so that the Allotment Committee can discuss an appropriate course of action.
Clerk
16 Risk Assessments
Cllr Earl confirmed that the tyre swing had been repaired and item 7 completed. Cllr Smith queried the next action regarding the fencing; this was felt to be dependent on the outcome of the meeting on 18th October 2006.Cllr Burns signed off the risk assessments.
17 Parish Paths
Cllr Burns reported that Roger Miles has volunteered to take over the role of Parish Paths
Warden from Ren Gittens. Cllr Moody proposed, seconded by Cllr England that the Council support him in this role. All were in favour.
Cllr Burns requested that the Parish Plans Committee should be asked to investigate what progress there was on the information board.
18 Notice Boards and benches a) Repair Schedule
The Clerk reported that Bernie Wade would commence work in mid October. Cllr Spendlove commented that the discoloured Perspex on the board on the Green made reading the notices difficult. Replacement was not included in the tender by Bernie Wade as the glass had been broken subsequently. Council would await a response from Bernie Wade as to the likely cost.
Cllr Spendlove commented the Council notices took up half of each noticeboard space, leaving insufficient room to advertise local events. She questioned whether it was necessary to display each notice in triplicate. Cllr Brookhouse felt that it was important to do so.
19 Consideration of the re-introduction of “Councillors’ Questions” as a permanent agenda item
Cllr Brookhouse commented that, whilst it was understood that no financial decisions could be made under this heading, it would be useful to have it in order to allow Councillors to raise an issue brought to their attention in the intervening time between the issuing of the Agenda and the meeting. Cllr Brookhouse proposed, seconded by Cllr Spendlove that the item be re-
instated permanently. All in favour except Cllr Moody who abstained.
The meeting closed at 9:20 p.m.
The date of the next meeting is
Wednesday 22
nd
November 2006
Clerk

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