Council Meeting, 28 January 2026

HELMDON PARISH COUNCIL
COUNCIL MEETING
Minutes of a Meeting of Helmdon Parish Council held in the Helmdon Reading Room, Church
Street, Helmdon on Wednesday 28th January 2026 at 7:30pm.
Present: Cllrs Hart (Chair), Moody, Plunkett, Marchant, Fitzroy-Ezzy, Minshall, Sparrow, Fitton,
Shepherd, and the Clerk.
Members of the public: 6 members of the public, and Unitary Cllr Eastwood were present.
497.
To receive and approve apologies for absence – None.
498.
Declarations of Interest – None.
499.
Approval and signature of the minutes of November 26th, 2025 – It was
RESOLVED that the minutes be approved and duly signed.
500.
Matters arising from the minutes a. To receive an update on the actions agreed in relation to Play Area repairs – The Clerk has contacted a local contractor and requested he complete a report on the outstanding issues raised by the annual inspection, providing advice on what options are available to the Parish Council (PC) for extending the life of the equipment.
b. Update on communications with Amplius regarding land registry of the
Station Road land – Amplius have taken advice from the solicitor who completed the transfer of the land and they have advised that an RX4 is not required and that the PC should contact Land Registry to ask them to remove any restrictions on the land. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk should go back to Land Registry with the information provided by Amplius to ask them to register the land.
c. Article re e-mail scam awareness and diligence – Cllr Plunkett advised that he has sent the document to the webmaster who is going to publish it on the website.
d. Update re bollards to be installed in the layby near the B4525 entrance to Helmdon – The bollards have been installed. It has been suggested that reflectors could be put on the bollards and that wildflower seed could be planted in the topsoil put in by West Northants Council (WNC). Highways have given permission for reflectors to be placed on the bollards if they are paid for by the
PC. It was RESOLVED to delegate authority to the Clerk to purchase reflector tape and a wildflower seed mix up to a total cost of £50. Cllr Hart to send details of possible flower seed mixes to all Cllrs for their consideration.
Clerk to place orders once mix is confirmed. Thanks were expressed to
WNC for getting the bollards installed so quickly and for the landscaping they did which wasn’t part of the contract and was done purely as a favour to Helmdon
PC.
e. Update re dog waste bin provision on Church Street – Thanks were expressed to Cllr Minshall for emptying the dog waste bins twice over the last few weeks. The Finance Committee agreed at their recent meeting to hold off on the replacement of the dog waste bins on Church Street, due to the fact that a new contractor has been appointed to empty the dog waste bins and they will be emptying the bins more regularly, therefore the larger bins may not be necessary.
501.
Open Forum (15min max, 3 min per person)
• Unitary Cllr Eastwood provided a brief report and encouraged the PC to respond to the WNC Budget Consultation. Clerk to copy the PC
response to the consultation to Cllr Eastwood.
District Cllr Eastwood left the meeting at 7:51pm.
•
A resident advised that they would like two stiles near their property changed to kissing gates as they are more suitable for the elderly, the disabled, and those with dogs. Cllr Shepherd has contacted WNC on the resident’s behalf and WNC has asked for the request to be formally raised on Fixmystreet by the resident. The Rights of Way Officer will then come out to see the resident and look at the site and decide whether they could fund kissing gates. Cllr Shepherd will help the resident with submitting the request on Fixmystreet.
•
A resident noted that a local memorial mason has offered to clean the
Jubilee wall free of charge. The PC agreed to this and the resident agreed to let the memorial mason know it is ok to go ahead. The resident also raised concerns about wildflower seeds being planted near the wall as they believe wildflowers only look nice in the first year and then look a mess.
•
One of the Church Wardens advised that the Church path is uneven so the Church Committee are applying to the Diocese to get a faculty approval to replace the footpath and if they get the permission they will be seeking a grant from the parish council under the small grants scheme.
502.
To appoint a new member to the Finance Committee – It was RESOLVED
to appoint Cllr Fitton to the Finance Committee.
503.
To consider reallocation of the role of Tree Warden – It was RESOLVED to appoint Philip Bridger as the Tree Warden.
504.
To confirm the remits for the following roles: It was agreed to first vote on approving items a, b, c, and e. Cllr Marchant requested that the votes for this item are minuted – the votes were as follows:
Cllr Marchant – Against
Cllr Minshall – In favour
Cllr Shepherd – In favour
Cllr Fitton – In favour
Cllr Fitzroy-Ezzy – In favour
Cllr Sparrow – In favour
Cllr Plunkett – In favour
Cllr Moody – In favour
Cllr Hart – In favour
It was RESOLVED to approve the remits in items a, b, c, and e.
In relation to item d, the Clerk raised questions on items 3, 4, and 5 as listed on the proposed document. It was RESOLVED that those items be removed from the policy and instead to add in a line stating ‘To support the Clerk as required to help with the management of the allotments’, and to approve the document.
a. Blackpits Monitoring Group Representative b. Station Road Working Group c. Tree Warden d. Allotment Working Group e. Parish Paths Warden
505.
HS2
a. Review of External Liaison Protocols (HS2): To note the HS2 project's transition into technical highways and safety phases and to resolve to transfer the role of HS2 Liaison Representative to the Parish Clerk to ensure centralised administrative tracking, compliance with information-sharing protocols, and to maintain the council's professional standards regarding the distribution of public information –
It was RESOLVED to transfer the HS2 Liaison role to the Clerk. Clerk to contact HS2 to update the details of their PC contact.
b. To note further delays to the reopening of Radstone Road and consider next steps – Concerns were raised that there is already excessive pressure on the Welsh Lane, and Church Street is also taking a significant amount of additional traffic due to vehicles driving up Church Street to avoid the crossroads. There were also concerns about the poor communication about the closure. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk should e-mail EKFB and copy in
Richard Butler raising concerns about the extra traffic on Welsh Lane, and Church Street, and the poor communication.
2 members of the public left the meeting at 8:30pm.
506.
To receive recommendations from the Finance Committee a. To submit a response to the West Northants Budget Consultation – It was RESOLVED to submit the response as proposed by the Finance Committee.
Clerk to submit response.
b. To agree the budget for 2026-27 – It was RESOLVED to set a budget of
£37,300.75.
c. To agree the precept demand for 2026-27 – It was RESOLVED to set a precept of £32,618. Clerk to submit precept request.
d. To consider the timetable for the Small Grants Scheme 2026-27 – It was agreed that the Grants Scheme should be published on 18th May, with a deadline for response of 23rd June.
507.
a.
b.
c.
d.
508.
509.
510.
To review the following policies – It was RESOLVED to approve all of the policies listed below subject to a change to the date of the King’s Official birthday in the Flag Policy, and the dates changed in the Small Grants Awarding
Policy as per item 506d.
Code of Conduct
Flag Policy – King’s Official birthday
Sexual and General Harassment Policy
Small Grants Awarding Policy
To receive a report and update from the Parish Highways
Representative following the meeting with West Northants Highways on
20 October 2025 – The report was noted.
To identify any items in the parish not listed on the PC Asset Register where ownership is not the landowner on which the item is sited, and consider whether the PC would want to take these on if it is found that the owners no longer wish to maintain them – There is a tree on Jenners
Piece, a bench on the War Memorial, a bench on Station Rd Green, and an oak tree by the crossroads that were approved at the time but there is no one left in
Helmdon connected to those things to ensure they are maintained in a safe condition. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk should send a letter to the owners to ask if they would like to pass the items on to the PC to ensure they are maintained going forward.
To review quotes received in relation to planning consultant advice to support the Parish Council (PC) in making a response to a planning
511.
512.
513.
application on Priory Fields, consider whether the support is necessary, and if so, agree which consultant to appoint – It was RESOLVED to defer this discussion until such time as the PC has received a planning application as it is difficult to understand if support is required if it is not known what the application is.
To receive the Tree Inspection Report and consider next steps – Defer to next meeting when the new Tree Warden should have had time to review the report.
To confirm the council’s policy on external communications – It was
RESOLVED that the following guidance should be followed by councillors when receiving any communication from external sources:
If the item is something that is a request for the full council to consider, or is not directly related to your liaison area you should reply copying in the parish clerk stating ‘This is an issue for the full council therefore should be sent to the Parish
Clerk. I have copied the Clerk into this e-mail so she can take the appropriate action.’
If the query directly relates to your liaison role you should reply providing any requested information but copy in the Clerk to ensure the Clerk is aware of the issue and can help and/or put the item on an agenda for discussion if required.
Parish Plan a. To note progress and to take any questions – The report was noted.
b. To approve the Terms of Reference for the Village Shop Working Group Thanks were expressed to Cllr Fitzroy-Ezzy for putting this together. It was
RESOLVED to adopt the Terms of Reference.
c. To agree Helmdon’s participation in Community Speed Watch (CSW)
2026, approve expenditure on a speed gun, and appoint a CSW
Coordinator – The PC is required to buy a speed gun from Northants Police at a cost of £150 which will then be owned by the PC so Speedwatch can take place at times that are suitable for the group. It was RESOLVED to approve
Helmdon’s participation in CSW, to approve the expenditure, and to appoint Cllr
Minshall as the CSW co-ordinator.
d. To agree a date and make arrangements for the spring Community Litter
Pick – It was RESOLVED to organise the spring community litter pick for 1st
March @ 10am. Clerk to make arrangements for the Community Litter
Pick.
514.
Finance:
a. To note the bank balances of £142.91 and £31,442.41 as at 21.01.2026
– Cllr Hart confirmed the balances stated are correct.
b. To note and approve receipts and payments:
Payments made since the last meeting using delegated powers/Direct Debits:
Pymt
Date
Type
Payee
Invoice No
Description
Amount
Luke No Further
28.11.25 BACS Handyman
1116
Swing repairs
£239.00
Installation of timber
28.11.25 BACS WNC
424003116878 bollards
£5,243.40
30.11.25
Unity Bank
Account fee
£6.00
24.12.25 BACS R&G Grounds
122355
Grass cutting Nov 25
£152.40
Helmdon
Licence to use playing
24.12.25 BACS Primary School
E2047000019
fields
£398.00
Luke No Further
Reset posts, and fix
24.12.25 BACS Handyman
1120
swing
£234.00
Luke No Further
24.12.25 BACS Handyman
1123
Repair steps near slide
£570.00
24.12.25 BACS Staff costs
December
£759.71
24.12.25
31.12.25
08.12.25
31.12.25
08.01.26
BACS
DD
DD
DD
HMRC
NEST
Yu Energy
Unity Bank
Yu Energy
Invoices to be paid:
Payee
Helmdon Community
Foundation
E-on
E-on
E-on
E-on
E-on
H.Tims Environmental
Services
Tax & NI Dec
Pension Dec
Electricity Nov 25
Account fee
Electricity Dec 25
£138.43
£63.14
£56.54
£6.00
£62.13
Description
Amount
510
6018814007
6018814004
6018814008
6018814006
6018814005
Room hire Oct to Dec
Replace photocell LP3
Replace photocell LP2
Cut back vegetation LP19
Replace photocell LP14, LP15, LP18
Replace photocell LP26
£65.00
£42.00
£42.00
£36.00
£126.00
£42.00
PumpWarGarden12
War Memorial and Pump Garden
£100.00
03280545
Invoice No
Receipts:
Date
02.12.25
31.12.25
05.01.26
Received from
CCLA
Unity Bank
CCLA
Description
Interest
Interest
Interest
Amount
£98.16
£211.57
£99.51
It was RESOLVED to approve all payments and note the receipts.
Meeting closed @ 8:58pm
Signed……………………………………………………………… Date……………………………………………………