2023-06-26 NPPFCT AGM Agreed mins

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North Petherton Playing Fields Charitable Trust
Town Council Office
Small Hall
North Petherton Community Centre
Fore Street
North Petherton
Somerset
TA6 6QA
Tel 01278 574074
Email townclerk@nptc.info

Annual General Meeting
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Trust held on Monday 26th June 2023 at 7.15pm
in the Small Hall, Fore Street, North Petherton TA6 6QA
Present
Town Councillors: L Hyde, R Ives, L Parchment, P Reddington, L Spelman-Ives, P Spencer, and
J Taylor
Representatives of the North Petherton Football Club and Ladies Rounders Team
Somerset Council, Cllr Revans
PF15/2023
Election of Chair
The Mayor presided over the election of a Chair for the meeting.
RESOLVED that Cllr Parchment be elected as Chair for the meeting.
Councillor Parchment took the Chair.
PF16/2023
Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bradford and Dennis-Smith
PF17/2023
Declarations of Interests
No Declarations of Interest were made.
PF18/2023
Minutes
RESOLVED that the minutes of the Trust meeting held on 20 March 2023 be confirmed
as a correct record subject to the spelling of Cllr Spelman-Ives’ name being
corrected in PF7/2023.
PF19/2023
Annual Report
Cllr Hyde, as the outgoing chair of the Management Committee, reported that during the
past year things have been gently ticking over with routine maintenance and that the
management committee has had some membership changes.

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The footpath in Parker’s Field has been discussed by the Management Committee and at
Trust meetings and there have been meetings with the football club and members of the
public.
There have been problems with the Titan structure at the Memorial Park; the equipment
supplier has sent an engineer to look at the equipment but no further information has
been forthcoming.
For some considerable length of time, it has been the Management Committee’s wish to
have a project, involving local young people, to paint / decorate the freestanding wall in
the Memorial Park. Contact is being made with possible project leaders to obtain a
general idea of costings. One of the aims of the project will be the reduction in anti social
behaviour.
Cllr Hyde concluded her report by thanking everyone who supports the playing fields in
so many different ways from using and enjoying the space to litter-picking or serving n
the Management Committee.
RESOLVED that the Trust’s thanks to Councillor Hyde is formally recorded for her work
regarding the playing fields and in particular her sensitive handling of the
various conflicts of interest between users.
PF20/223
Community Time
Speaker 1 – Representative of football club The Football Club has been working with the Trust to resolve various issues. It is good to
seeing the recreation areas and their facilities being used.
Speaker 2 Representative of the Ladies rounders Team
The team have 5 home matches per year played at Parker’s Field. The team’s needs are
simple - a pitch with cut grass.
Councillor Revans
It is great to see the Memorial Park so much improved and the equipment so well used.
Incidents of anti-social behaviour are much lower than they used to be and the more
people use the spaces appropriately the less likelihood will be of anti-social behaviour.
PF21/2023
Finance
The Secretary gave a broad overview of the Trust’s finances, explaining that the
expenditure on maintenance would be recharged by the Council and amounted to
approx. £12,000. Work was needed to balance the end of year accounts before they
could be submitted for approval.
It had previously been agreed that donations would be sought for the avenue of cherry
trees at the Memorial Park – this does not appear to have been actioned and needs to
be re-activated.

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PF22/2023
Constitution
Changes to the constitution to clarify the position of Chair of the Trust were considered.
RESOLVED that the constitution is amended to clarify that the Mayor
(i)
will be on the Management Committee
(ii)
will chair Trust meetings.
PF23/2023
Management Committee
To appoint members of the management committee
a. Council Members (the constitution states “three members of the Council
(“Councillors”), nominated by the Council, of whom the Council shall nominate
one to be the Chairman of the Management Committee”)
RESOLVED
(i)
that Councillors Dennis-Smith, Parchment and Reddington be the Councillor
representatives on the Management Committee (Plus the Mayor as agreed at
PF22/2023 above)
(ii)
That Councillor Parchment be the Chair of the Management Committee.
b.

Community members
(The Constitution states “Up to 5 members representing the community”)

RESOLVED
(i)
To re-appoint the 3 members of the community - Mr G Hearn, Mrs J Witaker
and Mrs D Woodland
(ii)
That the Chair of the Trust will write to Mr Farnell thanking him for his
service on the Management Committee.
PF24/2023
Parker’s Field General Report
The following issues were raised and discussed:
• Quotations for repairs to the Pump track
• Footpath across Parker’s Field
• Car park surface at Parker’s Field
• Pride that the football club have in their facility.
PF25/2023
Memorial Park General Report
No matters were raised.
The meeting closed at 20:32hrs