Councillor J. Metters in the Chair and Councillors: J. Battrick, A. Best, J. Davies, L. Davies, I. Fordham, K. Dawson, J. Hood, T. Kelt, B. Kenney, R. Kenney, P. Leason, J. Powell, N. Powell, C. Thornicroft and R. Townsend

Officers: L. Trigg (attended the meeting virtually on Teams), R. Edwards and T. Williams

Councillors: A. Burgess and A. Mottershead

Before the meeting began, Reverend Paul Kingman, led prayers.

Apologies were received from Councillor: A. Mottershead

None made.

None received.

None

RESOLVED:

• a) That the minutes of the meeting of the Town Council held on 2 September 2025 (Minute Numbers C26/035 – C26/044), be approved as a correct record.

* Items marked with an asterisk refer to reports or papers circulated with the agenda or distributed at the meeting. They are attached as an appendix to the signed copy of the Council minutes.

RESOLVED:

• a) The draft minutes of the General Purposes Committee meeting held on 2 September 2025 (Minute Numbers GP26/048 – GP26/062), were noted.
• b) The draft minutes of the Planning Consultative Committee meeting held on 2 September 2025 (Minute Numbers PC26/019 – PC26/024), were noted.

The Town Mayor invited allotment Judges, Mr David Moreton and Miss Hannah Rigden, to come forward to share their observations following their visits to the Town Council’s allotment sites on Monday 4 August 2025, to judge the allotment competition.

The Town Mayor accompanied by David, awarded prizes to the following allotment winners and congratulated each on their achievements:

Best Kept Allotment Winner at Newcastle Road – Mrs Hemsted Williams & Mr Williams
‘Clearly well loved, productive, quality mix of vegetables, fruit, herbs and pollinator friendly flowers. A very well maintained and tended plot with a greenhouse and a space to sit and enjoy it’.

Best Kept Allotment Winner at Mount Road – Miss D. Rushton
‘This plot stands out as free spirited and fun. It is well loved and maintained, a diverse mix of vegetables, fruit and flowers using recycled materials and being kind to nature. A happy place’.

Highly Commended at Newcastle Road – Mr & Mrs Hollinshead
‘A nicely kept large plot with lots of variety, a lovely cutting garden and sitting space. Rhubarb and lettuce to be proud of’.

Highly Commended at Mount Road – Mr & Mrs Simpson
‘This allotment was beautifully neat and well-tended with great quality vegetables, clearly a very productive plot’.

The Town Mayor expressed the Town Council’s thanks to David and Hannah and congratulated the competition winners for their achievements.

The Town Clerk advised the Council that a clean and positive audit had been received except in one minor respect related to the date of commencement of the Public Rights period. He stated that he had queried this with the External Auditor, as he believed that the Council was fully compliant with requirements. No reply had been received from the Auditor at the time of the meeting.

RESOLVED: The Town Council noted the External Auditor’s Report* and Certificate for the year ending 31 March 2025.

The Town Council asked that its thanks to the Town Clerk and Deputy Town Clerk be recorded for the work undertaken on the end of year accounts.

The Civic Announcements, which had previously been circulated, were noted.

The Town Mayor’s and Deputy Town Mayor’s reports of engagements, which had previously been circulated, were noted.

The Town Mayor and the Deputy Town Mayor provided the Town Council with additional verbal reports on the details of their engagements.