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LOOSE AMENITIES ASSOCIATION MINUTES OF THE 58TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING WEDNESDAY 13TH OCTOBER 2010 The meeting commenced at 8.00 p.m. with the Committee and 25 members present. APOLOGIES MINUTES APPROVED The minutes of the AGM held on 14 October 2009 were proposed as a correct record by June Irons and seconded by Derek Corbett, a vote was taken and the motion passed, were approved by all present then were accordingly signed by the Chairman and the Treasurer. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Terry Davis stated that the first task of the new Committee had been to form five sub-committees. These are:- Land Management, Events, Merchandise, Planning and Governance. He also mentioned that a further sub-committee dealing with Conservation to encourage and support conservation projects around the village was desirable but not formed due to lack of manpower. The objectives for this first year, and the extent to which they had been achieved, were detailed as follows: THE VALLEY LAND - to prepare short, medium and long term management strategies for the land and to initiate immediate maintenance and improvement works. The Land Management Sub-committee under the chair of Catherine Kenny had held regular work parties with good attendance which has improved the land. Contract works for felling and shrub clearance had been initiated, new fencing had been installed and existing repaired, new kissing gates installed and the grazing of Hebridean sheep arranged. Due to other commitments Catherine is unable to carry on as chair of the sub-committee in the coming year and Terry thanked her for enthusiastic and energetic input over the last 12 months. EVENTS - the objective was to put together a programme of fund raising events that would not only raise money but would also appeal to the residents of Loose, hopefully bringing the community together as a whole. Sadly due to ever increasing and onerous Health and Safety requirements it was decided that we could no longer run the Firework Night however the Sub-committee under the chair of Andrea Tozer had successfully organised a number of events. The ever popular Duck Race had been a huge success with heavily revised organisation and ticketing procedures. The coach trip to Ascot proved very popular and was over subscribed and was enjoyed by those who went and a larger coach had been booked for 2011. The staging of "The Merry Wives of Windsor" in the garden of Vale House (by kind permission of Cairns and Elly Nelson) was also over subscribed with 230 people attending in total and enjoying a great evening (A Comedy of Errors will be staged next year). The Scarecrow Festival was great fun with over 70 scarecrows appearing around the village and a huge number of people, not least the villagers themselves, enjoying the spectacles notwithstanding the indifferent weather over the second weekend. At this point the Chairman thanked each and every one of the people who volunteer their time to help at work parties and at fund raising events, without whom the Association would not be able to function. MERCHANDISING - the objective was to purchase and sell modern merchandise with a Loose Valley theme in order to raise money for the Association. We were very fortunate that Ralph Steadman kindly produced a 'Duck Race' sketch and a sketch based on the Hebridean sheep which have been both been incorporated into mugs and note lets. Liz Collins as chair had with the help of others, produced the 'Loose Calendar' for 2011 with a theme of Loose throughout the seasons with photos of many of the most photogenic parts of the village. This is a very popular format. PLANNING - the objective is to encourage good planning and conservation and to oppose proposals that did not fulfil this objective. We have lodged several formal objections with MBC Planning Department over the last 12 months. GOVERNANCE - the objective under the chair of Phil Matthews is to update our own constitution, to remove anomalies and render it workable. The number of permitted committee members was not clear. Under the heading of 'Objectives' there is no mention of the valley land, it having been drafted before the Association acquired any land. A revised constitution is to be put to this AGM later. In addition we have reviewed our organisation procedure and individual committee member monitoring in order to ensure compliance with Charity Commission Rules. It was reported that as a thank you to Roy and Rita Hood for their huge input and long service to the Association a gift of 8 tickets for lunch on the Bluebell Line had been purchased (for them and members of their family who had also contributed greatly to the Association over the years). Under Charity Commission Rules this could not be paid for by our Association funds and a separate fund was sent up for this purpose. A total sum of £1104 was raised by donations from members which paid for the gift and the remaining balance was given to Roy and Rita. This fund has now been closed. Roy and Rita have asked that the Chair extend their thanks to all who contributed. Looking to the future, the Committee have a number of ideas and are proactively looking at matters in and around the village which we think could benefit from out input. Our prime objective remains the valley land and we will continue to plan and implement fund raising events which we hope will benefit the community as a whole. We desperately need more people to sit on sub-committees to help spread the load and of course have a need for helpers for all the events. The Chairman concluded by thanking the Committee for their work through the year. TREASURER'S REPORT Derek Corbett, Treasurer, gave his report to the meeting. He explained the increase in income over expenditure for this past year was due to the sale of beef and did not reflect the ongoing financial position of the Association. Taking this figure out of the equation, the Association maintained it's normal level of income with income from new events (Merry Wives) making up for the loss of Firework Night. Derek also explained that some £7000 of the funds in the bank are 'restricted,' that is were raised for a specific purpose and could only be spent for that purpose according to Charity Commission Rules. For example, money raised to buy Mercers Wood but exceeded that needed for the purchase. Adoption of the Reports and Accounts was proposed by Peter Bradley and seconded by Donald Taylor, a vote was taken and the motion passed, there were no objections from those present at the meeting. ELECTION OF COMMITTEE According to our Constitution fourteen days notice must be given for potential committee members to be considered for election at the AGM. All the committee members wishing to stand for re-election had registered their intentions at the previous committee meeting. The following Officers and Executive Committee were elected: Chairman
Terry Davis Executive Committee: Dawn Bristow-Smith, June Irons, Elly Nelson, Liz Collins and Catherine Kenny. The Chairman mentioned that according to the Constitution we were two members short and asked if anyone present was willing to volunteer to be co-opted to make up the number. Peter Bradley and Shannon Hines-Clark both stood and were subsequently co-opted onto the Executive Committee. HOLDING TRUSTEES The Chairman reported that the Holding Trustees for the land were out of date. Ray Harris was one and he was prepared to continue, one was Roy Hood who having retired was not prepared to continue and two others, were believed to have left the area. This was a matter that the new Committee would be addressing in the coming year and as rules permitted an organisation (in our case possibly the Charity Commission) to be trustees this would be investigated as a better way forward.
Phil Matthews explained the changes needed to bring the Constitution up to date and to iron out anomalies that existed. Objectives to be added to the Constitution were (a) Acquisition and protection of land; (b) Enhancement of land: and (c) Furthering community spirit in the village. The amendments were proposed by Catherine Kenny and seconded by John Brighton, a vote was taken and the motion passed, all present were in agreement. Phil explained that the proposed and accepted draft of the new Constitution would now be forwarded to the Charity Commission for formal approval. ANY OTHER BUSINESS 1. Duck Race: A suggestion was received from the floor that consideration is given to providing more things of interest to younger children next year, not so much in the way of games etc but of demonstrations/stalls. It was explained that those stalls on Brooks Field were not appointed by the Committee but paid a fee to be there however the Committee would look at relevant organisations that could be approached to see if they would be interested. 2. A question was asked about the setting up of the new sub-committee for village conservation as to whether it would be acting independently or whether it would be liaising with the Parish Council on planning matters etc in order to provide a unified front. The chairman agreed it would liaise with and back Parish Council concerns. The meeting concluded at 8.53 p.m.
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