Meeting of the Directors of Culag Community Woodland Trust

Meeting of the Directors of Culag Community Woodland Trust

Location: 1 Old Coach House, Lochinver

Date: 18thJuly 2016

Present: Anna MacKay, Gwen Richards, Mel Chapman,Jimmy Crooks, Ian MacKenzie, Chris Goodman, Jorine van Delft, Charlie Russell

In attendance:Fiona Saywell, Julian Jacobsen (member), Richard Williams (CALLP Dev. Manager)

ITEM

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ACTION

1. Apologies
George Farlow
2. Minutes of 18th April 2016.
Proposedby Anna MacKay, seconded by Gwen Richards.
3.Matters Arising
Website: new website is ready to go live, just needed a few updates.
Benches: Ongoing.
Woodmiser:As reported at AGM: Ken Maclennan has worked on the sawmill and it is now up and running and ready to use. Directors to provide rules of use for the saw. Ken will continue to make improvements to the saw and shed. Since then Julian has been using the sawmill and spent £400 on it. At the moment he is trying to fix the switch and is happy to continue working on it. / Jorine
Anna, Jimmy
4. CALL/Pupdate
CALL
Tree Nursery lease: Lease still with SWT lawyers at present.
Chainsaw training: Not enough interest in chainsaw course, so not running.
CALLP Richard Williams – CALLP Development Manager
HLF approval and project start up: The stage 2 submission has been approved by HLF. Formal announcement will be next week. Richard, Fiona and Elaine will be meeting with HLF on 26th July to discuss terms and conditions of the grant. Formal permission to start should be in place by mid August. A start up workshop for project partners is planned for the 23rd September to run through all the processes. In November, SWT will be running risk assessment and first aid training sessions, open to all CALL partners. Staff recruitment is underway with deadlines in early and mid August. The Part B agreement which specifies details of the CCWT projects will ned to be finalised.
Scheme Management: the proposal is to have a Scheme Delivery Committee (SDC) with representatives from partners. Jorine agreed to attend when possible.
OWL: It is suggested that invoicing for this project be run through SWT as cash flow maybe too great for CCWT. The project would be jointly managed by CCWT and SWT. All agreed.
Woodland Artisan and Culag Paths: invoicing to run through CCWT with the option to amend in Part B should the need arise.
Project summary document will be circulated once the publicity embargo is lifted.
Office: It is likely that with the new staff team and the existing CALL staff (Susan and Boyd) a new larger office space will be needed.
Richard left the meeting. / Fiona, Boyd
5. Appointment of Office Bearers
Anna proposed Jorine for Chairperson, seconded by Gwen. It was proposed by Jorine that there be a Vice Chairperson position to help with the workload. Ian proposed Anna for Vice Chairperson, seconded by Gwen. Anna proposed Ian for Treasurer, seconded by Jorine. Anna proposed Gwen for Company Secretary, seconded by Ian. All duly elected.
5. Financial Report
Quarterly statement of financial activities handed round. The first 3 months shows a deficit of £312. This figure would be greater however there has been an upfront payment of £1,125 from Paths for All for the work at Little Assynt. HMRC have informed CCWT that there is credit of £130 from PAYE. This will be reduced over the next few months through the PAYE bill rather than in the form of a refund. / Ian
6. Project Officer Report
Froglife Project: Froglife had previously contacted CCWT during their project development phase in 2013. They now have funding from HLF to carry out the proposed work and came to meet with Andy, Romany and Fiona to discuss the creation of areas of open water at the Dragonfly bog to encourage amphibians and to create open areas at Little Assynt to improve the habitat for reptiles. The funding is to be spent by December 2016 and they are in the process of gathering quotes from contractors for the work.
Paths for All: Successful funding application for £1500 towards maintenance at Little Assynt. Requires volunteers for raking and some strimming as part of the agreement.
Deer Management: A meeting on 28th April of the APSG and SNH led to an APSG only meeting on 4th May to discuss cull targets and response to SNH as few landowners were unwilling to sign SNH’s agreement. Ray has forwarded the collective response from 4th May to SNH and this has been presented to their board for consideration. Kristin Scott (SNH) has recommended that APSG be given until March/April 2017 to have a DMP in place and to meet the cull targets under the voluntary system.
Fiona spoke with Robert Stuart informally at the APSG meeting about culling in Culag Woods. Formal request to Assynt Estates still to be sent. / Fiona
Fiona
7. Maintenance and Volunteer work
Compost toilets: Jimmy has fixed the door locks. The bearings are broken on the second windmill. This doesn’t seem to be causing a problem at present. Monitor in meantime and obtain a price for fixing.
Leaflets: Fiona to get prices for reprinting leaflets. A charge of 50p to be made for each one.
Donation boxes and signs: Will need maintenance, to be done in the Autumn. Also noticeboard at LAE Field Car Park to be moved to a more prominent position in the autumn. Small wooden signs for donations to be ordered. / Fiona, Jimmy
Fiona
Fiona
8. AOB
Online banking: Applied for, signatures required on mandates. This will mean up to date statements can be checked anytime. / Anna, Ian, Gwen, Fiona

Next meeting: Monday 22nd August at 7.30pm in CCWT Office (TBC)