MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF OVER HADDON MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HELD ON WEDNESDAY 18THMAY 2016
AT 8PM IN THE VILLAGE HALL
Apologies for absence were received from:
Trish Renshaw, Roger Truscott, Marian Ambler, Pat Thurlby,
In attendance:
Helen Head, Keith Renshaw, Dick Foxon, Jill Beckett, Zena Hawley, Shirley Swaap, Jen Foxon, Martin Chresta, Christine Chresta, Zoe Hendry, Susie Mensforth, Jan Langdon.
Chairman’s opening address:
Helen Head welcomed everyone in attendance to the meeting.
Minutes of AGM held on 20thMay 2015:
It was proposed by Jill Beckett and seconded by Jen Foxonthat these be accepted as a true copy and signed by the Chair.
The motion was passed by a majority vote.
Matters arising from Minutes of AGM held on 20th May 2015:
Helen Head advised that a “Thank You” card and a bouquet had been presented to Rita Furr on her retirement from OHVHMC after many years of freely given service.
Annual Report and Presentation of Accounts
The Chair presented her report to the meeting as below:
CHAIR’S REPORT 2016
Like most years the past 12 months has seen many varied activities in the Village Hall, the most important of which has been the opening of the children’s playground.
The village has waited many years for a children’s playground and finally after the hard work, brilliant support and generosity of many villagers, local organisations and businesses, we finally have this lovely playground, a playground to be proud of, that I am sure will provide pleasure for many generations of children to come.
The village hall continues to be used regularly throughout the week, Keep Fit, a number of Yoga classes, Camera club, Film club, Table Tennis club, Book club, Indoor Bowls and the Over 60’s Coffee Morning. It is very rewarding to know that many of the classes stimulate the body and/or the mind!
We have also had interest from Adult Education but unfortunately these enquires have not resulted in many classes going ahead other than a group of ladies in December (some local, some not) making very professional Christmas wreaths and table decorations.
The village hall has also been central to villagers and locals celebrating birthdays, christenings and weddings.
Unfortunately some functions have been cancelled due to poor ticket sales, including a production by The Library Theatre; in addition a production by Live and Local resulted in the village hall sustaining a small loss.
Other evenings have had much better attendance…Patrick’s big quiz, and most recently, the games night. The evening saw villagers of mixed ages and ability competing, in what I understand was friendly rivalry.
One event that has failed to attract young and old alike is the annual Easter celebration. …egg rolling (or rather throwing) Easter egg hunt and treasure hunt. As a committee we are rethinking this event. We recognise that children now have many other competing demands. Any suggestion from children and parents on how we can make this event more successful would be gratefully received, as would any suggestion for events/funding raising for the village hall and the local community.
Going forward we have the Queen’s birthday celebrations with a ‘street party’ planned for the 12th June, the Well Dressing and the Village Show (so get planting).
Finally I would like to say a very big thank you to the local community for their support, and to all of my fellow committee members (especially my fellow officers, Keith as treasurer and Dick as secretary) for their hard work and commitment to the ongoing success of this wonderful village hall.
Presentation of Accounts
The Treasurer, Keith Renshaw, handed those present a copy of the “Income/Expenditure Summary” for the year end 31/3/2016.
In doing so he explained that the year-end accounts had been certified by an independent examiner.
The Chair then advised that the existing committee would now resign in preparation for election of a new committee and officers.
Election of Officers and Management Committee
Nominations had been received on behalf of Helen Head,Stephen Millerand Jill Beckett, Martin Chresta.
Helen Head confirmed that she was prepared to accept a nomination for the position of chair:
Messrs Thurlby (in his absence), Foxon and Renshaw confirmed that they were prepared to continue in their roles as Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer respectively. There being no other nomination this was agreed by a majority vote. In accepting the office of Treasurer Keith Renshaw pointed out that he would like to stand down from this role in 12 months’ time.
There being no other nominations for the 3 (three) remaining management committee places it was agreed by a majority that Martin Chresta, Jill Beckett and Steve Miller be elected.
Representative Committee Members
These were agreed as follows:
Bakewell PCC/St Anne’s Church— Roger Truscott
Book Club & Over 60’s Coffee Morning— Marian Ambler
Indoor Bowls Club— Shirley Swaap
Parish Council—Zena Hawley
Village Show—Trish Renshaw
Well Dressing—Christine Chresta
Film Club—Jen Foxon
Review of Policies:
The Chair advised that these would be reviewed at the next management committee meeting following this AGM.
Any other business
The Chair asked all those present if they had any other business that they wanted to discuss.
Susie Mensforth began by asking why an article by Roger Truscott had stated that Friends of St. Anne’s “operates as a sub-committee of the OHVHMC”. The secretary confirmed that was not the case and that he would advise Roger accordingly.
Susie then continued to accuse OHVHMC of treating herself and others at “this end of the village” with contempt. Susie complained that she had “been mown down by children on bicycles” and she and her dog or property could have been seriously injured by a “rounders ball” knocked into her garden. She was also concerned that a small child had tried to climb her wall to retrieve a ball.
Zoe Hendry stated that she felt very sorry that OHVHMC, who had worked so hard to provide a community amenity, were being blamed for the apparent actions of village children playing in and around the hall grounds. She further stated that she appreciated the efforts made by OHVHMC in setting up an awareness training day for children using their bicycles in and around the village.
Zoe suggested that parents should be encouraged to reinforce the message of consideration and awareness with their children. This could be done by email and/or a meeting. She confirmed that she generally accompanied her children to play at the village hall and finds the atmosphere being generated between village children, as a result of having a place to gather, to be “lovely and helping to develop a tightly knit and supportive group”.
Jen Foxon pointed out that OHVHMC had taken Susie’s comments seriously and had obtained wide ranging advice about their responsibilities. As a result warning signs were now in place.
Susie Mensforth then read out extracts from the Road Traffic Act (?) concerning ball games in the road and causing annoyance or nuisance. She claimed that School Lane was a very busy road.
Helen Head asked if Susie had any suggestions to alleviate the perceived problem.
Susie reiterated her earlier comments that a gate would be the answer.
A general discussion then ensued about the practicalities and engineering problems that a gate would have, taking into account the slope of the drive, the need for gates to open inwards (PDNPA planning requirement), the need for the gates to be kept closed at all times except for access amongst other considerations.
Dick Foxon then started to make a point by saying that we needed to be careful that we were not “taking a sledge hammer to crack a nut” at which point Susie Mensforth stood up to leave the meeting claiming that she was being treated as a small individual. Dick Foxon asked Susie to remain to allow him to finish making the point he had started to which Susie replied “I don’t want to hear it” and left the premises.
The meeting continued with further discussions about possible education of children, the possibility of installing gates and the feasibility of purchasing additional land to extend the village hall site to the east (to allow changes to the entrance from School Lane and existing walled boundaries).
ACTIONS:
- Dick Foxon to speak to Roger Truscott re: FOSA
- Martin Chresta to make enquiries at the Land Registry
- OHVHMC to consider an email to residents
Date of next OHVHMC meeting:
Monday 23rd May 2016
The meeting closed at 8.50pm
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