RIVER YEALM & DISTRICT
ASSOCIATION
Registered Charity No 262929.
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
HELD ON
At the Noss Mayo Village Hall.
The Chair was taken by
Rear Admiral Robin Hogg. Ninety members were present.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
** * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
1. Apologies for absence.
Michael Baldwin Cynthia
Tarrant Mary Wilcox
Geoff & Gill Courtis Anne Crawford Darren
Jonathan Dempster Vivienne
Summers Ann Hunter
David & Helen James Felicite Garth Colin
Drew
Alison Grieve Barbara
Hussell Crummy Gray
2.
Minutes of the 2005 Annual General Meeting held on
Christopher Bradley, who had been Chairman of the
RYDA at the time, explained to the meeting that the two Resolutions, put to and adopted at that meeting had worked
well. This meeting was being held in
April, ahead of the NNPC AGM and the decision to reduce the number of committee
meetings from nine to six per year had proved to be quite sufficient.
The Minutes were taken as read and signed by
Christopher Bradley
3. The Chairman’s address.
The Chairman did not wish to repeat the contents of
the 2006 RYDA Newsletter, sent
out with the Agenda, though this Newsletter
would be attached to these Minutes as a matter of record.
He then made a series of points:-
* Special
Invitees. Because
the subject of “Affordable Housing” was to be the Main Item on the Agenda, he
had taken the unusual step of inviting some of the local Landowners, who were
not members of the RYDA,
to attend as ‘Observers’. These were: Mr Harry Hockaday, Mr Brian
Hockaday, Mr Roger Harris, Mr Martin Cawse and Mr Scott McCready.
* The
Village Websites. He explained the utility of both the Parish and the
Community Websites. The RYDA had fully exploited this latter
Web Site and now had the “Introduction to the RYDA”, the “Rules of the
Association”, the “Joining Forms for New Members” and the “Current Minutes of
the Association” available to everyone.
He reminded the audience that the current “Welcome Pack”, whose stocks
were almost exhausted, was replaced at no cost by this website; a likely saving
of around £700 for the planned re-print.
On a show of hands, it would appear that over 90% of those present had access to the Internet and most had visited this RYDA Web Site.
* The
Village Directory (The “Blue Book”). He explained that the next edition
was planned for 2007 and that we were all fortunate that Christopher Powlett
had volunteered to remain as Editor. In view of the wide use of the Internet by
Members, he asked that those, who felt comfortable in doing so, should consider
letting Mr Powlett have their e.mail addresses in addition to their telephone
numbers.
He then moved on to the matter of Privacy. Now that the RYDA had its own space on the Community Website which could be accessed worldwide by anyone, it was important to ensure the ‘local privacy’ of the Blue Book. He assured those present that the Blue Book would continue to be available to new members on joining, and for sale to non-members only from The Village Post Office and Tubbs the Chemist. Amendments to the Blue Book would continue to be printed in the Parish Magazine but would NOT appear on the RYDA Website.
* The
Harbour Cleanup on Saturday29th April. The Chairman invited Mr Christopher
Bradley to remind the audience of this event. The point was made that, though
this was the May Bank Holiday weekend and most areas of the Estuary had “teams”
ready for the Cleanup, there was still a need on some teams for more volunteers.
Those who would like to take part should call Mr Bradley on 872035.
4. Adoption of the Accounts. The Chairman reminded the audience that they had all had an opportunity to scrutinize the accounts which had been circulated with the Agenda. He asked whether anyone had any questions for the Treasurer, Mr Alan Lomax. There being no questions, the accounts were duly adopted with an appreciation for all the work undertaken by Alan Lomax.
5. Appointment of an Honorary Auditor. The Honorary Auditor, Mr John Wilson had kindly agreed to continue in this position for the years 2006- 2007. His appointment was warmly welcomed and approved.
6. The Election of Officers and Committee Members. The
Chairman opened this item on the Agenda by thanking Mr Christopher Powlett for
all his work as Secretary. There was now a vacancy for an Honorary Secretary of
the RYDA, whose work was currently being undertaken by the Chairman.
The
Chairman then asked that the Chairman, Treasurer and the committee composed
of:-
Chairman Robin
Hogg
Treasurer &
Membership Secretary Alan Lomax
Members Christopher Bradley
Rod
Carter
Eric
Rodmell
Janet
Martin
Should be re-elected en bloc.
Proposed by Mike Steward.
Seconded by Roger Hallett.
Unanimously agreed.
The
Chairman then went on to thank Peter Sims who was retiring from the Committee
on rotation. He had been a long-standing
member of the Committee and had also served as the honorary Secretary for some
years. The Committee and the Association owed him a real debt of gratitude.
7. Any Other Business.
·
A proposal was
made from the floor that a small hut or shelter should be erected on Noss Green
to provide somewhere for those, mostly the young, using the Green for sport or other
purposes, to have some shelter. This
proposal was roundly opposed by those living in close proximity to the Green.
The Chairman pointed out that any such proposal should be put before the Parish
Council since the RYDA had no powers to sanction such a building.
·
Mr Bradley went
on to explain that the Committee had been debating the whole issue of Noss
Green and had decided to try and add additional benches around the perimeter of
the Green to try and achieve more of a “Village Green” effect. This would be a
gradual process.
·
The Chairman
took the opportunity to announce that the Committee had been given a series of
videos taken of village life by the late Ray Browne. There had been a debate as
to how best to make the most of such a gift. Initially; the RYDA was funding
their transfer to DVD in order to ensure that they did not deteriorate
further. In the longer term it was hoped
that this material could form the basis for a “Village DVD” that could be sold
in aid of the Church Heritage Trust.
8. Date of the next Annual General Meeting. The Chairman suggested that
Following a short break there were two Presentations:
* Brookings Down
Wood. The Chairman, Jeremy Spooner, spoke and made the following points:-
·
The 2001
Management Plan had been fully implemented ahead of schedule.
·
The 2005 Plan
was in operation and the ‘Loop Path’ was already complete.
·
The only work
now contemplated was routine maintenance.
·
Grants, largely
obtained by Chris Wood-Walker, and hard work by volunteers had helped to
achieve the present very satisfactory situation.
·
There would be
no ‘Open Day’ this year but anyone wanting a “Guided Walk” should contact
Jeremy Spooner.
·
The finances of
the Brookings Down Wood Trust, of which the RYDA is
Head Lessee were in a very healthy state with £3,000 held in funds.
* “Affordable Housing”. The
Chairman gave a Presentation on this important and potentially contentious
subject with the aim of :-
· Providing the membership with a “Factual Brief” on many of the key issues facing the two villages in terms of “Affordable Housing”.
· Illustrating some of the possibilities that might become available in terms of land both for affordable housing but also for employment land.
· Reminding the membership that the NNPC is our effective representative authority in these matters and that those who had an interest should write to the Chairman of the NNPC and attend the NNPC AGM on Monday 24th April.
In
the discussion which followed there was an almost unanimous consensus that:-
· Action had to be taken to regenerate and rebalance the two villages.
· The Briar Hill Farm Site, as presently proposed was unacceptably large and dense.
· The problems of finding affordable housing and employment land should be approached by taking in more sites at lower density and by creating some sort of Village Building Plan with a rolling Construction Programme of, say, 10 houses per year. Briar Hill Farm would be a part of any such plan.
· In realising that the fundamental difficulty lay both in low wages and the small capital base of many low paid but essential workers, as well as in the elevated value of local land, making “Affordable Housing” in the open market almost impossible to achieve. There was, however, almost universal support for:-
o The idea that a local Landowner, in return for permission to build say two houses for his family, might sell the rest of a parcel of land at well below the market rate for Affordable Housing; a sort of “natural justice” for those who were probably born and brought up here. This would, at a stroke, make it possible to build at much lower cost.
o Ensuring that Affordable Housing remained so in perpetuity by some sort of clever financing for any “Exception Sites” that could be created. A Community Land Trust or some similar arrangement might offer real possibilities.
o An accepted definition of the “Price” of an affordable house. A suggestion was made that we should start from a sum of four times the average annual earnings, say £80,000 - £100,000. Such an approach would put a premium on acquiring land at lower than commercial rates and setting up a regime that would make it possible to finance such a proposition.
In summary: there was widespread support for an Action Plan to Regenerate and Rebalance the Community. This should preferably be achieved through a genuine “Village Building Plan” where houses could be built at a rate commensurate with the requirement and where the village, through its Parish Council, could have a real influence over the position, density, design and other factors of any proposed scheme.
The
Chairman was authorised to write to the Chairman of the NNPC to reflect
these views. This letter to the NNPC
Chairman, together with these AGM Minutes, will be posted on the RYDA
Website. All those present were invited
to take home with them the “Briefing Notes” used in this Presentation.
There
being no further business the meeting was closed at
There
follows below the Letter to the Chairman of the NNPC.