LANGHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting
held on 19th May 2016

Present
Seventeen people attended the AGM including three members of the public.

Apologies for Absence
Elizabeth and Bob Schofield, David and Pam King, Shannon Barnes and Jutta Brawn.
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Alan Cadman, Chairman, welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Minutes of the AGM held on 21st May 2015
There were no objections to the Minutes, which had been circulated prior to the meeting, and these were approved. Proposed: Ann Cairns. Seconded: James Puxley.

Matters Arising
It was confirmed that the outline extension plans, which had been available for viewing at last year’s AGM, including lift access to the first floor, had been shelved because of the enormous cost. Alternative refurbishment plans would be dealt with under Agenda Item 8.

Managing Trustees’ Report
The Chairman said we had had another very successful year to the end of March 2016, commenting that the hall was so fully booked that he himself had been unable to make a reservation. Alan thanked the Committee and team for their efforts and in particular Sue Armstrong for her tireless work in finding customers and keeping them happy and, with Cheryl’s help, taking on a lot of the tasks formerly carried out by Roger Hobday.

During the year car park repairs have begun, air conditioning has been installed in the Committee room and the existing security camera system has been upgraded to include internal webcams. New five-year leases have been negotiated with the Community Shop and the Pre-School.

The Coasters Scooter Club were very pleased with their weekend last July and will be returning on 8th and 9th July this year (and in 2017). Caravan Clubs continue to use the premises, Country and Western dances remain popular, as does the monthly Film Night. “Strictly”-type dancing classes had been successful last year.

Alan touched upon Item 8 to inform the meeting that Rob Clark and Roger Newnham had applied for Grants on behalf of the LCC to carry out refurbishments and upgrades to the Centre. They had secured over £40,000. It was planned for the work to be carried out during August, along with sanding and resealing the Hall floor. He thanked Rob and Roger very much and also all committee members and staff for their time and invaluable support.

Alan reported that the Treasurer’s financial statement would accompany his report and, although we were in a healthy position, much expenditure lay ahead. Much of our Barclays current account banking is now done online. Where cheques are used, two signatories are required from the Managing Trustees.
The Trustees are responsible for ensuring the preparation of financial statements and keeping proper accounting records in accordance with Charity Commission regulations.

Treasurer’s Report
Cliff’s report had been circulated to those present and it explained the absence of a budget forecast, owing to current uncertainties in financial commitments including the Community Shop and refurbishment work. A budget would be circulated to Trustees for approval prior to documentation being sent to the Independent Examiner later in the year.

The report pointed out that the growth in income was skewed by a large amount of income from one hirer, which may not continue into subsequent years. We have sufficient funds for planned one-off maintenance for the next ten years. Our discretionary spend is quite low and within the next ten years will diminish and could move into deficit without the grant funding we are hoping for. However, if, as now seems likely, the grant funding is secured, our finances remain positive.

The figures showed an increase in income over the previous year of £13,634 and an increase in expenditure of £7,078, with a contingency minimum balance of £10,000.
Marlena Lipski asked how the car park contributed to income. Sue Armstrong explained that the fish and chip van on Fridays paid some rental as did people asking to have an advertising pod on the car park.

There were no other questions. Mark Kleingeld proposed that the Report be accepted and this was seconded by David Winter. There were no objections. Alan thanked Cliff for his excellent work.

Election of Officers
The Secretary advised the meeting that she and Alan were willing to stand again as secretary and Chairman. While unwilling to be re-elected as Treasurer, Cliff agreed to continue in post subject to the ongoing financial situation being resolved in an appropriate manner. No other nominations had been received. David Winter proposed and Gill Woodman seconded that they should be re-elected en bloc, but bearing in mind Cliff’s caveat. Carried unanimously.

Chairman – Alan Cadman; Secretary – Liz Winter; Acting Treasurer – Cliff Jones.

Alan resumed the chair. At a recent Trustee Meeting there had been some confusion about which officers were Trustees and therefore eligible to vote at meetings. Alan had consulted our solicitors who had confirmed that the only elected official who is a Trustee is the Chairperson. The Treasurer and Secretary are not Trustees and have no vote. Unfortunately it was felt our Constitution from 1978 is not clear on this nor on some other matters. In fact the solicitors advise that it should have been updated. Alan has had three meetings to discuss this with their expert. He believes this is free of charge, as the solicitors failed to give us the best advice when they drew up the new leases at the end of 2015. Michaela Ward asked how long it would take to draw up a new Constitution. Alan had been given an estimate of six months, as the new document is likely to be cumbersome.

Cliff stressed that these solicitors had acted incompetently in the past, so we should be cautious. We should not proceed any further until we know in advance how much the Constitution work will cost. Until we know this, money should only be spent on essential maintenance work and regular bills. The meeting supported Cliff. Alan expected to have the solicitors’ quote in time for the next Management meeting.

Community Council Representatives
There were three new members who were all present at the meeting and welcomed to the team. Maureen Shouksmith would represent the WI as Fay Smith had resigned last January. David and Pam King had resigned recently after stalwart service as Trustees and no-one had yet come forward as a new Bowls Club representative. Marlena Lipski would represent Patchwork Pals. Eve Oxley had ceded her position to Michaela Ward for the Pre-School. The retiring Trustees had been excellent participants in the Community Council over many years.
The full list of representatives elected by their organisations is as follows:

Liz Schofield Parish Council
Bob Schofield Recreation Ground
Ann Cairns Bridge Club
Maureen Shouksmith WI
Marlena Lipski Patchwork Pals
Denise Hobday Parochial Church Council
Mark Kleingeld Tennis Club
Andrew Craig Community Shop
Michaela Ward Pre-School
James Puxley Scouts

Item 8 Grant Funding for Hall improvements
The Secretary read out a report prepared by Rob Clark and Roger Newnham outlining events since last November when Rob was first asked to help in securing Grant Funding for the LCC. Since this time Rob and Roger have worked tirelessly on our behalf together with Alan Cadman. After a lot of initial work preparing specifications they obtained interest from four out of the nine contractors contacted.

Project headings are:
1. First floor Committee room: work to patio doors.
2. Ground floor: replace Velux windows in roofs and vertical windows in main hall and clubroom; provide electrically operated blinds where required.
3. Replacement of double doors to main hall/clubroom (May not be necessary.)
4. Repairs and upgrading of kitchen area: tiling, heaters, cupboards, drawers, worktops, etc.
5. Provide automatic lighting in areas including boot room, rear foyer, referee’s room, etc.
6. Provide new disabled access to rear entrance and new patio at rear of building.
7. Supply and fit new UPVC fascias and soffits at rear of building.

Grants were sought from Essex Community Foundation, Cory Environmental Trust, Awards for All and Grassroots.

As long as we meet certain conditions, Cory have awarded £35,000; ECF £7,500 and we hope to receive £5,000 from Grassroots, which will be notified in early June. We were turned down by Awards for All. These details are not for publication at this stage.

The work will hopefully commence on 1st August and be completed by the end of that month. Sue is working hard to fit around this timetable.

As Treasurer Cliff recommended that the TOTAL contribution from the Langham Community Council should not exceed £5,000. Nothing should be paid “up front” before receipt of the grant funding. Before we commit to any expenditure we need to know what support we shall receive from the Parish Council and be sure that any process we follow is constitutionally sound. The grant providers should pay on invoice as the work is carried out.

The Parish Clerk was present and read out an e-mail from a Parish Councillor who felt that the Parish Council had not been given sufficient information. He would like their Finance Committee to meet with a member of the LCC to discuss matters. The Clerk confirmed that we had £1,600 with the PC as interest from a bond and a discussion ensued about how much help might be available from the PC. We hoped to have a total grant of £47,500 but needed to repay ten percent of the Cory grant, i.e. £3,500. Alan confirmed that the tender is £50,400.

Any Other Business
1. Liz Schofield, via the Parish Clerk, suggested that the Langham Community Council might like to send a representative to attend Parish Council meetings. This would be raised at the next LCC Management meeting.
2. The question was raised as to whether a change in the Constitution might alter what documentation needs to be submitted to the Independent Examiner and the Charity Commission. Cliff would look into this.

This concluded the business and the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 8.30pm.


Next Management meeting Monday 6th June 2016 at 7.30 p.m. at the Chairman’s house.

Next Trustees’ meeting Thursday 21st July 2016 at 7.30pm in the Clubroom.