LANGHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes of a Trustee Meeting held on 29th September 2022 at 7.30pm at Langham Community Centre

Present
Alan Cadman, Maureen Shouksmith, Martin Bottwood, Sallie West, Sue Thorpe, Elizabeth Schofield, Bob Schofield, Liz Winter, Mark Kleingeld, Denise Hobday, Charlotte Parker, Sue Armstrong.

Apologies for Absence
Cliff Jones, James Puxley.

Minutes of previous Trustee Meeting held 30th June 2022
These minutes had been circulated prior to the meeting. Martin Bottwood asked for a small amendment under Item 8 “Developer Contributions” to read S106 contract money. This was agreed. Martin proposed and Mark Kleingeld seconded that the amended minutes be signed as a true record. All agreed. Alan signed the amended minutes.

Matters Arising
Land Registry
Alan had still not heard from Fisher Jones Greenwood and had been too busy to chase them. He handed Liz Winter their contact and she would contact Ellen Petersen by letter which Alan would sign. Martin asked whether the recreation ground could be registered to the Parish Council at the same time, as a boundary dispute had arisen. We would enquire. EW/AC
County Broadband
After some teething troubles, this service is now operating successfully for the Hall, Shop, Pre-School and CCTV. In the circumstances, Sue Armstrong asked if we could cancel our contract with XLN, which is costing £76.74 per month. The Trustees were unanimous in their agreement. SA
Charity Hires
The Trustees had been advised at the March meeting that, to satisfy our Insurance Company, we need to agree to any charity craft fair hirers, who do not have their own £5 million-pound Public Liability cover, being covered by our own Public Liability. Sue provided the meeting with a list of the forthcoming hires in this category, as follows: Angels MBS fundraising for St. Helena Hospice – In 2023: 21st January, 18th February, 18th March, 15th April, 20th May, 24th June, 15th July, 19th August, 16th September, 21st October 25th November.
Langham Community Shop fundraising for Langham Community Council – 10th December 2022.
Claire Iddenden fundraising for Colchester Foodbank – 4th March and 17th November 2023.
The Chairman asked whether everyone was in favour of these events being covered by our PL insurance and the Trustees were all in favour. Alan did point out that he will be negotiating next year’s cover with our insurance brokers in the next few weeks, so the situation may change.
Risk Assessment
The walkaround had not yet taken place but would be rescheduled. SA/CJ
Hearing Loop
Paul Armstrong had provided a report to the Trustees which Sue read aloud. Of the three companies he contacted on 8th August, only one came back with a quotation. This was Hearing Loops UK based in Leigh-on-Sea. Their quote of £4,500 including VAT was a lot cheaper than Marks Tey Radio’s original quote of £8008 inc VAT, even after deducting some items we had purchased for ourselves in the interim.
The CIF grant we have obtained has to be spent by March 2023 and will cover slightly more than £3,800, leaving a shortfall of around £700. In order to get the project moving, members of the Finance Committee were emailed to seek their agreement for Paul to go ahead on this basis and were unanimous in their agreement. Hearing Loops UK would be visiting Langham Community Centre on 10th October for a final site visit prior to installation which is scheduled
for later in the month.
Hearing Loops UK will provide an official standards compliance certificate and a five-year warranty on the equipment. Once installation is complete, Paul will deal with the paperwork required for the Grant providing body. A vote of thanks was proposed to Paul for his work on the project. PA
Air Conditioning leakage
The middle A/C unit in the hall had been leaking into a bucket since June when the units began to be required for cooling. Lambrothers diagnosed that it needed a new evaporating pan but have only just received delivery of this item. They intend to fit it next week and, at the same time, mend the cracked pipe in the loft, which has been leaking through the changing room ceiling. They completed a temporary repair in August when they found the damaged pipe, which may have been caused when the roof surveyors went into the loft. While they are here, Lambrothers will also re-site the internet connection in the hall, so that
Sue can once again program the A/C units remotely. (See Sue’s report.)

Chairman’s Report
Alan confirmed that he has begun liaising with the insurance brokers for a renewal of our policy. Hoggarth and Cook have orally provided a rebuild valuation of £3.5-4 million. We need this in writing before Alan can approach the insurers and there may be a fee. He will remind H&C. AC
Colchester Borough Council have been in direct contact with Charlotte at the Shop regarding monies which may be available for suggested improvements, based on the bungalows to be build off High Street beside Langham Cottage. This would be dealt with under Item 8 below.

Treasurer’s Report
Maureen had circulated Profit and Loss accounts for August prior to the meeting. Balances at close of business 29th September: CA: £3,756.41, Saver: £73,255.31.
The reduced Saver balance reflects some large expenses. We have paid for the new stage lights, which will be refunded by S106 money, and also redecoration of the Pre-School during the summer holiday. We really need to pick up more hires to begin to make a profit. At the moment people don’t seem to be coming out in numbers to support clubs and events which are organised. There was some discussion about this. It seems people have got out of the habit of
going out during Covid and some are wary of infection still. Regular attendance at Bridge, dance and other local clubs is down and the Community Café and Cinema have been poorly supported. The £5 million public liability insurance is also deterring some prospective hirers.
There were no questions arising from the accounts. George Pearce has had last year’s accounts for about three weeks.
September’s income to date is £6263.99, including some 100 Club subscriptions. Outgoings are £6,751, including clearing out the car park drains and essential electrical work. It has not been possible to assess the costs of the electric heating compared with the old oil system because of Covid, but we should not have been able to continue hiring this summer without its cooling fans during the heatwave.
Maureen renewed the Microsoft subscription on the Treasurer’s laptop several weeks ago using her own credit card. The fee had been deducted from her account twice and, despite attempts to contact Microsoft, the overpayment of £59.99 has not been returned. Liz Schofield proposed and Liz Winter seconded that Langham Community Council should refund this amount to Maureen forthwith as she should not be out of pocket. The Trustees were all in favour.
A vote of thanks was proposed to Maureen for all her hard work as Treasurer.

Item 8 Developer Contributions
This item was taken next at Martin Bottwood’s request. Stage lighting funding had been agreed by the Borough Council and Alan signed the S106
grant agreement at the meeting and handed Liz Winter a copy for the file. Martin said that the S106 Contract had been agreed, so that monies should be released in December on “first occupancy” of the Vistry Homes site in School Road.
There had been a meeting of representatives of Colchester Borough Council, Langham Parish Council and Langham Community Council, at which it was agreed that all applications for money from developers should be channelled via the Parish Council. Mark Healy, Community Enabling Officer, had been visiting various people in the village, including Charlotte at the Shop, asking for possible projects they might have in view. Charlotte has been offered £11,491.32 without any reference by CBC to the Langham Community Council as landlords. This would be for a “summer house” construction with outdoor seating, where
the bunkers now are outside the Shop door, and an awning to shelter vegetables and fruit. If this money is signed off, Martin suggests that it be accepted, rather than risk it being lost. It is based on the bungalow development beside Langham Cottage on High Street, which hasn’t actually begun building yet.
Martin reiterated the advantage of all “wish lists” being channelled through the Parish Council as the LPC receives a monthly list of all new planned development in the village. Thus they know when any funding might be available. CBC enabling officer has received lists from interested parties in Langham, i.e. church, community, health, education, parks and recreation, though not our “master list”. Martin confirmed that the Village Facilities Survey was on the
Parish Council website.
The Trustees were all in favour of his suggestion that any money forthcoming should be accepted, even if it had not come via the correct route. The Parish Council was thanked for its tenacity in dealing with the CBC over developer contributions.
Item (i) of AOB (see below) was discussed next, as Martin needed to leave early.

Marketing Manager/Caretaker’s Report
Sue’s reports had been circulated and confirmed that some regular bookings have been cancelled and some hirers are being slow to pay. Langham Film Nights is introducing a new format and hopes that people will come back and support them. Films are booked through until March 2023.
A hirer on Saturday of the Bank holiday weekend had left an awful mess throughout the building and on the field, which had necessitated a full-scale clean by Mike from Class Cleaners and Cheryl before Sunday’s all-day hire. They had failed to remove hired chairs and tables from the premises, left 36 heavy bags full of mixed rubbish leaking on the hall floor and failed to put away chairs and tables belonging to us. They have apologised and paid for the extra cleaning costs and rubbish disposal. Luckily the Sunday hirers were understanding.
Ed Hyde is coming to look at the floors on 12th October to advise on what kind of refurbishment they need. The hall floor was not done last year and is looking very tired. Sue also reported that Cheryl had received some verbal abuse from a driver parking at the Hall, when she explained that she was locking the gates and the car would be locked in unless it was moved. Trustees were sorry that Cheryl had been treated in this way and emphasised that such behaviour is totally unacceptable.

LCC Roof Project
As no grants are currently available, this project has been shelved for the present. In the face of the prohibitive cost of pursuing our original plans for solar panels and insulation, we would, in any case, probably have to settle for replacement of the slates.

Any Other Business
i) Martin showed the meeting the aluminium blue plaque for which the Parish Council were asking permission to mount on the outside wall of the Langham Community Centre adjacent to the village map. It commemorates the life of Dr. Edith Pechey who was born in 1845 in Langham and was one of the Edinburgh Seven, the first female medical undergraduates at a British University. She went on to found the Medical Women’s Federation of England and became Senior MO at the newly-founded Cama Hospital in Bombay (Mumbai) which was run by women for the use of women. (See her full story in September’s Parish Newsletter).
Trustees were unanimously in favour. It is hoped to unveil the plaque on her birthday on 7th October if the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Essex is available. Martin will confirm.
ii) Sue Armstrong announced to the Trustees that, after 12½ years as Commercial and Marketing Manager, she would like to retire at some time during the next 6-12 months. Everyone was extremely sorry to hear this but expressed their admiration for her dedication and ability to innovate in line with technological advances. Sue has provided an incomplete list of her duties to give Trustees a framework when advertising the position. They are many and various and will require a candidate with an incredible range of skills, resident in the village and wanting to work 40-60 hours a month at irregular times of the day. It will not be
easy.

Votes of Thanks
Liz Schofield thanked Sue for all her hard work and for agreeing to help any replacement to get to grips with the job. This was loudly echoed by all those present.
Liz also congratulated Charlotte for winning an award for the Community Shop.
Liz Winter asked for a vote of thanks for Cheryl, who had taken on extra work and responsibility during Sue’s holiday and is always such a conscientious worker. Supported by all Trustees.

Dates of Next Meetings
The next Finance Committee Meeting will be on 14th November 2022 at the LCC at 7.30 pm.
The next Trustee Meeting will be held at the LCC on Thursday 19th January 2023 at 7.30 pm.
There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.45 pm..