LANGHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Draft Minutes of a Trustee Meeting
held on 31st Mar 2022 at 7.30pm.

Present
Alan Cadman (Chairman), Maureen Shouksmith (Treasurer), Paul Armstrong (Secretary), Martin Bottwood, Liz Winter, Sue Thorpe, Cliff Jones, Sallie West, Mark Kleingeld, Sue Armstrong.

Apologies for Absence
Bob Schofield, Elizabeth Schofield, Maureen Shouksmith, James Puxley, Charlotte Parker


Minutes of previous Trustee Meeting on 20th Jan 2022
Liz W proposed and Sallie West seconded that they be accepted as a true record. All agreed. Alan signed a hard copy.

Matters Arising from Trustee Meeting on 20th Jan 2022
Register LCC’s land ownership with the Land Registry (AC):
Ongoing. Alan had received a letter regarding this from our Solicitors FJG this week.
Re-imburse Terry and Mike for their public liability insurance supplements for increasing their cover to £5m (MS):
Discharged. Some follow-on discussions are reported in the Chairman’s Report section below.
Provide further breakdown of the £8,145 “other” item in the latest P&L figures (MS):
Discharged and confirmed that the total figure was correct.
Review and check accuracy of the £8,880 “non commercial non local” hiring figure in the latest P&L (SA):
Discharged. The figure is correct and reflects the evolving mix of hall hirings.
Contact Gill Flack to sign the Shop Lease along with the revised Side Letter (PA):
Discharged.
Review broadband service provision arrangements for the LCC and the Shop (PA/SA/AC/CP):
Ongoing.


Chairman’s Report
We discussed the ongoing issues around public liability insurance (PLI) requirements. These arise from (i) increased rebuilding costs and (ii) lack of clarity about whether the LCC’s own PLI provides umbrella cover for charity and non-commercial hirers.

Alan noted that his company were currently building a new Community Centre elsewhere for £3.8m, which is smaller than our own hall. Alan advised that Ian Cooke had recently offered to undertake a rebuilding cost assessment for the LCC, free of charge. Alan had accepted this offer.

All of the LCC’s regular club hirers have now confirmed £5m PLI cover except for the Carpet Bowls Club, whose cover is currently part of an Essex-wide group policy which falls due for renewal in August and will need to be reviewed at that point.

Sue noted that we had already lost some potential wedding hires because their proposed service providers could not offer £5m PLI cover.

Alan expects that our insurance provider Ansvar will be introducing a new policy clause at our own renewal in November this year, which will hopefully provide greater clarity on the limits of umbrella cover. Until then, Sue agreed to provide a list of upcoming charity/non-commercial hires for each Trustee Meeting to review for acceptability. Action SA



Treasurer’s Report
Maureen had sent her apologies so there was no report today, but Maureen will provide up to date figures for the next Finance Sub-Committee Meeting on 11th April.

Marketing Manager’s Report
Sue had circulated a report in advance of this meeting. This included an updated Risk Assessment for the Community Centre, for review and improvement by Trustees. Cliff volunteered to complete a ‘walkaround’ review with Sue. The existing two proposed actions were supported by Trustees. Action SA/CJ

Three of our stage lights are currently inoperative. Stage lighting is a USP of our hall. Chris of Future Electrical has suggested that we take the opportunity to convert to LED stage lights which cost far less to run.

Liz W asked whether there had been any progress with the hearing loop installation. Paul apologised for the lack of progress but confirmed that he would take responsibility for seeing the project through to completion.

LCC Roof Project – review the way forward
Alan noted that we needed to await news on the new annual grant cycle. In the meantime he will get together with Rob Clark for a more detailed information sharing session when they can both find the time.

Alan also noted that he had some green energy consultants visiting Cadmans in the near future to discuss a potential new joint venture. If appropriate, he may request that they take a look at the LCC and offer suggestions for us to consider.

Electricity Contract Renewal
The expiry date for our existing 3 year fixed price contract in May is rapidly approaching. Maureen has been researching renewal options and this will be considered further at the next Finance Sub-Committee Meeting on 11th April.

LCC Hiring Rates Review
The need for an urgent review (ahead of the usual annual review date each September) was discussed in the context of the huge imminent increase in our electricity costs. Hiring rates have not been increased since Sep 2019, during which time the RPI has increased by about 11%.

Sue T suggested that we should implement a May price review with a further potential review in September if necessary. Cliff supported this suggestion. It was agreed that Sue and Maureen should prepare a rate increase proposal for the 11th April Finance Meeting, which would then be emailed out to all Trustees for review and approval. Action SA/MS

Outline Planning Application for 30 homes next to the LCC
Martin briefed us on the planning application and the response being prepared by Langham Parish Council. Of particular concern (in addition to the ongoing general concern about lack of adequate sewage treatment capacity at Langham WRC) is the plan to drain surface water directly into the poorly maintained ditch running alongside School Road. It was agreed that the LCC should make its own response to the planning application highlighting the existing flood susceptibility of the LCC car park. Action PA

Potential large 55” monitor display for the LCC
A local NHS group looking to hire the hall had recently asked Sue whether the hall could provide a large monitor screen. Such a facility could be of used to other future hirers as well.
As it happens, Sue had an unwanted nearly new high-spec LG 55” TV and offered to sell this to the LCC for £300 (less than half the new price). After some discussion, it was agreed in principle that a large monitor would be a useful addition to the LCC facilities. It was then further agreed that the LCC should purchase Sue’s LG TV for £300. Action MS

Any Other Business
Martin provided an update on the potential developer contributions that should be allocated to Langham Parish as a result of both the large planned housing developments (via S106 Contracts) and small and individual housing developments (via Unilateral Undertakings).

Dates of next meetings
Next Finance Committee Meeting: Monday 11th April 2022, 7.30pm, Club Room LCC.
LCC AGM: Thursday 9th June 2022, 7.30pm, LCC (*)
Next Trustee Meeting: Thursday 9th June 2022 (immediately after the AGM).(*)

(*) These dates were subsequently amended to Thursday 30th June

There being no further business, Alan thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 9.48pm.