Annual General Meeting 2009
The Colne Stour Countryside Association. Minutes of the 44th Annual General Meeting held at Ferriers Barn, Bures on Thursday 16th April 2009
The Chairman, Charles Aldous, welcomed members and raconteur and author Charlie Haylock, well known in guests. East Anglia for his amusing tales of rural characters and The Chairman announced the sad news that our life. He gave a really very entertaining talk on local President, Malcolm Jones had died. He recounted that accents and their origins. Malcolm had been widely admired and respected by so Afterwards the Chairman thanked him for his fascinating many and his enormous contribution to the Association. talk on the history of not only the Suffolk accent, but its There followed a minute’s silence. spread around the world as far as Australia. The Chairman then introduced our guest-speaker,
Annual General Meeting 2009
The Chairman deputised for the President and took the Chair.
1. To receive apologies for absence.
He reported that we have a list of names on record but did not propose to list names individually.
2. To approve the Minutes of the 2008 Annual General Meeting
The Minutes of the 2008 Annual General Meeting, which appeared at the back of the Newsletter on page 21 – were approved, proposed by Simon Ward and seconded by Gill Eadie. The Minutes were then signed by the Chairman, Charles Aldous as a true record.
3. Matters arising from the Minutes
None
4. To receive the Chairman’s report
Charles Aldous stated that his letter at the beginning of the Newsletter had replaced the report, but that he had one or two matters to draw to the attention of members to bring them up to date. Firstly, our membership list has increased, so from that point of view, things are looking up for the Association. Secondly, NATS proposed flight paths to Stansted Airport had been withdrawn after strong opposition from areas affected for the first time. Further proposals will be produced, but no date for this had yet been given. He said that there must be a risk that people in our area could be more affected than we think. Any more information will be put on the website.
As for BAA’s application for a second runway, the Government have yet to announce when the enquiry will start. He said it might prove to be unnecessary now that the Competition Commission have ordered that BAA must sell Stansted. If the enquiry does take place and the Chairman is to give evidence, he must have supporting letters from those who feel affected or have been affected by airplanes in the past. Regarding Buntings application at Great Horkesley, he said that many now feel this “country park” is going to be largely a glorified retail centre and theme park. Up to eighteen thousand visitors are predicted. Although Great Horkesley is out of our area, this proposed development would have a serious affect on the Stour Valley. The Stour Valley Action Group was spearheading opposition and should be supported. Finally, he reported that the Association was short of local representatives in some areas. If anyone would like to help, would they let us know. Likewise we are also keen on getting young members to join the Association. Members were asked to put forward names to join. The adoption of the report was duly approved.
5. To approve the Annual Accounts
The Treasurer, Michael Goodbody presented the accounts. He reported that last year we had spent rather a lot of money having to update and redesign the Website. We had also spent more on the Newsletter because of a number of improvements, including more colour. This would be partly offset by advertisements. In future we should be able to keep it within our income. The accounts were approved, having been proposed by Robert Erith and seconded by Alastair Barlow.
6. To appoint the Honorary Independent Examiner
Mr John Sparkes has stated that he would be happy to carry on but would ideally like to hand on to someone else if they would be willing. Michael Goodbody stated that the work involved was only “a couple of hours worth a year”. It was agreed that the Committee be authorised to identify and appoint a suitable replacement and report this to members at next years Annual General Meeting.
7. To elect the Officers and the Committee of the Association
The Chairman, Charles Aldous, reported that, in addition to the existing Committee members, he would like to nominate Petra Ward, Vice Chairman of CPRE Essex, Braintree branch. Her appointment was agreed, having been proposed by Gill Eadie and seconded by Simon Ward. It was then agreed that the remaining Committee be re-elected en-bloc, having been proposed by Alastair Barlow and seconded by Sue Stratford.
8. Any other business
It was reported by Mark Dawson that 600 people a month visited the Website. A lot more had visited after the article on historic wallpapers and Cole and Son. The Website is very widely looked at in Australia and New Zealand, as well as many “visits” from Europe.
Garden Visits.
The visit was to be to East Ruston Old Vicarage, containing some 32 acres of different types of garden. The date was fixed for 1st July, with the bus leaving Bures at 10.00am at a cost of £15 per person. Mark Dawson reported that there was considerable interest in a visit to Highgrove. When he knows the year and date for this, he will put it on the website. There being no other business, Christopher Robinson was warmly thanked for arranging for the Association to have the use of Ferriers Barn for their AGM.
The meeting closed at 9.30pm.
