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ALDINGBOURNE COMMUNITY SPORTS CENTRE
Registered Charity No. 276055
Minutes of the Trustees Meeting
Sunday 10th October 2010
Those Present
Jon Leahy (JL), Jon Vinsome (JV), Mike Burton (MB), Linda Fromont (LF), Bill Warwick (BW)., Dennis Lennard (DL) and Philip Pilcher (PP)
Meeting started at 18:38pm
1 APOLOGIES – Helen Franklin (HF), Tom Tappenden (TT) Alan Johnson (AJ
2 Minutes of the meeting of the 5th September 2010.
The minutes were accepted as correct. Proposed JV, seconded DL.
Matters arising from the Minutes of the 5th September 2010
2.2 The matter of obtaining a quote for cupboards in the committee room – Ongoing
ACTION POINT MB to obtain quotes
4 Dog Fouling This matter was not raised at the Parish Council Meeting and was therefore deferred to November
5 Separate quote for Tennis Club still awaited re access system.
8 Draft Licence agreement submitted to Rifle Club. Awaiting official response.
ACTION POINT MB to write to Rifle Club Chairman
9 Business plan e-mailed to all Trustees. Deferred to Agenda Item 11
13 c Letter written to Barnham Trojans Re parking on match days
DL commented that ‘over’ parking should not now occur due to current fixture list.
13g CCTV provided to the Tennis Club but so far the persons seen playing footballs on the tennis courts have not been identified.
3a PUBLIC SESSION
A member of the public raised concerns with regards to the children’s play area. Concerns arose from the recent announcement by the Parish Council to apply for planning permission to move it to a new location on the sports fields.
JL explained the history of events regarding this matter and that the ACSC had taken a decision to support the Parish Council in this endeavour.
Members of the public had attended previous Parish Council and ACSC meetings and discussed where the responsibility for the project lay. At the previous ACSC meeting it was stated that the ACSC believed the Parish Council would involve the public via a public meeting.
To assist with the project the Officers of the ACSC had met with Parish Councillors on two occasions to discuss the way forward.
The first meeting (1/9) was called in the light of the discovery that planning permission was required in order to relocate the play area. It was agreed by those present that going down the formal planning route provided a statutory public consultation period. This would provide a formal forum to inform everyone whereupon they could object or support the planning application. The public meeting would be called by the PC and held at the community centre.
A second meeting (3/10) was called where those attending were notified that submission of the planning application had been halted, due to its cost, by the Parish Council Finance Committee. This delay meant that unless a planning application was submitted without any further delay the time limit of the section 106 money, held by ARUN DC, would expire and the money (£10,000) would be returned to the developer. By submitting the planning application a public meeting could be guaranteed as part of the planning process.
If a planning application was not submitted the Section 106 money would be lost because there was not enough time left to call and hold a public meeting and then to act upon the result.
(Public meetings require a notice period of 21 days minimum).
It was explained that those persons connected with the Parish Council who were responsible for the project had found that grants were available to construct a new area with new equipment but only a faction of this would be available if refurbishment on the existing site took place.
This was however only one reason for considering the move the other being one of safety. It was understood that all those consulted had stated that in their opinion the siting of a children’s play area should be in full public view. It was accepted that thankfully there had not been an incident involving a child in the current play area. However it was considered that the risk of such an incident occurring in the current play area was far higher than in a play area sited in a more open public area.
It was reiterated that the matter now rested with the Parish Council and any further question should be addressed either to the PC or the forthcoming public meeting.
It was also noted that the article in the Parish Magazine was incorrect.
It was stressed that despite various rumours circulating no plans had yet been discussed regarding the use of the existing play area, although comments had been made which extended from using it as allotments to a swimming pool
A member of the public requested that the minutes reflect the effort and dedication of the Trustees who as volunteers spent on occasions a considerable amount of their time ‘making good’ the centre. She cited the recent work carried out by the Trustees in keeping the hall floor safe until contractors could come in and repair it.
4 CORRESPONDENCE
14 Letter dated 20/9/10 from Hutchinson Flooring – Quote to replace hall floor
15 Letter from BRMRC deferred to Agenda item 12
1 6Copy invoice re Austin Budd Boiler replacement
17 Letter to PC dated 24/9/10 re street lighting
18 E-mail to Hutchinson Floor regarding terms in their recent quote re hall flooring
19 Copy letter addressed to PC Clerk re trees on ACSC site
20 Revised quote dated 27/9/10 from Hutchinson Flooring re hall floor
21 Letter dated 29/9/10 from Henry Smith Charity re £10,000 grant app for hall extn
22 E-mail to Hutchinson flooring awarding contract for hall floor replacement
5 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
JL thanked MB and JV for their efforts in keeping the hall floor safe.
JL stated he had drafted an ‘Open Letter’ regarding unfounded accusation levelled against the Trustees at the previous Parish Council meeting on the 5th October regarding their involvement in the matter of the children’s play area. He read the letter out after which the contents were discussed. There was dismay that Trustees had been accused of a conspiracy and of having ulterior motives although what these were was not openly mentioned.
It was decided that the letter might further inflame the situation and any reply was best left to the public meeting when it was called.
LF asked if all members could attend the next PC meeting to ensure that the position of the ACSC was made clear.
6 TREASURER’S REPORT
JV stated that he had previously recommended that all budgeted expenses be postponed due to the cost of the hall floor repairs but now wished to reinstate these as the insurance company had at last agreed to cover the cost of the new floor.
Income for this month was £8649 whilst expenses were £11757 but this included the cost of replacing the boilers and the yearly payment of the insurance premium. The Charity currently held a surplus of just £2319
JV stated he proposed no further expenses this month..
Accounts proposed by MB seconded LF. Unanimous in favour.
7 SECRETARY’S REPORT
MB stated that further to his contact with the Environment Agency the stream along the western boundary had now been cleared of the obstructions, two fallen trees. The waterway was classified as a main river and therefore fell under the responsibility of the EA to maintain.
The possibility of making the area a feature with the building of an ‘out of flow’ pond had been discussed as the EA currently were involved in looking for sites to build a million ponds throughout the UK.
ACTION POINT MB to update the next meeting regarding the progress of installing a pond
MB informed everyone that the contractors were due into the building tomorrow to start replacing the hall floor meanwhile Hopscotch would take up residence in the lounge. This would necessitate moving the lounge furniture in an and of the room each morning and evening.
The stage curtains had still not arrived
ACTION POINT MB to chase up on hall curtains
With one £10K grant application already in the pipeline MB announced that he had found a second fund and had applied for a further £10K. If both applications were successful the Charity would only have to find around £4K to complete the hall extension.
8 BOOKINGS
MB informed everyone that a further ‘Double’ booking had occurred on the 9th October resulting in the same group, BLS, being unable to use the hall due to a party being in full swing.
The BLS booking was a charity event apparently notified to us several months ago. They were informed that use of the hall was free although there is no mention in any previous minutes.
BLS were supporting Harewood Hospital where many of the tickets were sold. As a result people from Herts, Beds and Bucks were attending.
Unfortunately believing the Social Club were responsible for the hall booking and management number of remarks were directed at the bar staff on duty.
The matter was mad worse by the fact that no one had access to the booking diary because Helen was away.
MB stated that previously it had been agreed that all records relating to bookings should be kept in the office although this was based upon the drafting of new forms.
It was suggested that as of now all records including the diary should be retained in the office. Any persons making an enquiry should be informed they should attend the centre where if they wished to proceed with the booking all necessary forms could be completed and once a deposit had been paid the booking would be displayed on the web site.
ACTION POINT The Officers to produce a formal procedure asap Diary to be placed in the office without delay.
9 RIFLE CLUB AGREEMENT
No one from the Rifle Club in attendance Matter deferred to next meeting
ACTION POINT MB to contact Chairman of the ATSC
10 KITCHEN REFURBISHMENT
JV informed everyone that the likelihood of obtaining grants for the Pre-School building were currently very remote. He thought the building might have to wait for a year or two in the hope that charity money starts to flow again. With the possibility of Hopscotch remaining in the hall or /and the possibilities of extending the hall to the rear he asked if the full kitchen refurbishment of £4,500 + were in the circumstance wise.
LF stated that having made the rest of the building smarter she regarded the kitchen as a priority
JV agreed but thought the kitchen refurbishment might be better viewed at this time as a facelift only. He thought a facelift might be completed for under £2000.
It was agreed JV should obtain costs for a simple facelift.
ACTION POINT JV to obtain prices for a facelift to the kitchen for next meeting
The subject of the grant for the Pre-School received from Lidsey Waste Site was raised
MB informed the meeting that the £5K from Lidsey was still intact although in order to preserve the planning permission, which could be done by simply building the base, a soil survey and the engagement of a structural engineer was required. He estimated this could take up the majority on the £5K it was however doubtful given Lidsey’s previous enquiry that they would allow this use of the money
LF asked if Lidsey could be written to requesting that the money could be used on the kitchen refurbishment which would indirectly help the pre-School.
DL argued that with rising prices to dump waste Lidsey was a legitimate donor which the ACSC could ‘tap’ into especially due to its proximity. He thought we should apply for further grants from them.
ACTION POINT MB to write to Lidsey explaining the circumstance
11 BUSINESS PLAN
Due to the reduced numbers of Trustees present it was decided to defer this matter until next month
ACTION POINT MB to note Business plan for next month’s agenda
12 BRMRC
PP declared an interest
DL declared an interest
MB read out correspondence item 15 a letter from the Bognor Regis Model Railway Club asking the Trustees to consider the acquisition of the barn by the club to use as their modelling area. The Club were asking how rent would be applied and offering to refurbish the building at their own cost and to assist the Barnham Trojans in relocating their equipment by offering them the building previously used by the BRMRC.
Following discussions which also included suggestions for the storage of BT’s equipment the Trustees informed the BRMRC that they would favour such a move , rent would be calculated on the sqm principle by which they already paid for their current clubhouse and that any lease would be for the period of 25 years.
13 TREE CUTTING
This mainly concerned the western boundary by the stream MB stated that the two heavy trees
which had fallen blocking the stream had been removed by the Environmental Agency. These accounted for a large portion of the £1000 + quoted for the job by Mike Kennedy. There were however a number of branches some of which were broken and formed the basis of the letter forwarded by the Clerk of the PC (Corres Item 19)
ACTION POINT MB to obtain a quote from Mike Kennedy to remove the remaining branches
14 BOOKINGS
None known
15 BENCHES
MB stated he had discussed the original quote from Mike Kennedy of £100 per bench to site them around the field. Mike had offered to reduce the cost but had not yet given a price.
ACTION POINT MB to ask for a price
16 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
7th November 2010.
17 AOB
None
Meeting ended at 20:15hrs