Annual General Meeting May 13th 2009, 7.00pm

Notes of Annual General Meeting

May 13th 2009, 7.00pm at The Vale Community Centre, Hadlow Close

Present: Alan Cooke (Acting Chair), 29 residents, Cllr Gill Mitchell, Cllr Warren Morgan, Trevor Jones (Community Participation Officer), Sarah Johnson (Housing Officer), Sue Hes and Carol Byard (Trust for Developing Communities), Sue Leggett (Community Warden), PCSO Carol Manton, Paul Gorringe (Park Ranger Service)

1. Welcome and Apologies. Alan opened the meeting at 7 pm. There were no apologies received.

2. Acting Chairman’s Report. Alan reported on the year, and gave thanks to several members of the committee who had achieved so much over the past year, plus the efforts of Sue and Carol from TDC. He welcomed Trevor, Sarah and Sue Leggett to their first AGMs, and thanked them for their help to the team. He also paid tribute to committee member Carol Mahony, who had passed away several months earlier.

Much had been achieved, especially having taken over ‘The Shed’, renamed it as the Vale Community Centre, and significantly increased its level of bookings under the guidance of Nick Wood. We now have a new notice board at the top of Hadlow Close where we advertise all that is going on in the community, and a new weblog address where all can keep in touch.

Community Payback had helped smarten up the estate with their valuable work on the garden areas for our new gardening team led by Grant Scott and Carol, and we are hoping to see them again soon to help with this year’s objective of smartening up the adjoining woodlands for the benefit of all residents.

3. Minutes. The minutes of the Annual General Meeting of April 13th 2008 were circulated and were agreed to be a true record of the meeting. There were no matters arising.

4. Treasurer’s Report. The unaudited accounts were circulated. The Resource Centre expected to have them audited within a few weeks and these would be presented at the next Committee Meeting. Alan thanked Irene Fender for acting as tresurer for the past year, but a replacement was now needed. Separate accounts were shown for the Community Association and for the Vale Community Centre. At the end of the year, the CVCA held some £816.52, and the Vale CC some £5,038.42. The meeting adopted the accounts.

5. Election of Committee. Trevor thanked the committee for all their hard work over the past year and then asked for people willing to put themselves forward as committee members. The following were unanimously elected:

Chairman – Grant Scott; Secretary - Alan Cooke; other committee members – Bill Duff, Irene Fender, Keith Drysdale, Nick Wood, and Clive Taplin . No treasurer was appointed.

The next committee meeting was set for June 10th at 7 pm.

6. Presentation by Park Ranger Service on Whitehawk Woods. Paul Gorringe introduced himself as the new Park Ranger responsible for Sheepcote Valley, Whitehawk Valley and the woodlands adjoining Craven Vale and Bakers Bottom. His main priorities for the local woodlands were: to clear the current rubbish which had been fly-tipped throughout the area; to regenerate the woodland by clearing out some invasive species, protect valuable specimens such as elms, and introduce more woodland species through cutting down much of the sycamore to provide open areas where new plants could be encouraged; and to improve access to the woodlands by improving the paths.

He intends over the next few months to work with the community to achieve many of

these objectives and to organise guided walks and workshops to involve as many people as possible. The first big occasion would be a joint litter-pick day to be organised for July 18^th.

In open discussion many other topics were covered, including the activities of those illegally resident on the hill, the presence of Japanese Knotweed, the state of the public footpath backing on to Rochester Street, the need for dogbins, and the regeneration of Queens Park.

Paul is happy to be contacted at any time on 07825 387385.

7. Any Other Business

None

The meeting closed at 7:30 pm.