AGM Minutes – 2014

Here are the minutes from the AGM held on 10 May 2014. These minutes were approved without amendment at the AGM on 28 May 2015.

Minutes of the 20^th AGM held on the 10^th May 2014 held at the Sherborne Community Hall

1 – Chairman’s Welcome. The Chairman Chris White welcomed everyone to the AGM including Councillors Peter Bulman and Catherine Mayhew. He then introduced and welcomed the speaker for the evening Mr Peter Every.

2 – Apologies. Graeme Gibson, Wally Malins, Brenda and Len Bachelor.

3 – Minutes of the 19^th AGM on 27^th April 2013 had been circulated to the Meeting. The Chairman briefly went

through the minutes and as there were no objections it was proposed by Michael Doyle and seconded by Rita Young that they should be approved without amendment.

4 – Chairman’s Report.

4.1 Newsletter Chris White said that the Newsletter was the main means of communication with the Residents and thanked Tony and Melanie Pratt for producing such informative editions.

4.2 Improvements to the Rec Chris White asked Julia Hepner to say a few words about the improvements to the Rec. She thanked Peter Every for his support and said that after consulting the Residents to find the most popular way to spend the £40,000 from TWBC the children’s play equipment had come out on top .She went on to say that if the development goes ahead on Hawkenbury Farm an important thing to consider is how to further improve the Rec with the money from the developer. Finally she said that she had received very positive feedback about the new play equipment and it had certainly become more popular.

4.3 Pavilion The new pavilion in the Rec is due to be opened shortly. Chris White said that he had asked AXAPPP if they would be prepared to pay for a new cricket score board but had not received a reply.

4.4 AXAPPP extension AXAPPP plan to increase the number of staff at International House and to build extra buildings and parking facilities. Their new proposal is an amendment to the original plan which is not to have an extra deck for parking but to reconfigure the existing area.

4.5 Hawkenbury Farm development The most important issue is the proposed development on Hawkenbury Farm and Chris White said that the developer Berkeley Homes’ had been invited to attend an HVA meeting in an effort to establish a good relationship with the developer. A very constructive meeting had taken place. He then asked Michael Doyle to report on the current situation. Michael Doyle said he had spoken to John Lambert from Berkeley Homes who confirmed that the ground survey had been completed and sent to TWBC but Mr Lambert was unable to tell him any more information. The Planning Department had not yet decided on the number of houses to be built and the final decision rests with a Planning Inspector in Bristol. He went on to say that the contentious issue of building on the allotments was uncertain but Councillor Catherine Mayhew was able to reassure the meeting that the battle for the allotments had been won. She also said that the land on the other side of Hawkenbury Road would not be developed and she had ensured that the Area of Search next to the development would not be build on and the Green Belt would be preserved. She emphasised the importance of working with Berkeley Homes and she appreciated the hard work the HVA Committee had done behind the scenes. She urged everyone to write in with their objections to the development during the next part of the Consultation in September. A question was asked from the floor about the time scale involved with the development and the answer was that nobody knows how long it will take. Another question was asked about provision for car parking and again it was dependant on the type of houses built -three bedroom family homes would have a garage and drive but with a block of flats parking could be a problem. However, the AGM was advised that Berkeley Homes had assured the Committee that the site if developed, would be executive housing, not flats. The question was then raised about a bus service and it was thought most likely but not certain.

The Chairman then continued his report saying that the Committee supports a new school in Hawkenbury as it is aware that the St Peters site is inadequate. The Committee also have agreed to keep the subs at £10 a year as the whole of the subs last year were spent on the Planning Consultant Paul Carter and it is the intention of the Committee to use his services again when the next stage in planning allocation comes up.

4.6 Parking Limitations on parking time to 30 minutes have been proposed to help the retail premises One Stop, Fullers Butchers and the Plumbing Centre. Some are in favour and some are not and the Committee have not yet had time to discuss the matter but there seems to be no real solution to the parking problems around Hawkenbury. Concems were raised from the floor about parking in Camden Park and Dorset Road. Other than reporting the problems to the police there was nothing more that could be done.

4.7 HVA Website The next item was the website recently set up and he asked Julia Hepner to explain all about it. She thanked Dean Kenward for all his help and said that it would be a way in which Residents could comment on current issues and the Newsletters could be accessed on it as well. In the future it may be possible to pay subs on line but it was not available at present. She thought it unwise to put the financial position of the HVA on the website as Berkeley Homes would be aware of our limited resources. She emphasised that the website was an addition to the HVA and the contact between Reps and Residents was still very important.

4.8 Resignations Finally the Chairman thanked Rita Young for all her hard work as Registration Secretary. She was moving from Hawkenbury and was resigning from the Committee and he presented her with a bouquet of flowers. As he had been Chairman for 5 years he had decided to step down and he thanked all the Committee members for their tireless and committed involvement in the work of the association. Two Reps had resigned – Ken Midmer and Len Bachelor – so there were two vacancies for Reps and he asked if anyone would like to join the Committee they should contact the Secretary Jenny Foy. A special mention was made about Len Bachelor who at one time had been Secretary for the HVA and had been a loyal and long serving member.

5 – The Treasurer’s Report & Account. Sue Ware pointed out that at 31st March 2014 Income was £3,430.00 but the Expenses were £3,510.78p. The excess of expenditure over income was £80.78p. This was due to the extra expense of employing a Planning Consultant and therefore the increase of subs to £10 was warranted. She had investigated other accounts to try and obtain better interest but as the HVA was not a charity she could not find a better account to invest the funds. A point was made from the floor that the financial report should show figures for the year with the total balance of funds. Sue Ware said she was following what had been done previously but would ensure the full figures would be available at the next AGM. She said that at 5th April 2014 the balance stood at £12,535.97p. A question was asked about the number of members but Rita Young did not have the figures to hand.

6 – Election of Committee and Forum Representatives. Chris White announced that the following people were willing to stand for the 2014/15 Committee. Tony Pratt, Michael Doyle, Jenny Foy. Les Webb, Wally Malins, Graeme Gibson, Sue Ware, Julia Hepner and Julie Brodie. Michael Doyle and Mary Wardrop were willing to stand as Forum Representatives.

As there were no further nominations it was proposed by Joan Boenke and seconded by Janice White that the above Committee Members and Forum Representatives be elected.

7 – Appointment of Auditor. It was proposed that Mike Starkie continue as Auditor for the HVA. As there were no objections it was proposed by Sue Ware and seconded by Chris White.

8 – Any Other Business Michael Doyle thanked Chris White for all his hard work as Chairman of the HVA and presented him with a bottle of wine.

A resident from Teise Close said that no-one in the Close seemed to know about the HVA and wondered why this was. Chris White pointed out that not long ago everyone in Hawkenbury had a Newsletter which gave contact details so nobody should be unaware of the HVA. He suggested that he spread the word with his neighbours and encourage them to look on the website. The problem of parking and double yellow lines in Teise Close was raised and the advice was to contact Kent Highways and voice any objections.

The Chairman then introduced Peter Every, the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Parks Team Leader, and thanked him for agreeing to speak at the AGM.

9 – Our Guest Speaker – Mr Peter Every – Mr Every outlined his position as Parks Team Leader and then went on to talk about the Hawkenbury Rec. He said the open spaces were the ‘window dressing’ for the Council and he encouraged the formation of ‘friends’ of the Rec to encourage Residents to get together to enhance the area. Julia Hepner said that the HVA was an ideal forum for this to happen with the Newsletter and website an excellent means of communication. Mr Every said there was a five year plan for the improvement of the parks in Tunbridge Wells and Residents will be able to have their say and offer suggestions. Finally he mentioned the condition of the bench seats in the Rec saying that he wasn’t happy with their maintenance and said that the one made in memory of Malcolm Foy was beyond repair but the Council will pay for a replacement. Jenny Foy expressed her thanks for this kind gesture.

Chris White ended the meeting by thanking Peter Every for coming to speak at the AGM and giving a very interesting talk and then thanked everyone for attending the AGM.

The Meeting closed at 9.30. pm.