2015

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held on 22 September 2015

Pier Hotel, Kilmun

 

Directors in Attendance

Dinah McDonald                     Chair

Pearl Brown                            Treasurer

David McKenzie                      Secretary

Gordon Macdonald

Victor Sandall             

 

Members in Attendance

Cllr Bruce Marshall

Agnes Harvey

 

Apologies

Jim Aitchison

Robert Aldam

Wilma Anderson

Ken Arnott

Iain MacDonald

Lorraine Whitton

 

Mr Aitchison and Mr Arnott have indicated that they have now left the area and request to be removed from the List of Members

 

Minutes of last AGM

 

The minutes of the last AGM held on 16 September 2014 were reviewed. The minutes were proposed by David McKenzie, seconded by Pearl Brown and adopted.

 

Chair Report

 

The major activities of the Trust during 2014 were:

 

Paths and access group has remained consistent. Signage has been put up for the route up Strone Hill.

 

The walking group continues to expand with over 98 members. There are now two types of walks with the introduction of the 'Lite Bites' program of easy fairly flat walks. There are up to 4 walks a month. Small groups also organise their own spontaneous walks.

 

We continue to support Lochs 'n Glens and are grateful to Janice Hampson for all her hard work.

 

The flower tubs continue to be maintained along the shore with work by Mrs Helen Giles and Bruce Marshall.

 

The problem of sewage being released untreated onto the shore of Holy Loch and Loch Long is still being discussed with the assistance of our MSP Michael Russell.

 

Grahams' Point continues to be maintained with repairs and replacements each year. A small group of volunteers are now beginning work on the flower beds. A net from the football post has been replaced. A work party, with help from the National Park volunteers realised that the willow tunnel had grown too tall and too thin - the answer was to cut it right back and allow it to grow to be re-woven next winter. We received a grant from the National Park to enable us to refurbish the bus shelter at Graham's Point. Volunteers must first remove all the glass from the shelter. It will then be sand blasted and repainted. A further work party over two sessions cleared litter, sanded benches and picnic tables, and repaired the wooden fence at the car park.

 

We continue to be represented on Blairmore Village Trust, Benmore and Rashfield Community Association and the Community Partnership of the National Park as well as Argyll Mausoleum and the National Park Board.

 

One of the action points from the Community Action Plan was to investigate the possibility of sheltered and amenity housing in the area. We have worked with the Scottish Land Trust on the procedure for this, but, until recently, the shortage of available sites restricted progress.

 

We are working with Kirknewton Community Development Trust on a feasibility survey for a baby-hydro scheme on the west of Loch Eck.

 

Spraying of Knotweed has been undertaken by a group of volunteers.

 

 

Treasurer’s Report 

 

Pearl Brown presented the report of the Trust finances through end of December 2014.

 

Cllr Bruce Marshall proposed the adoption of the Treasurer’s report; this was seconded by David McKenzie and adopted.

 

Constitution

 

In order to qualify to use Scottish Government Right-to-Buy (RTB) legislation in the future, the Trust is required to adopt a new constitution conforming to the Companies Act 2006. The RTB team in Edinburgh has assisted in this process and the revised constitution has been reviewed by their legal team.

 

The objects of the Trust are not changed. The major changes to the constitution are:

 

Merge of the previous separate Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association into one new Articles of Association

 

Modification of Clause 3 to specifically identify the Post Codes in which the Trust operates

 

Modification of Clause 7 on winding up procedures to the text provided by the Scottish Government model constitution.

 

The Members present unanimously agreed to adopt a special resolution:

 

That the revised Articles of Association shall replace the previous Articles of Association as registered with the Registrar of Companies.

 

The revised constitution was signed by all Members present, and will be duly registered with Companies House and OSCR.

 

Annual Membership Fee

 

The revised constitution permits the Board, at an AGM, to set a Membership Fee for the following year. It also permits the Board to waive the membership fee, and to advise existing Members that their Membership of the Trust will continue unchanged for the following year, unless they request to be removed from the List of Members. For the year 2015 – 2016, the Board agreed to waive the Membership Fee and asked David McKenzie to write to all existing Members advising them that their Membership would continue unless they requested to be removed from the List of Members.

 

Appointment of Directors  

 

The Constitution of the Trust requires that one third of directors retire annually, although they can stand for re-election. The following Directors retired as per the Trust Constitution:

 

David Eaglesham

Victor Sandall

 

Victor Sandall, being a Member of the Community Development Trust, indicated that he would be prepared to stand for re-election. David Eaglesham had advised that he did not want to stand for re-election. Pearl Brown proposed that the following member(s) be elected as Directors:

 

Victor Sandall

 

The motion was seconded by Dinah McDonald and approved unanimously.

 

Gordon Macdonald had been elected a Director of the Trust on 4 March 2015. As per the Constitution, that appointment is valid until the next AGM when it requires to be ratified. Dinah McDonald proposed that Gordon’s appointment be ratified; this was seconded by Victor Sandall and approved unanimously.

 

Date of Next Meetings

 

The next AGM will be held on Wednesday 22 June 2016 at 19:30 in the Pier Hotel, Kilmun.

 

The next regular Board Meeting of the Community Development Trust will be held in the Pier Hotel at 19:30 on Tuesday 3 November 2015.