Rugby Bridge Club Management Committee

Minutes of meeting held at 14, Crick Road Hillmorton

on 12^th January 2013

Present

Peter Langley (Chairman)

Philip Shorey

Wendy Pattinson

Anne Carrington

Chris Malthouse

David Hicks(Secretary)

1.         Apologies

There was an apology from Terry Bradbury.

2.         Minutes of last meeting

The minutes of the 17^th November had been previously agreed

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(i)         There were no matters arising not elsewhere on the Agenda.

3.         Cawston Community Hall

Phil Shorey informed the committee that Cawston Parish Council had submitted an application for planning permission to Rugby Borough Council on the 21^st December 2012 but at the time of the meeting the application had not appeared on the Rugby Borough Council web site.  It was thought likely to take three months to obtain planning permission.  It was also hoped to have an updated plan available within a few days for general consideration by members.

There then followed detailed discussion and examination of the latest proposed agreement.  It was agreed that Phil Shorey would approach the Cawston Parish Council representative to seek agreement to a few proposed minor alterations to the document.  During the discussions the point was made that the document had been developed over a period of intense discussions for three years and both parties had sought legal advice and guidance in developing the proposals to the stage that had been reached.  The agreement was viewed as the best final position.  At this point the committee expressed their appreciation to Phil Shorey for all the work that he had put in to develop the proposals, together with able support from Sue Osborne.

The committee then gave consideration to a paper prepared by the chairman which would be sent to all members prior to the Extraordinary General Meeting to outline the history of the club’s wish to have its own premises and the position that had been reached in the deliberations with Cawston Parish Council on their proposed Community Hall and the case for and against a 15 year tenancy agreement with them.  The EGM would take place on 19 February rather than 5 February as previously suggested.  Papers for the meeting would need to be sent out to members by the end of January.

It was agreed after detailed discussion that an amended paper would be circulated to the members at least 15 days prior to the meeting with the financial assumptions made within the paper being attached as an appendix.  It was agreed that the chairman’s address to the meeting would be limited to a précis of the paper presented followed by an invitation to members to raise questions.

It was stressed that to gain support for the proposed tenancy agreement required 75% of those voting to be in favour of the proposal.  There would be a postal vote facility available for those who could not attend the meeting.   Failure to reach the required number of members in favour of the proposals would bring the process to a close and for this reason members would be encouraged to vote favourably for the proposed tenancy agreement.

Actions:        Peter Langley, Phil Shorey and David Hicks

4.         Events Sub Committee

Peter Langley and Chris Malthouse had met Graham Lightfoot and Graham Clarke to discuss how EBU and other events could be organised and publicised.  The meeting was difficult at times and there had been no clear outcome.  Graham Lightfoot had proposed a ‘Captain of Bridge’, but the Committee had expressed reservations about this approach at their last meeting.

It was agreed that Chris Malthouse supported by Anne Carrington would organise the matches against Lutterworth, Coventry and Daventry and Chris would look after the one day events as he had done in the past.

Graham Lightfoot had been lobbying a number of committee members to promote his proposal for a pairs competition.  He also appeared to wish to join the Management Committee.  The Chairman agreed to write to him on both issues.

There was discussion of how the club’s bridge events were being reported in the local press and on the web site and it was agreed that Wendy Pattison would take this forward with Terry Bradbury, and with Liz Edwards being invited to join her so they could jointly look at how perhaps the Web Site could possibly be improved in this respect.  It was also suggested that the views of members should be sought via the newsletter with regard to what appeared on the web site and in the press articles.

Actions:        Peter Langley, Chris Malthouse, Anne Carrington, Wendy Pattinson, Terry Bradbury

5.         Constitution

It was noted that the Constitution required approval at a General Meeting and it was decided that this should take place at the April/May meeting.   A requirement of the constitution was the need to appoint four trustees and following a motion from Chris Malthouse, seconded by Anne Carrington, the Committee agreed to recommend the four officers on the committee – Peter Langley, Phil Shorey, Wendy Pattinson and David Hicks – as trustees.  The Chairman would prepare and execute a deed to that effect.  It was agreed that this should be prepared using guidance from the internet and that there was no need for further legal advice.

Actions:        Peter Langley and David Hicks

7.  Prizes

It was agreed that prizes for 2012 should be awarded at the AGM in April / May rather than at the February EGM.  Phil Shorey could provide a list of prize winners.

Reference was made to the award for the best annual performance based on the average results on Tuesdays and the requirement to qualify stipulating that the pairs had to have played on 24 occasions.

The point was made that in 2012 only 13 pairs had achieved this number whilst others who had acted as hosts and had not been able to play had fallen just short of the required number.  It was agreed that the number required to qualify for the award would remain at 24 but members would receive credit within this figure for those occasions where they had acted as hosts and had been unable to play.  

Action:          Phil Shorey