AGM

27th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

held at United Church, High Street 

Tuesday 24th February, 2009 

Welcome & apologies for absence

The Chairman, Jim Pearcey, welcomed c.60 members of the Association and others to the meeting. Apologies for absence were received from Lynda New, John Ashmore, Kay Field, Hillary Gain & Ray Brewin.                                                            

Minutes of 26th AGM (26th February, 2008) 

With no comments forthcoming, the minutes were noted as a true record of the meeting and approval was proposed by Moreton Moore & seconded by David Wilson.

Chairman’s report (Jim Pearcey) 

The Chairman opened by noting that not much had changed on the issues raised last year & that it was like knowing a storm was coming but not knowing how bad it was going to be? He was however encouraged that the foot & mouth outbreak was now behind us & that we can now see livestock back in the fields around Egham. 

On the various developments in Egham, the planned Waitrose supermarket & Travelodge hotel on the Precinct carpark site (that was discussed at last year’s AGM) finally, after much delay, reached the planning application stage last month & is now due to be discussed at the RBC Planning Committee in April. While supportive of the scheme in principle, the ERA has a few key issues with the detailed plans i.e. the loss of Arndale Way & the rear servicing of the Precinct shops (which will put pressure on retaining the High Street pedestrianisation), the siting of the bus stops in the narrow Church Road (with no lay-by provision) & the positioning of the exit from the underground carpark (onto a double bend). He felt many of these concerns could have been raised at the Egham Consultative Group (of the ERA, Egham Chamber of Commerce, RBC & SCC), but this had not met for over 2 years (although RBC are re-instating from end-March). On other developments, the Talacrest site by the station seems to be at a standstill (probably because it is full of water, which doesn’t bode well for an underground carpark at the Precinct), as are the redevelopment of Thames Car Radio & the Rallyman sites and the Churchill flats in Vicarage Road near the Police Station. 

Litter around the Town was a problem last year, especially on Manorcrofts, but recently increased cleaning efforts by RBC seems to have improved the situation noticeably. However, the fountain outside Tescos is sadly not working again. 

On Surrey’s gravel extraction & waste disposal plans & the BAA Airtrack scheme the saga continues with further discussions awaited following several “consultations” during 2008. 

On social events, these started in April with the coach trip to Rochester, with good weather & an interesting venue ensuring a good day for everyone. Many thanks to Adrian Skelt for organising these trips & we look forward to this year’s trip to Portsmouth on 18th April. Next was Magna Carta Day on 14th June, which also saw really good weather & a range of entertainments in 2 areas of the High Street. This event really pulls Egham together & gets better every year, thanks to Mike Gadd & the MCD Committee & helpers on the day. We look forward to seeing what they have in store for this year on 13th June. The Best Kept Garden competition, with judging in July & prize-giving at the Egham Royal Show, was again supported by Dewgard Windows & thanks go to Sian Williams for all her work in organising the event. At the Egham Royal Show over August Bank Holiday the ERA stand was again a great success thanks, in no small part, to our very loyal band of cake bakers. The Barn Dance on the Saturday evening saw our target, of 150 people attending the 150th ERS, met with a great evening being had by all. Thanks go to all those who made this a successful evening & to the sponsors, Enterprise Car Rental, Procter & Gamble and Barclays Bank. We look forward to this year’s Barn Dance on 29th August. The Community Fair in September, held in the Pastoral Centre, provides a venue for charities without them having to hire a hall. Please put the word around & publicise this event for this year, which is again being organised by Christine Jacobs & Margaret Hutchin. As mentioned last year, we changed the Autumn Dance to a Quiz Night & last November’s event was very popular with 70 people attending. Thanks to Clare Norman for organising & to Ian Angell for acting as Quiz Master. As a result of low numbers the carol singing in December was only able to raise £160, which was split between the RBC Mayor’s charities & the Southern Ski Club for the Disabled. Thanks however go to those who did turn out on those cold evenings. 

On Runnymede Borough Council issues, he wanted to thank our 3 Independent Councillors (Moreton Moore, John Ashmore & Alan Alderson) for all the time & effort they put in on our behalf. He also congratulated Moreton on his re-election last May for a 5th term. 

With regard to the Committee, thanks go to all those who attended meetings throughout the year & gave up their time for the Association. Particular thanks go to Adrian Skelt, for his sterling efforts as Secretary & Newsletter Editor, Lynda New, for keeping the accounts under control (& to Kim Callaghan who will be taking on her role), & Clare Norman, our Membership Secretary, who has now passed on the baton to Genna Clark. Thanks also go to Mike Gadd, for keeping up with planning issues in the Town, Chris Fisher, for keeping abreast of transport issues, Brian Gabb, for watching over licensing matters, and Margaret Hutchin & Christine Jacobs for providing cheese & wine at our public meetings. Finally, a special thanks to our Area Reps & all who help distribute our quarterly Newsletters. 

In conclusion, he thus hoped that with our Councillors & the audience’s help, we will try to keep Egham a great place to live in - keep the flag flying for the ERA! 

A vote of thanks for the Chairman’s leadership was proposed by Adrian Skelt & unanimously endorsed by the floor. 

Treasurer’s report (Adrian Skelt for Lynda New)  

Audited accounts as @ 31/12/08 were circulated at the meeting and, in Lynda New’s absence, Adrian Skelt summarised the key points, which showed that the decline in subscription income in the last few years had been halted, despite membership numbers being down to c. 500, following the fee increase from 1/1/08 (the first rise for 8 years). Also there was continued success at fundraising from several events, with the ERS & Barn Dance being the best events of the year. 

Overall, there had been a net profit of c.£1,400 for the year, giving a fund balance at the year-end of c.£6,250, with 60% held in building society accounts earning interest (now at a very low rate!). 

The 2008 accounts were adopted, following proposing by Mike Gadd & seconding by Brian Gabb. 

The subscription issue was then revisited, as the ERA would like to increase its membership numbers. Genna Clark’s good work of late to obtain retail discounts for ERA members in Egham shops was recognised as one valuable method, but it was also proposed that our membership be extended by broadening the concessionary fees. At present, our only concessionary rate applies to seniors & it was proposed that, once one person in a household has paid the appropriate fee, additional people in the same household should only be charged the concessionary rate of £2.50, whether full, senior or students in full-time education. As this year’s membership round has passed it was proposed that these new rates would apply from 1st January, 2010. After discussion, & agreement that there was little downside in the proposal, the motion was proposed by Genna Clark, seconded by David Wilson & unanimously supported by the floor. 

As advised at the last AGM, Lynda New is standing down (although staying on the Committee) & we are happy to welcome Kim Callaghan who has volunteered to stand as the new Treasurer. Adrian wished to thank Lynda for her efforts over the last 4 years & also to thank Anne Baker for acting as our auditor. 
Election of Officers & Committee (Adrian Skelt) 

The Secretary ran through the officer & committee member nominations that had been received and was happy to report that most of the officers wanted to stand again, with the exception of :

a)      Clare Norman, our Membership Secretary, who is now working in Hong Kong - we are delighted to advise that Genna Clark has volunteered to take over & has already done a sterling job arranging the membership forms etc that went out with the Winter Newsletter

b)      Lynda New, our Treasurer, as already mentioned. 

Adrian also asked anyone else interested in joining the Committee to contact him separately after the meeting. 

As a result the following personnel were re-elected unanimously by attendees:

      Position

     Candidate

 Proposed by

 Seconded by
OFFICERS  
Chairman Jim Pearcey L.New M. Gadd
Secretary Adrian Skelt M.Gadd L.New
Treasurer Kim Callaghan L.New J.Pearcey
Membership Secretary Genna Clark B.Gabb A.Skelt
COMMITTEE  
Other Members Chris Fisher A.Skelt J.Pearcey
  Brian Gabb M. Alderson A. Skelt
  Mike Gadd R.Harrison D.Cossar
  Margaret Hutchin D.Hart J.Gosling
  Christine Jacobs M. Humphries B.Jenkinson
  Lynda New J.Pearcey M.Gadd
  Geraldine Rodrigues A.Skelt  J.Pearcey
  David Wilson A.Skelt

J.Pearcey

-          witCouncillors Reports

With John Ashmore absent, the other 2 Egham Independent councillors on RBC gave their annual reports : 

a)      Moreton Moore thanked everyone for re-electing him, for his 5th term (to 2012), last May with 60% of the vote. He remains on 2 major RBC Committees: Leisure & Environment, where, inter alia, refuse collection has been discussed & remains weekly (for the time being), & the Review Board, which has looked at Post Office closures (not Egham) & car parking at St Peters Hospital. He has also served on Town Twinning, the Heathrow Airport Consultative Committee, the Egham Museum Trust (which managed to obtain drawings of the old Milton Park building - but couldn’t save the building itself), the RHUL Community Liaison Group, Runnymede Access Liaison Group (for disabled access to public buildings) & Runnymede Dolphins. He recognised serious challenges for Egham going forward, including LHR 3rd runway, air quality (with measurements to be made in Station Road), Airtrack (where he quoted from the Railway Act of 1853 requiring bridges or tunnels), traffic gridlock (aided by the Station Road traffic light problems), gravel raising (where awaiting SCC’s revised plans for review by R.A.G.E) & street cleanliness. He was pleased to report that his nominations for Mayoral Citizens of the Year awards to Bob Cooper & Margaret Hutchin had been successful & hoped that everyone would attend the RHUL Science Open Day on 28th February. 

b)   Alan Alderson has focused his efforts on financial issues & sits on RBC’s Corporate Management & Economic Development Committees. Although RBC received an increased central grant of 2.5% for 2009/10, amounting to £5M, they need to raise £12M for services. With rates capped at less than 5% increase (or £4.5M in total), the rest has to come from general fund reserves. These are getting low &, on current forecasts, RBC will need to borrow fairly soon. Overall, council tax will increase by c.3.4% for 2009/10, with the RBC element increasing 4.8%, SCC 2.9% & Surrey Police 4.9%. Despite this RBC will still have the lowest council tax rates in Surrey (a policy which RBC are now beginning to suffer from). He added that the new RBC Council offices had cost £12mm but the planned sale of the old offices to reimburse the cost had fallen through - as an interim measure, RBC have agreed to demolish the old building to save maintenance charges. Lastly he noted a comment about graffiti on the motorway underpass & advised that RBC are waiting on Highways Agency approval before sending in their graffiti team. 

Any Other Business

None, apart from a request from the floor that, in future, speakers & questioners should stand up to allow everyone to hear the discussion plus a comment that the ERA should progress contact with members by e-mail about timely or “online” issues e.g. SCC’s recent petition. 

Jim Pearcey noted that ERA tea towels & notelets were available for sale in the Vestibule (@ £3 & £2) & concluded the meeting at 9.15pm with an invitation to join the Committee in cheese & wine (kindly provided by Margaret Hutchin & Christine Jacobs). 
 

Guest Speaker “Recycling : Runnymede’s Approach”

Darren Harding, Waste Minimisation Officer, Runnymede Borough Council 

Mr Harding began by describing the 3 main types of recycling currently employed by RBC : 

a)      Kerbside Recycling- RBC employ a kerbside sort procedure, rather than the mixed collection scheme used by many other Surrey borough councils, which has the advantage of minimising contamination & making the product easier to sell (to UK contractors). Currently RBC collects 7,500t p.a. from the kerbside, which represents a participation rate of 25.9%, which above the government target of 20%. Current recycling options are blue box (tin cans, clean foil, glass bottles & jars), blue bag (paper & catalogues etc but not cardboard) & black bag (textiles). Future plans to increase the rate will involve a new collection contractor, the inclusion of plastic & cardboard in acceptable products (from end ’09), new vehicles & possibly a new transfer station? 

b)     Bring sites-  these recycling bins & bottle banks cover non-kerbside collected material, with revenues generally split between RBC & local charities. They still remain popular with residents despite the kerbside option. RBC are looking to put another 4-5 sites across the Borough but sites in Egham are difficult to find & Mr Harding welcomed suggestions. 

c)      Green Garden Waste- the green bag scheme, with a yearly subscription of £20 for one bag, £35 for two bags and £40 for three and with collections made fortnightly, started as a pilot scheme in 2005 (with 10 routes/1 vehicle/1880 residents). Scheme was re-launched in 11/06 with 10 more routes & currently there are over 5000 residents on board (with, surprisingly, the highest participation rates near the Community Recycling Centres) & over 1200t collected in 2008. The subscription charges have been fixed until 3/10 & RBC plan to hold roadshows this summer in town centres to expand the scheme further. In response to a question as to why these bags are charged separate from council tax, Mr Harding replied that, as flats do not have gardens, residents are charged on a pay per use basis. 

Several points arose from the audience : 

i)    Compost access - green waste currently goes to a transfer site for composting which is then delivered to farms, although RBC are trying to organise for residents to collect compost locally.

ii)   Bring sites - several requests for additional sites in Egham & re-siting of bins at Egham Leisure Centre. Also a suggestion that facilities be provided to recycle batteries & long-life light bulbs.

iii)   Plastic milk bottles - in answer to whether these can be recycled, Mr Harding advised yes as long as they washed out & taken to bring sites (pending inclusion in kerbside collection). However it is not possible to recycle plastic meat trays etc, although SCC are investigating options.

iv)  Blue box - several complaints that current box can get too heavy to take to edge of property? Mr Harding commented that may need to introduce a new container for plastics & cardboard, although several residents said they really don’t want any more containers.

v)   Enforcement - while it has been possible to police the non-inclusion of garden waste in wheelie-bins, RBC could extend the fining system for general recycling once all facilities are in place. Mr Harding admitted, however, that the idea of “bin police” would be difficult to structure & implement.

vi)  Recycling rates - RBC have the lowest participation rate in Surrey (with Waverley for example reaching 48% - although this somewhat misleading as other boroughs have mixed collection) & are targeting 30% by 2011. Mr Harding acknowledged a suggestion from the floor that home composting & packaging reduction were important aspects of the whole recycling approach.

vii)  Recycling philosophy - there was a suggestion from the floor that the ERA should promote recycling more but there was also a feeling from some of the audience that we were obsessed with recycling & that the landfill/climate benefits did not compensate for the extra fuel etc used in collection? Mr Harding also noted the issue of possible EU fines if targets not met. 

Mr Harding thanked the residents for their comments & agreed to bear them in mind as the recycling schemes develop. He also noted that there are only 2 recycling officers in RBC covering the borough & that not all ideas could thus be implemented quickly. Anyone with other comments or suggestions can reach him on 01932 425715 or darren.harding@runnymede.gov.uk.