Annual General Meeting minutes

Monday 27th February 2012
Romford Town Hall, Main Road, Romford
See end of minutes for attendee list
Meeting opened at 7:30pm / closed: 9:10pm

Welcome / Introduction / Apologies for Absence

Minutes of Previous Meeting

Change minutes location. All agreed minutes with this change made.

Annual Report 2011

JH presented the Annual Report. There is a short and long version. The short version was passed around the table and JH talked about on reflection how successful this last 12 months have been and how very proud we are of our achievements. The longer version gives full details of the groups activities throughout the year.

Presentation of Annual Accounts 2011

LO presented the accounts. In brief; our cash in hand £ 12,672.39, made up:- Bank Balance brought forward from 2010 = £4303.62, plus totalreceipts of £15,890.04. Less total payments amounted to £7,521.27. The Friends Group have had an excellent fund raising year as the bankbalance clearly reflects. It was also noted that a large chunk of monies will be spent in the next financial year to pay for the picnic area.

Official Friends Status

JH explained that we are presently preparing our application for 2012/13. JH briefly informed the meeting of the reason why we apply for Official Friends status and just what it entails. We touched on many aspects of this but particularly note that TP had distributed 1200 Winter Newsletters this January/February, much of the printing has been done by TP and JH with a contribution from LBH. JH thanked TP and his team of volunteers for spreading our word. JH and GP and NO agreed in respect of item 2 of the assessment criteria, the Friends would provide a delivery plan of our proposed picnic area. It was noted that we cannot provide milestones as our works are affected by pathway works in the woods, however we do know that we will be commissioning carvers to start our carvings in the next few months. We also discussed Item 11. It was agreed that Lens work with the Cubs/Beavers/Scouts Groups adequately represents this criteria, we also noted that we would provide details of these works with children in our detailed annual report which we will provide in addition to other assessmentcriteria.

Election of Committee Members

JH set out to the attendees how the Committee is made up, providing titles and job descriptions. We then gave the attendees a recess to allow them then pass vote to elect the Committee for 2012/13. It was agreed by all present that the Committee remains in tact. A list ofCommittee members appears at the foot of these minutes. It was also note that TP's title will be changed to incorporate his website works.

Lake & Park Regeneration

Park - NO and GP agreed that not much has happened to update the group. DS has been on holiday and upon his return will bereading through the PQQ's. Once these have been filtered through, Main Contractors will be invited to tender for the works. GP agreed works will not start until earliest September 2012. NO, GP and JH agreed that we all need to attend a site visit to ascertain which trees will be felled and where new ones are to be planted. JH to email Landscape Architects for meeting date, preferably 7thMarch.

Lake DD outlined the planned planting of border reeds to the lake and how this will improve the lakes biodiversity. DD confirmed the lake has a cormorant infestation and these works will start to ease the preditation of small fish and invertebrates. DD has secured funding from the Environment Agency for 2011, 2012 and 2013. This provides £30,000 to FORP along with the agreementof LBH and Project Boards to progress these works. DD confirmed that Ash Girdler of AGA can attend a meeting at 9am on the 7th March. JH to contact Project Board to confirm date/time.

Any Other Business

Peter Farrell and Andy Storey are new attendee’s to our meetings and have very kindly offered to volunteer any skills they may haveto help our reach our aims and objectives. For which we thanked them, Len and Trevor arranged to meet them at our March litterpick to get started. Peter is particularly interested in the lake area and Andy Lodge Farm Park.

JH to confirmed our informal meeting will take place on 5th March as usual. JH to email committee members reminder.

NO and GP advised meeting of the Mayors receipt of a tree from HRH to plant in a prominent park in Havering. The Mayor has asked if the Black Poplar could be planted in Raphael Parks pleasure ground close to the lake as it needs a damp and moist environment. The only reservations the Project Board may have is that this tree can grow to 100’ tall. This will be discussed at ournext Project Board meeting and JH will inform FORP of outcome.

Robert McWilliams (RPRFC) confirmed that the club had met with Martin Stanton last month and they took a look inside another parks pavilion to see layout to get an idea what can be done in our pavilion. Robert and John are waiting to hear back from Martin.John will contact JH to update FORP of outcome and application for funding from Veolia Havering Riverside Trust.


Date of Next meeting
Monday 21st May 2012 - confirmed
Town Hall, Main Road, Romford
Attendee & Absence List
Julia Herold (JH) FORP Chairman
Len Oatham (LO) FORP Treasurer
Nigel Oxley (NO) LBH Historic Building & Landscape Officer
Robert McWilliams (RM) Raphael Park Rovers Football Club – Chairman
Trevor Preedy (TP) FORP Volunteer & Website Coordinator
Theresa Miller (TM) Volunteer
Tom Hollinrake (TH) member of the public
Betty Hollinrake (BH) member of the public
David Drury (DD) FORP Lake Regeneration Manger
Andy Storey (AS) member of the public
Geoff Pepper (GP) LBH Parks Services
Peter Farrell (PF) member of the public

Apologies
Richard Hollis Webmaster
Don Hodgekiss FORP Editor & Press Officer
Don Stewart LBH Project Manager
Sue Mackenzie FORP Secretary
Martin Stanton LBH Head of Parks
List of Committee Members – No particular Order
Julia Herold Chairman
Len Oatham Treasurer
Trevor Preedy Volunteer & Website Coordinator
David Drury Lake Regeneration Manger
Richard Hollis Webmaster
Don Hodgekiss Editor & Press Officer
Sue Mackenzie Secretary