AGM 2019 | Wallington Village Community Association

The AGM for 2019 took place at the Village Hall on Tuesday 11^th June.

The following is the collected reports of the various sections, beginning with the minutes of the meeting of 2018.

Chairman :: Treasurer :: OIAW/Website :: Hall :: Environment :: Communications :: Planning Issues

WALLINGTON VILLAGE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

MINUTES OF THE 26th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

TUESDAY 5 JUNE 2018

Present: J Clark (Chair); D Kett (Secretary); P Trott (Treasurer); S Morse (Entertainment and Walk Round); C Morgan (Hall); N Getty (Communications); K Trott; A Bloxham, K Howell and 73 members.

Apologies: C Weeks, C Scott and E Burley

The Chairman opened the meeting at 7.35pm.

Tributes: The Chairman began the meeting with tributes to two leading members of the Association who had been instrumental in running the Association and who had died in the previous two weeks.

Dave Humphrey had played a major role within the Association and in the wider community. He had been involved with the fete, fete activities, and catering at the fete – as well as playing a major role with the scouts.

David Walton who had been Chairman on two separate occasions which was no mean feat, was a character and a man of principle. His projects were not restricted to Wallington and included flood alleviation; Welborne where he worked with neighbouring parish and community groups; and, of course, the WVCA and the fete. His wealth of knowledge and reading on the issues was immense and he was irreplaceable. Up to the last, he was thinking about the WVCA and his family.

The Chairman on behalf of the Executive expressed sincere condolences to the Humphrey and Walton families and the members present showed their appreciation with a round of applause.

Minutes of 2017 AGM: Proposed Bob Cox and seconded J Haynes that the minutes should be adopted. Carried.

There were no matters arising from those minutes.

Summary of Reports:

Written reports from the Chairman, the Treasurer, OIAW Editorial Board, Hall matters, Entertainment, Environment, Communications and Planning Issues (Welborne, Flood Alleviation Scheme, FBC Draft Local Plan) were submitted to the meeting. With the exception of the Updates on Welborne and Flood Alleviation Scheme (prepared by the late David Walton) and the environment report, the authors summarised their reports for the benefit of members present.

There were no other matters arising from the reports and it was proposed by J Haynes and seconded by O Ellis that the reports should be adopted. Carried.

Election of Officers and Committee Members: It was proposed by O Ellis and seconded by M Reeve and agreed by members that the following should be elected as officers and members of the Executive Committee for the year 2018/2019

OFFICERS	NAME	PROPOSED	SECONDED
Chairman	James Clark	N. Getty	D. Kett
Secretary	David Kett	E. Hooper	R. Hooper
Treasurer	Peter Trott	K. Howell	J. Clark
COMMITTEE
	Charlie Scott	M. Reeve	W. Davidson
	Chris Morgan	B. Millerchip	A. Marney
	Sue Morse	S. Jackson	H. Jackson
	Nikki Getty	P. Wilson	S. Hodnett
	Clare Weeks	M. Weeks	S. Morse
	Sally Dixon	A. Bloxham	D. Walton
	Katrina Trott	P. Wilson	S. Hodnett
	Kate Howell	G. Knipe	P. Lamprell

[The late David Walton had been proposed and seconded as a committee member.]

Tribute was paid to two members of the Executive who were not standing for re-election to the Executive.

Alan Bloxham who after many years as Secretary had announced at the 2017 AGM that he was stepping down as Secretary. However, due to a health problem his successor had been unable to take over until the Spring of 2018 and he had undertaken the work until then. The Chairman paid tribute to the years of service that Alan had given to the WVCA and the somewhat onerous nature of the work of the Secretary. David Kett expressed his own thanks.

Eve Burley who had been a past Chair of the WVCA was also standing down and the Chairman recorded the members’ thanks for her contributions to the association.

Annual General Meeting 2019: The meeting will be held on Tuesday 11 June 2019 at 7.30pm.

There being no other business the Chairman closed the formal part of the meeting at 8.40pm.

Mark – the various reports should be slotted in here and in the order shown in red above with the appropriate hyperlinked headings inserted. Sorry that the Treasurer’s piece contains a bit of text out of format.

2019 AGM CHAIRMANS REPORT

Welcome to the 2019 Annual General Meeting. The following reports contain details of the work done by the WVCA on your behalf during the last year, as well as the final accounts for the year ending 31^st March. My thanks, as usual, go to all those who serve on the Executive Committee as Trustees as well as those who get involved in a voluntary capacity with other events throughout the year.

I believe what we have in the WVCA is very important to the village, not only socially but also as a voice to protect the character and environment in which we live. This constitutes a core part of the work of the trustees.

Those of you who have read the history of the WVCA on our website will know that: “Wallington Village Community, the forerunner to WVCA, was born out of adversity in 1979 to fight a Southern Water Authority proposal to demolish the rare five-arch bridge opposite the Cob and Pen public house and to encase the river Wallington in a concrete culvert from the M27 to the Delme roundabout”. These kinds of projects have the potential to destroy the character of the village and we will continue to oppose such work as is evidenced by the current objections we are making on your behalf to a number of planning applications that will leave no part of Wallington untouched. There are of course many other things we get involved with, some more high profile than others, and if you are interested in learning more please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

This year is the 40^th Anniversary of the establishment of our organisation and many events will be taking place to mark this anniversary. Please keep an eye out on the usual channels. This year will also mark the seventh anniversary of my Chairmanship and the time has come for me to stand aside. This is not only good for me but ultimately, I believe, good for the WVCA – a change is as good as a rest. I will not be standing for another role and will also be standing down as a trustee. It is only fair to my successor leaving him or her with an unencumbered remit to take the association forward as they see fit. I have enjoyed the last years, having not only gained valuable experience for myself but also hopefully having done my small part in moving the organisation forward. Who knows I may be back in the future. I wish the incoming Committee all the best for the coming year and to whoever takes over my role, good luck!

Finally, I don’t want to thank individually all those who I have served with, but I would like to make mention of the two secretaries who have helped me over the years. Without them, the role would be far more onerous than it is. They shoulder much of the administration that is inevitably involved with running our association, thank you Alan and David.

James Clark

Chairman WVCA

Wallington Village Community Association
Financial Statements for the year ending
31 March 2019

Treasurer’s Report 2018/19

Gross income/expenditure

The financial statements for this year show gross expenditure for the year of £2,990 compared to gross expenditure of £13,474 last year. Once again a great deal of new work has been undertaken in the Hall this year, in order to help keep the hall in an “as new” condition in line with our charitable objectives.

Income

Overall income for the year was £74,859 increasing by £6,087 compared to the 2018 figure.

The hall continues to be our main source of funds, income having increased by £9,464.
Income from the Fete and MotM reduced by £1,294 compared to last year. This however, continues to be the major event of the village year and will the place again this year.
Interest and dividends received have reduced compared to last year, primarily due to continuing low interest rates. Nevertheless, interest amounts remain fair, because we maintain over £66,000 of long term investments in investment accounts with the United Trust Bank.

Payments

Overall payments for the year have reduced by £4,397 over the 2018 figure to a total of £77,850.

Hall costs have increased as the hall sub-committee was authorised to make improvements and the new toilets have recently been completed. Details of all the major items of expenditure are given in the notes to the accounts on page 3.
Other costs have stayed relatively consistent with the previous year.

Cash reserves

At 31 March 2019, monies held in bank accounts, fixed interest accounts and cash amounted to £102,408
A further £105,849 is held in the Equity Growth Fund a reduction on last year’s total of £106,828. This is entirely due to the change in share values over time.
Overall, total monetary assets available to the Association are £208,257, a decrease of £3,970 over last year.

Treasurer’s summary – allocation of reserves

Hall rebuild fund:

Income from the hall is a large percentage of total income so the reserves held to cover potential loss of revenue, currently stands at £115,000 and has been increased by £5,000 each year in line with the Reserves Policy.
We have set this sum aside to help with rebuild costs of a new hall, in particular to cover the costs of any improvements the association can make to a new hall in light of technological advances. It will also be sufficient to enable the Association to continue with its other activities for more than two years without having the income from hiring the hall.

Hall maintenance fund:

The hall maintenance reserves have been set aside in order to cover any larger items of expenditure that would be required to keep the existing hall in an “as new” condition. Funds have been used for this purpose during this financial year but the nominal £20,000 remains to ensure further work can be undertaken in future.

Water Meadow fund:

The water meadow reserve has again been increased by £1,200 this year in line with the Reserves Policy to £28,603. These funds are set aside by the trustees to ensure funds are available to cover any costs that might be incurred in protecting the meadow. This could include legal costs incurred in fighting a potential development of the meadow.

Although some of the funds have been designated for particular purposes by the trustees, most of the funds available to the Association are unrestricted reserves. A total of £200,762 can be re-designated at the agreement of the trustees to cover any requirement the WVCA may have.

The WVCA continues to be in a good position with regard to the level of reserves it holds and is, due to a conservative and careful approach over many years, well placed to cope with any unforeseen costs or loss of income.

Independent Examination of the Accounts

An examination of the accounts, including these statements, has been undertaken by an independent examiner. Her report is attached to the AGM Agenda.

Peter Trott

Treasurer WVCA

ONCE IN A WHILE AND WEBSITE REPORT

The cost of printing the three issues of the magazine in 2018 was £2227, slightly up on last year’s figure but keen observers might have noticed that the number of colour pages per edition have generally increased. For each of the three editions 430 magazines were printed equating to an annual figure of 1290. The average cost is therefore about £1.70 per copy; pretty good value, we hope you will agree.

As noted in the last two years of OIAW reports, the general reduction in cost has been mainly due to the pre-printing preparation work of Richard Yorke. This is evidenced, also, in the ‘ready to go’ formatting of the colour graphics as submitted to Stanbury/Farley. Thanks are also due to Cherry Harnott for providing such good photographic material for him to work with in the case of many of the topical photographs.

Advertising in the magazine helps to offset printing costs slightly but, despite the modest amount charged for full, half or quarter page, patronage continues to fall. We could do with some new adverts, particularly for nearby companies offering good local services – but striking a balance of numbers would be good.

My personal thanks to David Kett who, as Sub-Editor, provides extra effort and gently corrects any flaws spotted in text – or punctuation! We thank the regular correspondents who faithfully submit their various reports and for those who send in interesting articles from time to time or provide outstanding photographs for publication. Fresh material and pictures are always welcome. Thanks are also due to the Street Reps for their faithful service in delivering the magazines as well as occasionally feeding in information.

Finally, I should point up that in my reports of the last two years I indicated an intention to take more of a back seat with the magazine. I would like to believe that a concern to make the publication more future-proof is generally shared and so my relinquishing the post of Editor (at least) should not be fatal if good collaborative effort is forthcoming. I would like to devote time now to cataloguing information and creating a Village Archive, and that should automatically help to provide some content for new issues. Whatever direction the magazine of the future adopts it will no doubt continue to be true to the central aim of providing a good balance of entertainment and information within its pages – and that should keep it going for another forty years!

The Website:

If you keep an eye on the WVCA website – and it is recommended that you do, particularly in view of impending, major planning matters – you may notice that there have been some changes to the layout in recent months.

During the course of the last few years we have been pleased to relay information from the Environment Agency in connection with its very welcome work on flood prevention. With the happy conclusion of local endeavours, information on the operations like walling reinforcement have now been moved from the News Page to the Environment Page (Environment News).

What you should now find is that developing facts about possible planning threats will take centre stage on the News Page. Both the pages on the (stalled) FBC Local Plan and Welborne are due to be amended to reflect events as they change. Alerts are likely to be given through the Mailchimp facility.

The mainframe of the website continues to be looked after very efficiently by Mark Hobbs and thanks are due to him for dealing so promptly with updates and providing help when needed.

Arthur Hackney on behalf of the Editorial Team (David Kett and Richard Yorke)

WVCA Hall Sub-Committee AGM Report 2019

Our aim is: to maintain the Hall in “as new condition”

Hall revenues remain buoyant and permit us to make significant improvements both to the Hall and other schemes within the village. In this, the 40^thanniversary of the establishment of the WVCA, we pay tribute to those who set up the WVCA and built the Hall.

Improvements in 2018-19

Front entrance doors – as we predicted in last year’s report, the doors have been replaced and can now be operated with a press button, so ensuring that the we comply with the Disability Discrimination Act.
New tables – new tables, including 12 larger 1220 mm round tables have been purchased to replace the existing tables that appeared rather tired.
Toilet refurbishment – as planned, a major refurbishment of the ladies’ and gents’ toilets has been undertaken. They were in need of replacement and we took the opportunity to switch the two around, thereby increasing the number of those available for female users.

Hall bookings

Our Hall is an attractive venue for a variety of local groups. We would remind you that there are preferential rates for WVCA members and bookings may be done and availability checked on the website. If you have difficulty, please phone Geoff Knipe 07826 309186.

Hall bookings continue to rise and revenues are up 18% on last year, but the increase is predominantly commercially driven. Nevertheless, this income permits the WVCA to fund other projects within the village.

Outside Flower Beds

Last year the shrubs were reduced, allowing more space for our gardening volunteers to maintain and take care of our beautiful flower borders. Many thanks go to Jenny Jervis and her team who give their time so generously

Hall Manager

Thanks to Geoff Knipe who works hard at dealing with all the challenging aspects of managing our very busy hall, assisting our many hirers and supporting them often out of hours.

Chris Morgan (Chair) James Clark April 2019

Wallington Village Community Association Environment Report 2019

There have been some successful events held over the last 12 months – including the river clearance, balsam removal, and some clean-up of the riverbanks.

However, it is disappointing to report that currently there is very little being done. The reason for the inaction is the lack of volunteers and the absence of a functioning environment group.

Unless there are people who are prepared to participate, to organise and to run activities, the situation is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. We would love to hear from those who would be willing to help maintain and improve the local environment. Attendance at committee meetings is not required as we can operate in an ad hoc way, organising individual projects.

Charlie Scott

Annual Report of the Wallington Village Communications Sub Committee

Foreman Homes

The Communications committee continue to receive positive feedback from villagers informing them of current proposals from Foreman Homes to build a significant number of homes in Wallington. The team continue to work hard to ensure that lines of communication are clear and relevant information is passed on promptly to villagers as and when it is received. Many thanks to the planning subcommittee and local residents who have met together, attended FBC planning meetings and tirelessly beavered away behind the scenes for many hours to ensure Wallingtonians are kept up to date with developments.

Facebook/Mailchimp

Don’t forget to join the Wallington FB page and/or Mailchimp in order to keep abreast of current village affairs and maybe participate in a competition or two! Please contact the secretary via the website if you would like to be included on the Mailchimp email subscriber list.

Street Reps

A very successful and well attended street representative meeting was held in November. This facility provides villagers with a platform to share ideas for possible community development. The street reps play a key role in in supporting this so please make sure you know who your representative is.

And finally…

Hope you’ve noticed that two of the village noticeboards have had a revamp. Thank you to Malcolm Curtiss, Richard Boswell and Charlie Scott.

Thank you to the small group of members who work quietly behind the scenes to ensure that avenues of communication around the village are accurate, relevant and accessible. If you have any further ideas about development of similar matters, please speak to any member of the Exec and if you would like to join our communications committee, do let us know.

Nikki Wilson April 2019

PLANNING ISSUES

The Foreman Group submitted two outline planning applications for land in Wallington. The WVCA and villagers submitted objections but it is important to recognise that this is likely to be the start of a long process.

Land at Military Road (Gauntlett’s Field)
The application is for 26 self-build houses with three entries onto Military Road. The WVCA Executive responded by:

- Establishing a small subcommittee comprising Arthur Hackney, Russell Kew, James Clark and David Kett to expand a draft paper produced by Arthur.
- Launching a publicity campaign to inform residents of the applications with thanks to Nikki Wilson.
- Holding a meeting for those who live in close proximity to the proposed development to discuss their own responses, where Alex Rearden produced a forensic critique of the developer’s documentation.

The WVCA submitted objections to the proposed development based on a broad range of environmental issues, including the loss of natural habitat, flooding risks, access and aggravated traffic problems.

It is encouraging to note that over 90 objectors submitted their reservations to Fareham Council.

Land at Standard Way
The outline application was for 2,000 square metres of Employment Space. WVCA’s objections were based on environmental grounds (including the loss of natural habitat), access, aggravated traffic problems, together with an increased flooding risk.

About 20 other objections from villagers were submitted.

Clare Weeks and Russell Kew
April 2019

Welborne Update – May 2019

Background:

Buckland Developments are intending to submit a full planning application for 6,000 new homes which will be located to the north of the M27 and the top of Hoads Hill, near Wickham. This will be delivered over 25 years.

Update:

On behalf of WVCA I attended a meeting with the Buckland Project Team on the 9^th May 2019. The key points arising from the meeting are:

The submission is likely to be heard by the planning committee at Fareham Borough Council at some point in the next 2-3 months. Once a date is set, WVCA will inform villagers of arrangements.
The focus of WVCA concerns are about the changing risk of flooding from the Wallington river within the boundary of the village.
The topographical survey was shared and indicates that between 70% and 80% of the area to be developed drains towards the river Wallington.
The area to the East of the A32 is a protected underground water table used by Portsmouth Water to extract drinking water. As such, the amount of intervention from drainage developments is controlled and limited. However, it should be noted that over 70% of the development will be to the West of the A32, an area where surface water intervention is allowed.
Plans of the strata have been provided and clearly show chalk is close to the surface in a substantial area of the development planned for the West of the A32. The composition of clay is deepest in a relatively narrow band close to the M27.
Chalk is much more porous than clay and helps mitigate the risk of flood water run-off.
The plans clearly indicate intervention to mitigate and hold back rain water run-off with a tested sustainable urban drainage schemes (SUDS). This includes numerous attenuation pools across the site. The pipe that drains water from the west of the A32 close to the M27 will remain its current 750mm diameter. Therefore, water will be held to the West of the A32 and steadily released into the river Wallington.
All documents have been supplied to WVCA.

The Motorway junction 10 will be significantly redesigned and moved towards Funtley. In the last few weeks the area between Junction 10 and Funtley has been cleared and the wildlife plan commenced.

The WVCA will keep you informed of progress.

Russell Kew May 2019

Draft Local Plan Update

Background

In October 2017, Fareham Borough Council (FBC) published its Local Plan 2 which laid down its planning policy and identified potential land where development may take place until 2036. As reported at last year’s AGM, the plan identified sites for 12,000 new houses across the Borough, including 127 in Wallington. Many residents submitted comments and objections and / or signed an E-petition in relation to this plan.

However, the Government changed the methodology for assessing housing need and as a consequence, the Council has had to redraw its draft plan. The minimum number of new houses in the Borough under the new rules is “significantly higher” than were planned for in 2017. The FBC Executive Briefing of 13 May 2019 states that whilst the policy is to continue to use “brownfield sites first”, the increase in Government housing figures means that additional development “will need to take place on more greenfield sites.”

Consultation

Consultation will be in the form of a special edition of Fareham Today, which will be delivered to all households in the Borough, as well as on the Council’s website and in hard copy. There will also be a number of public events to publicise the plan.

Comments should be submitted electronically or in paper form available from FBC.

Timetable

Spring 2019 – consultation on issues and options
Autumn / Winter 2019 – consultation on revised strategy and additional allocations
Spring 2020 – consultation on publication of the Local Plan
Summer 2020 – submission of Plan to the Secretary of State
Autumn / Winter 2020 (estimate) – public examination of the plan (inspector)
Early 2021 – adoption of the plan.

The WVCA will keep villagers informed of developments.

David F.B. Kett May 2019

FLOODING MATTERS

Flood mitigation work

The Environment Agency work in the village, involving extensive repair work to flood walls, is practically complete and it has proved unnecessary to raise the footbridge at the White Horse. Work to redesign the road hump in Wallington Shore Road should be undertaken before the summer. WVCA offer of financial support for this mitigation work has not, as yet, been taken up.

Natural flood management scheme

As part of this project, work is being undertaken by the Environment Agency and others to survey the Potwell stream – a tributary of the Wallington. Richard Boswell, together with Charlie Scott are involved in this work.

Flood Emergency Plan

The revised plan has been agreed, which will be posted on the WVCA website and copies printed for those who occupy properties most at risk. Thanks go to Arthur Hackney.

April 2019

Charlie Scott Richard Boswell

PROPOSED WVCA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2019-20

The following nominations have been received for the Wallington Village Community Association Executive Committee for the period June 2019-June 2020

POSITION	NAME	PROPOSED BY	SECONDED BY
*Officers*
Chairman	Russell Kew	P. Evans	D. Mancuso
Hon Secretary	David Kett	E. Sheppard	M.H. Taylor
Hon Treasurer	Peter Trott	O. Ellis	M.J. Reeve
*Committee*
	Graham Boulding	J.W. Hall	J. Hall
	Sally Dixon	A. M. Taylor	J. Walker
	Sarah Hatten	T.D. Young	J. Hall
	Ron Hooper	O.D. Ellis	J.M. Ellis
	Chris Morgan	A.P. Marney	J. Warren
	Sue Morse	H.K. Jackson	S. D. Jackson
	Charlie Scott	M.J.Reeve	J.E. Hayward
	Katrina Trott	O.D. Ellis	M.J. Reeve
	Kate Howell	P. Howell	A. Baker
	Nikki Wilson	P. Wilson	O. Ellis

29 May 2019