MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE TURNERS HILL PARK RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION HELD AT THE ARK ON MONDAY 13TH APRIL 2015

Present : 7 Committee Members and 29 Members.

Apologies : Mary & John Ealing, Joan Palmer, Marilyn & Michael Keeler, Catherine Carrick and Tom Moore

The Meeting was opened by the Chairman at 7.30pm and she thanked everyone for making the effort to attend. She then indicated that Mr. Geoff Furzer, our President and IPHAS Advisor, would not be present this evening due to ill health.. The Chairman reminded everyone that any matters which residents wished discussed should have been submitted to the Committee before this meeting and would be dealt with under Any Other Business. No other matters would be heard unless invited by the Chairman. Any resident was welcome to these meetings but, unless the home was a member of the Association, they may not speak or vote. Once the formalities have been concluded, there would be a short break when tea/coffee and biscuits would be provided.

This year, our guest speaker was Yvonne Leddy, Senior Officer in Environmental Health, Mid Sussex District Council who is responsible for Housing and Licensing matters and would be speaking on the new licence regulations for the Park.

Before starting the meeting, the Chairman asked that all mobile phones be turned off and also that, as the Ark does not have any microphone facilities or hearing loop, anyone who was finding difficulty in hearing, perhaps they would prefer to move to the front.

A copy of the AGM Minutes of 2014 had been laid out on the chairs, together with a copy of the Annual Accounts and a copy of Details of the Committee's Activities during 2014/2015 and the Chairman hoped that everyone had had time to look at these.

The Minutes of the last AGM were agreed as correct and signed by the Chairman.

Proposer: Mary Moore

Seconder: Henry Spencer

Matters Arising from the 2013 AGM

The Chairman asked the residents if they wished to raise any matters contained in the previous Minutes of 2014. There being no questions raised the Chairman moved on to the next item on the Agenda.

Chairman's/Secretary's Report

The Chairman opened her report by indicating that details of our activities during the year had been left on chairs and as residents will have seen we have continued to be very busy during 2014, and in particular, the park rules consultation certainly kept us active. She asked that if anyone had any comments on the last year, we will be happy to take them at the end of the meeting.

She then took the opportunity to thank all of the committee for their hard work and support during the year. Thanks go to Sheila our very efficient secretary for the very informative & entertaining newsletters that she produces and also for taking on board the Park Page in the Parish News. I am sure that you will all agree with us that it is important to keep this link with the village. We also owe a thank you to Linda & Geoff Furzer for their additional work with IPHAS which has resulted in the Committee being fully informed in the changes that have been passed through Parliament. Without them, we would not be as informed as we are, and be in a position to discuss them fully with park management.

She also made mention two committee members in particular:

Geoff Gant has worked very hard on updating our website and has continued being the lead in our speed watch activities, as well as attending the local Police Neighbourhood Panel. Through this link, we have been able to bring to fruition the Implementation of our NCCZ. Alan Reed has also co-ordinated work for several residents with a Chassis company, which not only saved them money, but also ensured that their homes were in good condition. Geoff also worked hard with regard to the 84 bus petition; the most recent update is in our report .Most of all, I thank all of you for your support of the association, without your support our work would not be worthwhile. Our membership in 2014 was again 91%.

As the Park Manager was not able to attend the meeting, he provided the Chairman with some information to pass on to residents:-

• New homes in Kingfisher Lane and Nuthatch Way - the homes for Kingfisher are not expected to arrive until the summer: 9 Nuthatch Way has now been surveyed and draft plans are currently to hand.
• Water bills - (this is not sewage) the office asked that we are all vigilant with regard to water leaks, as any wastage reflects on us all. Please keep a check on leaks and overflowing pipes. Over the last few years they have been able to bring water costs down and in 2015 hope to be able to take costs back further. Also new valves have been installed in Kingfisher Lane which has improved water pressure for those residents.
• Hotel car parking at the entrance to the park. - David Curson has written to the hotel regarding this problem, also the Park Manager has requested permission for a sign to be sited at the top of the park regarding hotel delivery vehicles. He is currently waiting for a response. Head Office is not keen on too many signs at park entrances, so we must wait and see.

Finally, 25 new residents have taken up park life in the last year and the Committee welcomes them to Turners Hill and wishes them a happy life in this beautiful park.

Treasurer's Report

Mrs. Furzer gave explanations for some of the expenditure which she felt needed further details. She then asked if anyone had any questions regarding these accounts.

Proposed: George Eaton

Seconded: Muriel Throp

Election of Officers and Committee

All of the present members of the Committee were willing to stand for re-election for another year. The Chairman asked if anyone was against this and as no one objected, she asked for a proposer and seconder:-

Proposed: Val Spencer

Seconded: Chris Eaton

Membership Fees

The Committee proposed that the Subscription remains at £3.00 per household as this covers all our expenditure. This was unanimously agreed.

Proposed: Mrs. LindaHulse

Seconded: Val Wallace

The committee would be on hand at the end of the meeting to take your subscriptions; otherwise, we will be collecting door to door between now & the end of June. If any of you are new residents on the park, and you wish to join us, we do also have new resident forms, so please feel able to come to any committee member with your subscription.

Status as a Qualifying Residents Association
As several new residents were present, the Chairman gave an explanation of what a Qualifying Residents Association is. In 2014 as a Committee, we again provided membership information to Head Office in order to maintain our status as a 'Qualifying Residents Association' and we feel that it is very important for us to maintain this position. The necessary information will be provided again for 2015.

- BREAK FOR REFRESHMENTS -

 The Chairman then introduced Yvonne Leddy, Head of Licensing at Mid Sussex District Council who was going to talk on the lodging of the Park Site Licence.

Yvonne started her talk by giving details about herself which was very interesting.

She explained that Park Site Licences had been in existence since the 1960s and had always been lodged with the Local Council. However, what has changed is that, in the past the Council had the 'power' to inspect a site but now the Council has a 'duty' to inspect and, of course, this comes along with a fee which is levied to cover the work involved. This will give the Council more power to take action again site owners if they are not adhering to the terms of the Site Licence. The fee for this park is £255 which about £1.00 per home and is a one-off payment only.

Any Other Business

There being no further business, the Chairman thanked everyone for coming. The meeting was closed at 8.55pm..