2014 AGM Minutes

BATLEY BUGGY CLUB
MINUTES OF AGM HELD ON WEDNESDAY 7th JANUARY 2015 at WHITCLIFFE MOUNT SPORTS CENTRE
Present:
S Lawson; D Harrison; L Fraser; J Price; I Bellwood; C Gill; N Lewis; D Lee; S Kirk;
J Wilkinson; D Haldenby; A Webster; P Vernon; A Lovell; R Barras; M Ball; J McFadyean;

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
S Lawson gave an overview of what had happened with the club in the last couple of years and commented on how things were currently and what needed to be addressed in order for the club to maintain its current membership and make sufficient improvements to increase it.
Chadderton meetings are now in the 3rd year and have proved successful in helping the club to be in a better financial position, but did mention that this series has not been as well attended as the previous 2 and there is uncertainty as to the reasons why.
The outdoor venue has only had necessary work done as there was uncertainty as to whether the club would be allowed to stay but the Council have reversed their decision to demolish in favour of a new build so Spenborough Baths is staying. This now gives the club the opportunity to decide whether to stay and upgrade the track or look for an alternative venue.
Indoor venue of Whitcliffe Mount Sports Centre has now been targeted for demolition by the Council and Kirklees Active Leisure are working hard to try to prevent this from happening. One more year will definitely be available for bookings, and after that it would depend on their final decision. The club needs to keep this in mind when making plans.
FINANCIAL REPORT
D Harrison circulated copies of the report and this prompted some discussion on various aspects but it was felt that the club was now in a better financial position than it has been for many years and this needs to be built on to increase funds in case the club needs to move to another site. The balance as of 31.12.14 is £6,515.32.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Chairman Stephen Lawson
Secretary John Price (in partnership with Dianne)
Treasurer Dianne Harrison
Public Relations Stephen Kirk and Neal Lewis
This is a new appointment and will involve communications via the website, facebook, oople and emails to ensure correct communications are circulated and also to encourage participation within the club.

Track Committee Ian Bellwood
Danny Haldenby
James Wilkinson
Neal Lewis

Other members expressed an interest in being involved as and when they could.

GENERAL BUSINESS

Membership fees and race fees have not been increased for a number of years and as the club needs to look at improving its finances it was agreed by all that the following increases be made:

1 Membership fees:
Increase to £12 Adults and £5 juniors with effect from 01/01/16.

2 Race fees:
Indoors up to March 2015 remain the same: £6 members; £3 juniors; £8 non-members. Indoor meetings from October to be increased by £1 ie £7 members; £4 juniors; £9 non-members.
Outdoors from April 2015: £6 members; £4 juniors; £8 non-members.

3 Indoor Club Meetings:
The high cost of £200 per meeting was discussed and the need to look for alternative accommodation. D Harrison did point out that the longer meeting of 10 am to 6 pm was also charged at £200. As there are only meetings booked up until March then the club will continue to race at this venue but will seek alternatives. The track committee will start this process and report back once they have made further investigations.

4 Chadderton Meetings
There was discussion as to the future of the Chadderton meetings and whether they should be separated from the club. This is due to the lack of support for organising the meetings and especially the track building on the Saturday. It was pointed out by the majority of the drivers in attendance at the AGM that it is seen to be too far to be supported and the committee (with the exception of S Lawson and D Harrison) did not want the responsibility of these meetings and that, in principle, it should be separate from the Club but that it needs to be looked at further as to the equipment that is across at the Radycliffe Athletics Centre and what needs to be brought back to the club. Members did say that it would be better to try to locate a venue ‘in Yorkshire’ where a series could be held that would be attended by club members.

5 Outdoor Venue
This prompted much discussion and it was noted that comments had been made by visiting drivers as to the poor condition of the track. It was also noted that the condition of the track does not encourage drivers to return and even some of our members seek alternative venues as the Batley track is not deemed ‘suitable’ for practice for regional meetings etc as the majority now have an astroturf surface. It was agreed that, as Spenborough Baths is now not going to be demolished, that newly appointed track committee should look at ways of improving the track and what costs would be involved to do this. Dianne and John have received an email about the possibility of some rolls of astroturf and have expressed an interest in this.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

1 Michael Ball had attended the meeting to be able to answer any questions with regard to the possibility of using the warehouse that he has purchased to run 1/10th off-road meetings. He was able to respond positively to the majority of the questions and it is definitely something that the track committee can pursue with him with a view to future use. He did say that it would be at least 3-4 months before he will be in a position to move his shop into the warehouse so this gives time for consideration. Whitcliffe Mount Sports Centre is scheduled for demolition in October 2016 (this is being fought by the Centre) so this needs to be a consideration when looking at future plans.

2 Committee Meetings need to be held on a more regular basis and D Harrison suggested that these could be held from 12 noon to 1 pm at Whitcliffe Mount when holding indoor meetings and before or at the end of an outdoor meeting – thereby reducing the travelling time for those concerned. All agreed that this is something that should be adopted and the meetings should be planned as required.

DATE OF NEXT AGM

Meeting to be planned for mid-November 2015 to give the opportunity for members to consider proposals for election to committee appointments and also to submit items for discussion on the agenda.