Annual General Meeting 2009
Minutes of the Cottenham Village Design Group Meeting held on 26th February 2009 at 7.30 pm, at Cottenham Village College
AGM Talk
The evening started with a detailed presentation on the planned improvements to the A14 between Ellington and Fen Ditton. John Clarke of Costain Skanska presented the talk which was detailed and informative.
AGM Minutes:
Committee Attendees
Alex Thoukydides, Mike Smith, Steven Poole, Bill Miller, Alex Darby, Patrick Clark, Alan Leeks, John Williams, Robin Heydon.
Committee Apologies
Tim Wotherspoon.
Approval of the 2008 AGM Meeting Minutes
These were approved.
Review of Year’s Activities
Alex Thoukydides CVDG chair presented an annual summary of the range of activities of the CVDG:
These were.
* Planning comments made within the parish.
* Planning comments made on public consultations such as Northstowe and the East of England Plan for 2031.
* Comments made concerning Minerals and Waste proposals affecting Long Drove and the Donarbon site, including waste transfer from London and new railway sidings.
* The promotion of the group at the Fun Run and at the Autumn Show. A quiz was run at the Autumn Show with a framed picture as the prize for the winner.
* Visits made, including Beaufort Court, Letchworth Garden City and the BRE Innovation Park.
* A talk by Meredith Bowles, local Architect, on ‘What Makes a House Eco’.
* The placing of the group’s committee meeting minutes on the website.
* The production of a quarterly newsletter detailing the groups activities and opinions.
Proposal to Amend the Constitution
Alex Thoukydides explained the reason for need to amend the constitution of the CVDG. The aim is to add a Vice Chair (VC) role, to make the Chair’s role easier and to provide a possible progression to the role of chair. He proposed the creation of the new VC position saying that there will now be 7 officer positions in total, and the VC position will be held for 4 years and re-elected after two years. A vote was taken and the VC proposal was carried unanimously by a show of hands.
Planning Summary by Steven Poole, Planning Officer
Steven Poole stated that the number of application reviewed over the last year was the same as the previous year, which nevertheless is historically quite a low number of applications. He put up charts and graphs to explain the trends. In summary, these are: 74 applications in total, 13 refusals, and CVDG had made comments on 49 applications.
Accounts by Bill Miller, Treasurer
Bill Miller put up the accounts. In summary the 08-09 accounts had less activity than the previous year because the Design Statement writing and printing had been completed. However the balance on the accounts at the year end was £728 which he said was more than adequate for the activities that might be planned for the year.
Election of Committee and Officers
Committee members.
The following committee members were unanimously elected.
Nigel Bolitho, Bill Miller, Steven Poole, Henry Le Brecht, Clare Le Brecht.
The following remain as committee members.
Patrick Clark, Alex Darby, Robin Heydon, Alex Thoukydides, John Williams.
The following was co-opted.
Tim Wotherspoon.
The following are representatives.
Fen Edge Community Association, Mike Smith.
Cottenham Parish Council, Alan Leeks.
Cambridgeshire County Council, Matthew Bradney.
The officer positions were elected as follows:
Chair - Mike Smith, Vice Chair - Patrick Clark, Secretary - Bill Miller, Treasurer - Bill Miller, Membership Secretary - Alan Leeks, Planning Comments Coordinator - Steven Poole, Information Officer - Alex Darby. Bill Miller said he would be happy to be replaced in due course if a new secretary could be found.
At this point Alex Thoukydides stood down as chair in favour of the new chair, Mike Smith.
Mike Smith thanked Alex Thoukydides for all his hard work and his ‘staying power’ in relation to the shepherding of the new Design Statement through the various governmental hoops. The Committee and other members joined in with appreciation for Alex’s stewardship of the Group. Mike Smith presented Alex with a bottle and card.
AOB
Mike Smith reminded the committee to make an effort to recruit new members.
Steven Poole stated he had organised a talk for Wednesday 13th May 2009 on the Cambridge Cycling Town Demonstration Initiative. Mike Davis of Cambridgeshire County Council will be giving a talk about Cycleway provision and the Cottenham to Histon cycle way.
Mike Smith stated he would like somebody to prepare an article about the A14 talk for publication in the Cottenham Newsletter. He also said we should place an advertisement in the Cottenham Newsletter for the Cycling talk. Steven Poole agreed to place the ad. |
