Summary of ALRA AGM
Held on 25th September 2024, at Little Stoke Cricket Club, 7.30pm.
Present
Robert Townsend (RT), Helen Townsend (HT), Lee Mountford (LM), Nigel Holmes (NH), David Hunt (DH) and 10 Residents.
Welcome
RT began, by welcoming everyone to the meeting and read out the names of 6 members, who'd sent their apologies. He then introduced the existing committee, before outlining the process for re-election of officers.
Reports
The following reports were delivered by the existing committee officers:
Co-chairs'
The Co-chair's Report, was delivered by RT.
Treasurer
The Treasurer's Report was delivered by DH. ALRA has a credit balance of approximately £1,300 (including £700 for the bench, with a further £150 donated by residents). £440 income came from quizzes, with £68.39 spent on prizes. We received £15 from the sale of our previous strimmer and spent £283.49 on new gardening equipment.
The 2024 Co-chairs' and Treasurer's reports were accepted (proposed and seconded by residents).
Election of the Committee Officers
The four committee officers (RT, HT, LM, NH) and the Treasurer (DH) then resigned from the committee and put themselves forward for re-election. Their re-election was approved (again proposed and seconded by residents).
Moving forward, it was suggested that we would hold an SGM in January 2025 to transition to a new committee, with RT and HT stepping down due to other commitments.
Note: Subsequently RT and HT opted to continue in their current positions – a minimum of 4 officers is required by our constitution.
Volunteers
A lead volunteer (Mike) delivered a short report on the ALRA gardener volunteers. Tom from Blue Frog (a landscape gardening business) was thanked by the committee and volunteers, in recognition of the considerable help he has given with clearing and taking away tonnes of green waste from pathways. There are only 5 regular volunteers, who meet 2 or 3 times per week, although two residents now join the volunteers on Sundays, and one other resident agreed to offer their services. Streetscene were also thanked for the 2-week loan of a heavy-duty strimmer, in order to help get on top of the rapid growth on the pathway verges.
Residents Q&A
On completion of formal business, residents were invited to participate in a Q&A session.
Estate Paths
Questions were asked about the deterioration of estate paths (which have never been adopted, even though some are public rights of way). Of particular concern, was the damage caused by subsidence and tree roots (from self-set saplings). This had already been reported to Staffordshire County Council (SCC), but no action had been taken. It was agreed that ALRA would follow this up with SCC.
Fly Tipping
Incidents of fly tipping, in dead hedges on our estate were reported and it was suggested that we could add to the links website on how to report this (see Links page). It was also noted, that some residents were dumping rubble and rubbish over the railway fencing.
Village Green Status
A resident enquired whether the triangular ‘Grassy Patch’ area could be designated as a ‘village green’. A discussion then followed, as to whether it should be mown, or be allowed to naturalise (no conclusion was reached).
Closing Remarks
RT thanked everyone for attending, and the meeting was concluded at around 8.30pm.