{"id":1217,"date":"2023-09-24T16:56:59","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T15:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bournemouthcivicsociety.org.uk\/?p=1217"},"modified":"2023-09-24T16:56:59","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T15:56:59","slug":"22nd-sept-2023-civic-society-special-meeting-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bournemouthcivicsociety.org.uk\/committee-minutes\/22nd-sept-2023-civic-society-special-meeting-minutes\/","title":{"rendered":"22nd Sept 2023 Civic Society Special Meeting Minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bournemouth Civic Society \u2013 Notes of the Special General Meeting <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Held at The Church Hall, St Ambrose Church, West Cliff Road, Bournemouth <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

at 7.05pm on Friday 22nd September 2023<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Present:<\/b><\/span><\/span> 16 Members<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Chairman\u2019s Welcome: <\/b><\/span><\/span>Ken Mantock welcomed members to the Special General Meeting. He said that this was a sad occasion as it followed the Annual General Meeting held earlier this month when the members present had unanimously backed the winding up motion coming from the Society\u2019s Executive Committee that had met in June. Since both the June Committee Meeting and the AGM on 1<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/span><\/sup> September no new committee members or officers had come forward and therefore the sole item for discussion\/voting was that winding up motion. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Apologies for absence:<\/b><\/span><\/span> Hilda Brownlow reported that these had been received from: Paul Newsome, Peter Jackson, Bill and Wendy Cooper, Ian Dickens, Averill Holcroft, Chris and Edwina Ballard, Arthur and Carole Sweet, Alwyn Ladell, Alex McKinstry, David and Gail Crawford, Jean-Daniel Kursner, Elaine and Rodney Cooper, Leigh Hatts, Douglas and Nina Eyre, Jo Amey, Rick Farrell, Chris and Rachel Carter, Barry Rossell, John and Susan Fairbairn.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Minutes of the 2023 Annual General Meeting: <\/b><\/span><\/span>The Minutes of the meeting held on 1<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/span><\/sup> September, copies of which were circulated earlier this month along with the Special Meeting calling notice, were accepted as a true record of what took place.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Winding Up Resolution: <\/b><\/span><\/span>The Chairman noted that since the Annual General Meeting held on 1<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/span><\/sup> September 2023 he had contacted the Russell Cotes Museum and communicated the resolution agreed at that meeting. He informed the Museum that should the Society be wound up then its funds would be transferred to the Museum on the proviso that they be ring fenced and used on one or more local and specific projects rather than applied to general funds. The idea of a local history room was also suggested plus a request for an event to be held at the museum in the future to acknowledge the support of the Society. Thus the wishes of the members at the last meeting were made clear to the Russell Cotes Museum. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Museum had subsequently confirmed that should the Society be wound up and its funds transferred to them then they would be placed in purposeful restricted funds and not be lost within general funds. They said that a local history room would not be possible as the ethos of the museum is based on the eclectic collection of art and objets d\u2019art collected by Merton and Annie Russell-Cotes. However they provided details of three possible projects \u2013 the restoration of the stonework and mosaics of the main hall fountain at \u00a318K; the recreation of the children\u2019s pavilion in the Russell-Cotes garden at \u00a330K and the refurbishment of the Henry Irving room at \u00a3105K. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There had also been a suggestion from a member, following the circulation of the calling notice for this meeting, that the restoration of the great composers plaques on the sea-facing elevation of the Russell-Cotes be investigated as another possible project for funding by the Society so that has been forwarded to the museum.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

At the time of the meeting no further discussions had taken place with the Museum and the Chairman explained they would take place should the resolution be agreed and once the formal winding up process with the Charity Commission had begun. He noted that he and the Treasurer, together with other members of the Committee would meet to wind up the Society, including dealing with all relevant matters, notifying the Charity Commission and having discussions with the Russell Cotes Museum as chosen charity to receive the Society\u2019s remaining funds on the terms agreed, once all dues are settled.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Members commented on the projects suggested by the Russell Cotes and accepted that as the Museum was dedicated to the art collection and objects d\u2019art acquired by the Russell Cotes and that there was also no space for a Bournemouth heritage room there this situation be noted. Discussion took place on the need for a Bournemouth Museum but it was agreed that with the current financial situation of the Council any move to create such a facility was sadly unlikely. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Of the suggestions from the Russell Cotes for receipt of funding from the Society\u2019s monies the general consensus of the meeting, which echoed that of the Committee, was that the funding of the reinstatement of children\u2019s pavilion and restoration of the main hall fountain were most appealing. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Members also said it was such a great shame that the Society was closing as at this time it was needed as much, if not more so, as it always had been, due to the merging of Bournemouth Council into BCP Council and the demands for development and pressures on the town\u2019s character and conservation areas. It was noted however that the search for new and replacement officers and committee members had been on-going since July last year and had yielded five offers but none of these had resulted in any of them following up, attending a committee meeting or joining the Society.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So there being no further questions the resolution, as unanimously agreed on 1<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/span><\/sup> September 2023, was proposed again by Ken Mantock and Seconded by Hilda Brownlow as follows:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n