HIGHER DENHAM COMMUNITY CIO

(Charitable Incorporated Organisation)

Registered Charity No. 1163577

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on

Thursday 15th September 2016 at 7:30pm

In the Community Hall

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Present: Mr David Ward - Chairman

Mrs Jacqui McGowan - Secretary

Mr Edward Nash-Steer

Mrs Jane Blyth

  1. Apologies for absence

Apologies were received fromDr Ron James and Mrs Sonia Harris.

  1. Public Session

Former committee member, Charlie McClelland, attended the Public Session regarding the CIO website, which is still registered to him since stepping down for the committee at the 2016 AGM. The committee had discussed and agreed previously that the website domain must be transferred to an existing committee member. CM advised that he has tried to transfer the domain but has so far been unsuccessful. He has contacted the domain provider to see how this can be done but has not received a response. CM offered to do any changes to the website in the short term, eg. setting up new email addresses. Whilst the committee is grateful for his help, ownership of the domain has to be resolved going forward. JM said she would also contact the provider to see how this can be progressed. CM left the meeting. The committee discussed the matter further and agreed that if it is not easy to transfer the domain we will obtain a new one.

  1. Minutes of Julymeeting

These were agreed as a true record and signed by Jacqui McGowan who was the Chairperson of the July meeting.

  1. Matters Arising

a)Wedding Reception on the Glebe Field – July 2016

JM had been the point of contact over the weekend of the wedding and all had gone extremely well with no issues or complaints from residents. The wedding party had left the Hall and field in an excellent condition and were extremely happy with how their event had gone.

The committee agreed that we should promote this type of event in the future as it gives a huge boost to the CIO’s income. Photos of the marquee and how the field can be used for such events are on the HDCIO website.

b)Grass cutting and weed control throughout Denham. Denham Parish Council has confirmed that Bucks County Council is not undertaking any weed control in the county this year due to budget constraints. The committee discussed the general state of Denham and agreed that residents are not getting value for money from Bucks County Council and that things are only likely to get worse. It was agreed that we will do all we can to ensure that Higher Denham stays in a satisfactory state as BCC continue to do less.

c)Grass roller. Needs to be brought back from its current location on a trailer.

d)Mower Shed. The shed needs jet washing and then painting. The work will be done over the next couple of months

e)Hall Key. JBhas tried to get the Hall key from the plumber who installed the boiler but has not been able to. It was agreed that this would be left for the time being.

f)New fence/pigs on the field. Ron submitted a grant application to cover the cost of installing a fence between the Glebe and the Farmer’s field to prevent his pigs getting onto the Glebe and causing damage. Unfortunately the application was not successful. The committee discussed again the proposal for a fence to be erected from the corner of the Social Club to the Mower Shed, with a gate for access to the field in an attempt to keep dogs off it. It was agreed that another quote should be sought and to discuss at the next meeting.

g)Ownership of the Farmer’s field. DW has made contact with the owner of the field, who it turns out is a local person. DW outlined the CIO’s proposal for the field to him, however the owner showed no interest in selling the land. He is probably hoping to develop it at some point in the future but this is unlikely due to it being a flood plain.

h)Wall installed in the Hall small room. The new meeting room has been decorated and window blinds have been ordered.

The bill for installing the new wall in the meeting room has been received for payment. The committee discussed that two quotes had not been obtained for the work on this occasion and this must be done for all projects in the hall or on the field in the future

i)Garden in front of the Hall. A “tree planting ceremony” took place on 21st August to mark the garden as complete. An article will be placed in the Newsletter informing residents.

j)New Hall – progress. The Surveyor assessed the condition of the building on 23rd June. A written report has been received.

k)Playground equipment. JM has contacted handyman, Steve Gordon, to obtain a quote for the repairs to the playground equipment. His quote has not been received yet.

  1. Chairman's Report

A break in occurred at the Social Club on the night following their Family Fun Day event in August. A side window and the patio doors were smashed to gain access. Unfortunately the CCTV had been accidently switched off when the Hall meeting room was being decorated the week before.Although the CCTV had been put back on, the interruption in the power supply resulted in an error with the hard drive and it wasn’t recording at the time of the incident. Ambush Security checked the system following the break in and confirmed the above. They reset the system which is now working properly.

Our grounds man, Les, has been very busy removing 4 dead trees on the field. He has done this as part of his usual tasks. The work would have cost a large sum of money if the CIO had had to get a contractor in to do it. It was suggested that the trees should be replaced.

  1. Treasurer's Report

The Treasurer, Ron James, sent his apologies for the meeting and hadpre-circulated his report (see below) and the accounts for July and August.

Hall Hire holds up well and will exceed last year’s total. In July we received £300 from the Parish Council for cutting the grass verges. In August we received £500 from the Social Club towards the CCTV system. Also in August the BBQ at the Social Club Family Fun Day made a profit of £271 - thanks to all who helped.

On the expenditure side, the main insurance bill arrived in August and we paid the Architect for the work to date on the new Hall. The Architect’s fee was offset by the grant I obtained earlier in the year.

Report on the proposed New Hall
A professional survey of the existing building has been completed, which demonstrated the need to spend large sums of money to keep the building usable over the next 5-10 years. A copy will be sent to committee members.

  1. Hall Bookings

Hall bookings continue to be busy with lots of enquiries being received.

An Irish Dancing Classis now using the Hall on Saturday mornings, 9.30am to 12.30pm, and is aware that the football team need access to the toilets which they do not see as an issue. JB asked the committee if the Dancers should be allowed to continue using the Hall as it meant party bookings couldn’t be taken before 1pm on a Saturday. The committee agreed they should. JB to contact the Youth Football Team to make sure the two bookings are running smoothly alongside each other.

Footballers on the Field. Jane saw a group of young adults using the field for training and on the second occasion approached them as she knew they were too old to be the Youth Football Team. Resident Brian DeVoil and his football team were using it as they knew the Youth team were away. Brian has previously used the field for training and was charged to do so. Jane told them they had to ask if they wanted to use the field for football training and if it was available there would be a charge. Mr Devoil agreed to make a donation of £20.00 for using the field twice. It is not acceptable for groups to use the field without permission or payment.

Storage charge in the Hall. The storeroom has been cleared out and tidied up significantly. The committee has previously discussed hall hirers leaving their equipment in the Hall storeroom and cupboards and that it is getting out of control, with for example, the Youth Club using most of the main Storeroom. The committee agreed to implement a storage charge of £5 per month which will be reviewed in January. If hirers do not wish to pay the charge they are welcome to remove their equipment from the storage areas.

Any Other Business

a)Firework Night. Plans are underway for the Firework Night event on Saturday 5th November. JM will produce the advert for the “In and Around Denham” and will make sure it is in the October issue as last year it wasn’t delivered in Higher Denham until after the event. The banner will be updated with this year’s date and put on display on the fence around the field. An advert will be placed on the CIO website and the “Netmums” website.

It was agreed to run the Sparkler area again this year and to try to generate interest from stall holders to join us on the evening. This provides more to see and do for those attending, whilst helping to create more revenue for CIO funds on the evening.

Ed suggested having a keg of real ale available on the evening.

b)Children’s Christmas event. Jane has offered to organise an afternoon children’s Christmas event in the Hall which would be followed by the Christmas Tree Light Switch on with mulled wine and mince pies for the adults. The confirmed date is Friday 2nd December. It was agreed the event would be free if enough revenue is made from Firework night. Ed suggested inviting a Hand bell group from Maltman’s school and he will contact them.

The local Choir, The Denham Divas, has already agreed to sing carols on the evening along with the Iver Choir. JM will contact them to confirm details.

It was suggested at the previous meeting that we add to the external community Christmas decorations again this year and a budget of £100 was set. JM to see what is available.

c)Committee members. It was discussed and agreed that we should try to fill the 2 vacancies on the CIO committee. An item will be placed in the Newsletter.

d)Monthly Draw

September 2016

1st Prize - £25 R & F Grant, Lower Road (ticket no. 041)

2nd Prize - £10R & J James, Moorhouse Lane (ticket no. 092)

The meeting closed at 21:05

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