LEA VALLEY REGIONAL BOWLING ASSOCIATION
Minutes of AGM held at Silverthorn Bowls Club
On the 25th November 2015
Meeting commenced at 7.26pm.
Meeting opened by the President Les Mercer.
Les thanked all the clubs for their support for his President’s Day and said he had enjoyed this 40th year of our Association. He went onto say he was dissappointed that there had been so many cancelled matches, resulting in very few league tables though the season. Les said he hoped after the meeting tonight that problem would be resolved.
Apologies for absence – Barry Holbrook.
Obituaries
The President, requested all present be upstanding and observe a minutes silence for those members who had passed away in 2014, namely Tommy Jenkins, Carl Lee, Harry Saunders & Alfie Brett.
Minutes of the 2014 AGM:
These had been previously circulated and it was requested that they be taken as read,
The acceptance of the 2014 Minutes was proposed by Mel March, seconded by Ray Fortune and agreed by all present.
Matters Arising: There were no matters arising
Correspondence: There was no correspondence relevant to the AGM, just general enquiries by email re classification of either our Constitution or Rules.
Secretary’s Report: Jim Tebbutt read his Report and a copy has been attached to these Minutes.
Matter Arising - None
Important Note - Please retain this Report and attach it to these Minutes and bring them to the 2016 AGM.
Treasurers Report and audited Balance Sheet:
The Balance Sheet was circulated to all delegates present and after a brief pause whilst the contents was studied by the delegates, Ron Whitlock, the Treasurer then gave a Report.
Ron pointed out points of particular interest to the Delegates as follows, the Savings Account had now been closed due to virtually no interest and the funds transferred to our Trading Account. He some other points in the accounts, including the final Bank balance of £3312.00 as of the 30.10.15.
Gary Moore proposed the Balance Sheet be accepted, seconded by Les Mercer and passed unanimously.
Important Note - Please retain the Balance Sheet given you at the meeting and attach it to these Minutes.
Matters arising: Bob Hillier asked why the Competition Secretary had £153 ‘cash in hand’ and Ron explained this was the cash balance seoperate from the cheques which the Competition Secretary had received during the year. This sum was held until the trophies were purchased and then Ron paid the outstanding balance to the Competition Sec.
Competition/League Secretary’s Report
Dave thanked all the entries for the Competitions, he said it had been another good year. He thanked Gary Moore and George Mole for their help with the Finals and the raffle and also thanked Silverthorn BC.
However, the League fixture cancellations and the providing of the results by the clubs had been a ‘nightmare’ resulting in it being virtually impossible to produce league tables through the season.
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Dave not only had received no results but had not been informed when matches had been re-arranged and therefore had no idea which results he was missing!
He congratulated the League winners, Ilford BC and the runners-up Larsen BC and also said it had been a close race and congratulated Silverthorn, Harlow, Bush Hill Park and Poplar Bowls Clubs. He said he would not be standing for the positions for next year.
Matters Arising: None
Match Secretary’s Report
Gary said this year had gone well and we had two indoor matches arranged for January and April, also the outdoor fixture with Essex County Bowling Association, that had gone so well this year. In 2016 the match will be held at Bush Hill Park BC, after another club had declined to stage the match.
Matters Arising
Les Mercer thanked Gary for his efforts this year.
Vote of Thanks
John Furlong gave a vote of thanks to the outgoing Officers adding it was hard enough getting Officers for clubs and said the Association Officers had done their jobs well once again.
The Election of Officers:
President Les Mercer then proceeded with the election of Officers, starting with the President for 2016, Chris Vine of Tye Green BC, was the Senior Deputy President and his election was therefore automatic. Les remained in the Chair and presented Chris with the Presidents ‘Chain of Office’ and Chris then presented Les with his second ‘Past Presidents’ badge.
Senior Deputy President: George Kernaghen of Orford House BC was then proposed by Dave McFarquhar and seconded by George Mole, there being no other nominees, George was duly elected.
Junior Deputy President: John Furlong of Harlow BC was proposed by Jim Tebbutt and seconded by George Mole and there being no other candidates, John was duly elected.
Secretary: Jim Tebbutt stated that he could only stand if the Proposal for Life Members to be allowed to serve as Officers, was passed later during the meeting. However he was even then only prepared to stand if some of the workload be dispersed amongst the relevant Officers with less queries regarding fixtures, results, league tables and the competitions being directed at him. He added it was not the Secretaries job and whilst he had always been willing to advise where possible he was no longer prepared to pass on queries to the relevant Officer. Jim stated he would only carry on if legally permitted to do so, if the workload was relevant to the job.
Jim Tebbutt was proposed by Les Howard, seconded by Mel March and with no other nominees, subject to the Proposal No 11 being passed, was duly elected.
Treasurer: Ron Whitlock stated as in the case of Jim he was prepared to carry on as long as Proposal 11 was passed.
Ron was proposed by Dave McFarquhar and seconded by John Furlong and with no other nominees and subject to Ron being eligible, he was elected.
Competition Secretary: Gary Moore was proposed by Dave Browne, seconded by Chris Vine and with no other nominees, was duly elected.
Gary took the opportunity to state there would be no extensions given whatsoever.
Match Secretary: Gary Moore said he was prepared to stand again and was proposed by Mel March, seconded by Ray Fortune, with no other nominees Gary was duly elected.
League Secretary: Les Howard was proposed by Les Mercer, seconded by Dave Browne and with no other nominees, duly elected.
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Agenda Proposals:
Proposal 11
Larsen BC proposed that Life Members be permitted to serve as Officers of the Association, if elected.
Seconded by Les Howard and was passed unanimously.
Proposal 12
As this Proposal was considered to be an Amendment to the prior Proposals the Delegates elected to debate this Proposal first.
The Proposal by Gidea Park BC was ‘That the League be split into two equal divisions with promotion and relegation. The format of the two divisions should be based on the final league positions this year.
New clubs would go into the second division and adjustments for the 7th and 8th teams so that each division is the same.
The proposal was seconded by Bill Benney.
A very lengthy discussion followed and numerous points were made by a great many delegates, including the travelling still being a problem, clubs not being able to afford to lose matches, the number of matches having to be reduced to avoid the smaller clubs playing often both days on the weekend and not being able to get the players. Finally the Chairman Les Mercer asked for a vote and the result was 10 for and 10 against, therefore the Proposal was rejected.
Proposal 9
This Proposal from Keith Tyler failed to get a seconder and therefore was not discussed.
Proposal 8
Ford Sports BC proposed ‘ That the League be split into a North and South league, the winner of the South playing the runner-up of the North and the winner of the North playing the runner-up of the South’. Producing two finalists.
Trevor King also suggested that the two leagues be as follows:
North League - Bush Hill Park, Harlow, Larsen, Orford House, Silverthorn & Tye Green Bowls Clubs.
South League – Ford Sports, Gidea Park, Poplar, Phoenix, Ilford & Romford Bowls Clubs
With the possibility of current Associate Member clubs being able to immediately join a league and also new members being admitted if necessary.
The Proposal was seconded by Dave Browne.
Another lengthy discussion followed with a great deal of argument, particularly about the Leagues becoming virtually ‘local’ leagues. Eventually Les Mercer asked for a vote and again the vote was 10 for and 10 against, so the Proposal was rejected.
Proposal 10
John Furlong proposed on behalf of Harlow BC that Fixture Result Cards be re-introduced for 2016, to be signed and sent to the League Secretary within a week of the match.
The Proposal was seconded by Phil Wilkinson.
After a short debate the Proposal was passed unanimously and George Mole distributed Cards to all clubs present. It was agreed by the League Secretary that he would also accept an email result.
Proposal 13
Jim Tebbutt had stated that the Constitution and Rules needed amending due to the formation of Bowls England as our governing body. He added that there were numerous minor alterations required and if the Delegates agreed they could simply be passed and Jim would then make the amendments and send new copies to all the clubs.
The Proposal was seconded by George Mole and passed unanimously.
The meeting closed at 9.33pm
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