Motions to General Council 2015
Constitutional Motions submitted
[1] Special resolution
Change to articles to allow one member one vote for the election of Trustees -submitted by the Board of Trustees
That the Articles of the Association be amended as follows:
That, conditional upon the passing of the ordinary resolution [2] below, the Articles of Association of the Association be amended as follows:
In Article 11.3 delete paragraph (c) and substitute new paragraph (c) as follows:
“To receive the declaration of the results of the election of the ordinary members of the Board of Trustees pursuant to Article 22.1(b);”
In Article 22.1:
(i) in paragraph (b) delete:
“Nine ordinary members elected by the General Council.”
and substitute:
“Nine ordinary members elected by the Individual Members, Affiliated National Organisations, Affiliated Local Organisations and Affiliated Overseas Organisations.”
(ii) in paragraph (c) delete: “at” and substitute “with effect from” before “the immediately preceding Annual General Meeting”
(iii) after “Standing Orders” insert “or (in the case of ordinary members of the Board of Trustees) with regulations made by the Board of Trustees in accordance with Article 22.14”.
In Article 22.3 delete “at which he was elected” and substitute “following his election”.
In Article 22.4:
(i) in the first sentence delete “General Council” and substitute “Individual Members, Affiliated National Organisations, Affiliated Local Organisations and Affiliated Overseas Organisations”
(ii) in the first sentence delete “at an Annual General Meeting” after “shall have the power”
(iii) in the second sentence after “A person so elected shall hold office” insert “from the end of the Annual General Meeting following his election”
Insert new Article 22.14 as follows:
“Each Individual Member, Affiliated National Organisation, Affiliated Local Organisation and Affiliated Overseas Organisation shall have one vote for each vacancy in an ordinary member of the Board of Trustees to be filled in the election. The conduct of the election of ordinary members to take office from the Annual General Meeting in 2016 will be undertaken or overseen by an independent body appointed by the Board of Trustees. The procedures for the election of ordinary members of the Board of Trustees shall be set out in regulations made by the Board of Trustees. These regulations shall be binding on all Members and the Board of Trustees shall adopt such means as it thinks fit to bring these regulations to the notice of Members. No regulation shall contravene any of the provisions of the Articles or the Standing Orders.”
And that all variations and abrogation’s of the rights of the class of Council Members of the Association proposed to be made by the passing of this special resolution as set out in the Notice convening the Annual General Meeting of the General Council of the Association on 28 and 29 March 2015 be approved.
Background notes:The introduction of one member one vote for the nine ordinary members of the Board (who are currently elected by General Council) was strongly supported by members and volunteers who responded to the survey by the Governance working group of its ideas.
The board believes that the level of support was sufficient that one member one vote should be introduced immediately
This motion changes no other constitutional arrangements. It means that before General Council 2016 up to three trustees who are coming to the end of their term will be elected to the Board directly by the membership.
This will increase the sense of control and ownership of the board by the members of the Ramblers. It will increase the number of people involved in elections and therefore the ordinary members’ participation and engagement in the organisation. It will send a clear signal to members that Ramblers is willing to adapt to encourage in new volunteers and members.
For the purposes of the election individual members (Individual, Joint, Annual, Life, Monthly and or Concessionary) will be those who have an active subscription at the cut-off date for the election.
Every category of membership gets one vote i.e. local affiliated organisations get one vote NOT one vote per member.
N.B. For the full text of Article 11 and Article 22 please see Appendix One
[2] Ordinary resolution
Change to standing orders to facilitate one member one vote for the election of Trustees – submitted by the Board of Trustees
That the Standing Orders of the Association be amended as follows:
In Standing Order A3:
(i) delete
“Ordinary members of the Board of Trustees to be elected in accordance with the provisions of Article 22.3;”
(ii) delete:
“Provisions regarding nominations for members of the Board of Trustees to be elected in accordance with the provision of Article 22.4 are given in Standing Order A16.”
In Standing Order A4(c) insert:
“Who, if elected, would take office” after “the Board of Trustees”.
In Standing Order A15 in the paragraph starting “Any member may only nominate or second” delete “at” and substitute “with effect from” before “an Annual General Meeting”.
Delete Standing Order A16.
Renumber Standing Order A17 as A16.
N.B. For the full text of these Standing Orders please see Appendix Two
Policy Motions submitted
[3] Ramblers vision - Board of TrusteesThis General Council approves the vision and ten year strategic framework for Ramblers.
Background notes
The vision and ten year strategic framework have been consulted on widely within and out with Ramblers. This included discussions at General Council 2014 with key stakeholders including organisations like the National Trust, RSPB, Friends of the Earth, CPRE, the Scouts and Girlguiding UK and a survey which had over 700 responses from both individual members and on behalf of groups.
At the Board meeting on 30-31 January 2015, the trustees voted unanimously in favour of the document being presented to Council. They are doing this in line with article 17.3 which states that a new vision and strategic framework requires approval from General Council.
[4] Governance consultation - SYNED area
This General Council urges the Board of Trustees to extend the period of the new governance consultation to give all parts of Ramblers proper time to respond.
Background notes
SYNED Area Council believes that too little time has been allowed for proper consultation on such an important issue.
Initial board response
General Council passed a motion in 2013 asking the Board of Trustees to “review all aspects of governance in detail”. It asked for an interim report to be ready by Christmas 2013. The motion, the decision of the Board of Trustees to set up a working group and a timeline was published to the Ramblers website in 2013. They were also emailed to area chairs and secretaries in 2013.
At General Council, March 2014, there was a consultation session on governance where members discussed themes identified by the governance working group. The details were published in the General Council 2014 minutes, made available on the Ramblers website.
In September and October 2014 the chair of the Board of Trustees and the chief executive met chairs/secretaries from 80% of areas in person. The chair advised that governance ideas would be put out for discussion amongst areas and groups soon, and that they should schedule time to hold discussions locally. This was followed up by email.
Between 31 October and 31 December on a consultation by the governance working group took place on ideas that it had been discussing.
The working group submitted its proposals to the Board in January 1015. The Board accepted that one part of these proposals – one member one vote – should be submitted to General Council for consideration.
The original timeline envisaged more proposals coming to General Council. Recognising that more time was required for discussion on how the proposals should be implemented there will now be a formal consultation with members with any constitutional changes to be brought to General Council 2016.
The board opposes this motion as it does not believe this issue should go beyond 2016.
[5] 80th anniversary congratulations - Scottish Council Executive Committee
This General Council is very pleased to accept the following message from Scottish Council: “The Scottish Council on behalf of the members in Scotland, send their best wishes and congratulations to their fellow members in England and Wales in their 80th year. It is hoped that during the coming 20 years, until the centenary, the Ramblers will be even more successful in all parts of the United Kingdom.”
Background notes
At the Scottish Council Executive Committee meeting on Mon.9 February 2015 it was agreed that this motion be put at the General Council meeting in Cambridge.
At the inaugural meeting of Scottish Council held on Sat.23 February 1985 in Stirling, a motion was agreed as follows-
“The Scottish Council on behalf of the members in Scotland sends their best wishes and congratulations to their fellow members in England and Wales in the Association’s Golden Jubilee year. It is our hope that during the coming 50 years the RA will be even more successful in all parts of the United Kingdom”.
It is recorded that this motion was then put to National Council held on Saturday/Sunday 30/31 March 1985 at Royal Holloway College, Egham. This was to honour the Golden Jubilee of the Ramblers Association.
[6] 2026 cut off date - West Riding area
This General Council:
i) expresses concern that the Board of Trustees has not responded positively or satisfactorily to the two resolutions adopted by General Council in 2014 calling for action to claim lost ways in England and Wales by the 2026 cut off date;
ii) notes with concern that we are now more than half through the 26 year period for claiming the addition of public rights of way to Definitive Maps after which many such rights will be lost for ever;
iii) further notes that the Board of Trustees has not created a system for claiming such rights in a comprehensive manner.
Council therefore calls on the Board to create such a system and, with that objective in mind, calls for an urgent meeting of all Area Footpath Secretaries to be convened so that they can be reminded of methods of creating and adopting a system such as that recommended in the publication ‘Rights of Way: Restoring the Network’ by Bucks and Wadey or alternatively the project adopted by the Hampshire Local Access Forum. In addition every possible step should be taken to enthuse the whole membership to work towards claiming as many paths as possible in the time left.
Background notes
The Agenda Committee has prepared the following summary of the key points in a long background note provided by West Riding Area.
This motion is an expression of serious and deep concern about the tardiness, indeed virtual failure, of the Ramblers to tackle one of the most serious threats to the footpath network. Our first object is the protection of footpaths, and we are seen by the public as being guardians of the footpath network. We seem to have lost our way, perhaps hampered by lack of expertise or resources.
The Hampshire Local Access Forum created a project using trained volunteers with expert assistance to work through the archives. Sarah Bucks and Phil Wadey created methodology using online resources wherever possible and wrote ‘Rights of Way: Restoring the Record’. If they can do it, why not the Ramblers?
The two motions passed at the 2014 General Council meeting must have shown the Board the depth of concern felt by members. One motion has not so far been implemented. The other resulted in the Board instructing the Chief Executive to issue clear advice by January 2015. At the time of writing the advice had not been published. There must now be a sense of urgency; we must get back into campaigning mode.
Initial board response.
This motion re-visits issues raised in motions at General Council in 2014 and is also discussed in the General Council report on open motions. Because of the potential complexity of this issue, an unwillingness amongst members to engage with an earlier initiative on claiming paths, and uncertainty about the number of paths still to be claimed, the Board of Trustees instructed the chief executive to carry out a scoping exercise to determine the shape and scale of the campaign and how it could be resourced.
This activity is in the 2014 -2016 business plan and, as part of this, a series of workshops on using documentary evidence to claim paths are being planned. These will be led by Phil Wadey and Sarah Bucks, authors of the book “Rights of Way: Restoring the record” (copies of which have been provided to each Area in England and Wales). Other initiatives will follow.
The “Don’t Lose Your Way” campaign is being used to keep the membership updated on the implications of 2026 and there have been supporter campaign emails, volunteer newsletters, articles in Walk and updates on the website. These will continue as the regulations and guidance on the Deregulation Bill are introduced, and as our own work on lost ways develops to complement them.
Once a scoping exercised has been carried out and a trust fundraiser recruited, the Ramblers will seek additional funding, like Hampshire PATHH project to fully support existing volunteers and members and encourage new people to participate in this important activity.
The board supports this motion.
[7] Fracking - Greater Manchester and High Peak area
This General Council expresses surprise that the Ramblers nationally has no policy on fracking, unlike many other organisations concerned with protecting the countryside. Council therefore calls on the Board of Trustees to develop a coherent policy in consultation with members as soon as possible to protect the countryside and our access to it from the possible detrimental effects of fracking.
Background Notes
The Agenda Committee has prepared the following summary of the key points in a long background note provided by Greater Manchester and High Peak Area.
The main focus of this motion is the damage to the countryside caused by fracking, and the impact on walkers. The RSPB and the National Trust have had policies on fracking for a long while and it is felt that the Ramblers should now do so as well. There are concerns about many environmental effects of fracking, or exploratory work, including pollution, earthquakes, water usage, construction traffic, and visual impact. An increase in fracking could impact on access to open spaces.
Fracking has been banned in some countries and, elsewhere, problems with it are being covered up. Wherever it has been suggested that it would take place in the UK there has been overwhelming local opposition. In the UK parliament it is proposed that fracking should be banned from National Parks and water catchment or collection areas, though it seems that the government is not totally committed to this. There remains a lot of countryside attractive to walkers that would be open to fracking.
The government and energy industry should instead concentrate on fuel efficiency and renewable energy in preference to carbon based fuels associated with carbon dioxide emissions and climate change. Impacts of global warming on the countryside and weather are likely to be bad for walkers. Investment that is currently going into fracking should be diverted to offshore wind and wave power and, where not intrusive to the landscape, onshore wind and solar power and local hydroelectric schemes in order to help reduce CO2 levels and preserve an environment that is good for walkers.
Initial board response
The Ramblers has had a broad position on fracking since March 2014 which reads:
The Ramblers works to help everyone enjoy the pleasures and benefits of walking, and to enhance and protect the places where people walk. We are committed to encouraging and supporting walking, protecting and expanding public rights of way and access land, and protecting the beauty of the countryside and other areas.
We recognise the threat posed to our countryside by climate change, which could severely alter many of our cherished landscapes. Ramblers support measures to mitigate this by switching to renewable sources of energy which are sensitively sited and don’t damage precious landscapes. In addition we believe the government must focus particularly on improving energy efficiency, pursuing a range of measures to reduce the amount of energy wasted in generation, transmission and use.
We are concerned about the potential impacts of onshore shale gas exploration and exploitation, both on access to the places we walk and on the beauty of the wider countryside. We will oppose such operations where we believe these impacts to be unacceptable, particularly in areas designated for their natural beauty such as national parks and AONBs.
This is available on our website at:
In addition we responded to the DECC consultation on fracking in August and monitored developments relating to fracking during the passage of the Infrastructure Bill.
We will continue to monitor progress, principally through our membership of Wildlife and Countryside Link, and respond where necessary to future developments. We will also look to develop our policy in relation to fracking within the framework of Ramblers new Countryside Protection principles and recently published climate change and energy policy.