AGM Item: 3

SURREY HILLS BOARD

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

MINUTES OF THE AGM HELD ON 16th OCTOBER 2013

AT WARREN FARM BARNS

CORE MEMBERS

*Cllr Michael Sydney Tandridge District Council

*County Councillor, Marisa Heath Surrey County Council

*Cllr David Wright Guildford Borough Council

*Cll David Pay Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

*Cllr David Mir Mole Valley District Council

*Cllr Mike Band Waverley Borough Council

*David Kennington National Trust

Adam Wallace Natural England

ADVISORY MEMBERS

*Tim Harrold CPRE

*Sarah Jane Chimbandwira Surrey Wildlife Trust

*Megan Cameron CLA

*Liz Cutter SALC

Ian McCubbine National Farmers Union

OBSERVERS

*Chris Howard Surrey Hills Society

*Simon Whalley Surrey Hills Enterprises

*Neil Maltby Surrey Hills Trust Fund

*Members present

OFFICERS IN ATTENDANCE

Rob Fairbanks Surrey Hills AONB Office

Carrie White (Minutes) Surrey Hills Enterprises CIC

Lisa Creaye-Griffin Surrey County Council

Rod Shaw Mole Valley District Council

Clive Smith Surrey Hills AONB Planning Adviser

Lesley Waddell Guildford Borough Council

Sophie Benazon Reigate & Banstead BC

ACTIONS
1 / INTRODUCTIONS
Rob Fairbanks thanked all Members for attending the AGM of the AONB Board and invited all to introduce themselves.
2 / APOLOGIES
Adam Wallace of Natural England
3 /

MINUTES OF THE LAST AGM

3.1 / The minutes of the last AGM held on 17th October 2012 were agreed.
4 /

MATTERS ARISING

4.1 / None
5 / ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN AND VICE-CHAIRMAN
5.1 / Rob Fairbanks explained the process for nomination of Chairman and Vice-Chairman and requested nominations for the Chairman.
David Wright nominated Michael Sydney, and Mike Band seconded. No other nominations were received. The vote was carried.
5.2 / Rob Fairbanks requested nominations for the Vice-Chairman. Mike Band nominated David Wright, and David Mir seconded. No other nominations were received. The vote was carried.
5.3 / Michael Sydney took the Chair and thanked the Members for electing him again.
6 / SURREY HILLS AONB CONSTITUTION
6.1 / Rob Fairbanks highlighted that the proposal was to retain the legal Joint Committee structure with local authority control reflecting their statutory duty to prepare, keep under review and adopt the AONB Management Plan on a no less than five year period.
Rob Fairbanks explained that the constitution had been updated to recognise the establishment and role of working within the Surrey Hills family of Surrey Hills Enterprises Community Interest Company, Surrey Hills Society and the Surrey Hills Trust Fund. The other key recommendation was the establishment of a Members Advisory Group, which was a flexible mechanism to offer advice on policy and operational matters, but would not be a decision making body. Provided the Board agreed the recommendations, the draft Constitution would be referred to the constituent local authorities for ratification.
David Pay asked for clarification on the role of the Members Advisory Group. Michael Sydney explained that it offers a valuable opportunity to prepare papers and discussions in advance of and in between Board meetings. It is not intended to have decision making powers.
Tim Harrold raised a concern that Advisory Members of the Board are being side-lined by the Members Advisory Group. Michael assured members that it was flexible to offer practical advice and not to add bureaucracy. If Advisory Members wished to attend or approach the Group with specific issues, they would be most welcome.
Tim Harrold raised a question about whether Advisory Members could become Core Members by contributing funding to the AONB. Rob Fairbanks highlighted that in principle other parties could help provide core funding, but as a Joint Committee the majority voting rights would need to be retained by the local authorities. It was agreed that paragraph 72 might need redrafting to include a review of the constitution if other significant funding streams were to be offered that would affect the core funding formulae.
Simon Whalley asked about the Partnership’s role to scrutinise the AONB Board. There was general discussion about the role and agreement to amend paragraph 48 to refer to commenting on and making proposals to the AONB Board.
6.2 / It was agreed to elect the following Members to the Members Advisory Group
It would include Michael Sydney and David Wright as Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively, and Marisa Heath as the County Council representative.
David Wright proposed David Mir which was seconded by Neil Maltby, and agreed.
David Wright proposed Mike Band which was seconded by Marisa Heath, and agreed.
6.3 / The AONB Board elected the Chairman of the Surrey Hills Partnership. David Wright nominated Mike Band who was happy to continue and seconded by several people, and agreed by the AONB Board.
7 / FINANCE REPORT
7.1 / Rob Fairbanks reported that Denise Furlonger was signed off sick. Members thanked Rob Fairbanks for reporting on this item and requested that the AONB Board’s best wishes be passed onto Denise.
Rob Fairbanks explained that the estimates for future years were based on the current funding formulae, as outlined in the draft Constitution. It included a 5.38% per annum reduction that was based on the previous settlement by Defra, although this had not yet been confirmed for future years.
Michael Sydney highlighted the disproportionate funding of AONBs and National Parks. Rob Fairbanks highlighted that the AONB Board would need to look at the staffing structure and budgets going forward. Mike Band also stated that the AONB Board should not assume the reductions in local authority funding, and to continue to make the case to maintain funding.
Mike Band also requested that surpluses be indicated by a positive, not negative. / RF
8 / ANY OTHER BUSINESS
8.1 / None
9 / DATE OF NEXT ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
9.1 / The Board agreed that the date of the next AGM would be Wednesday 15th October 2014.
The above minutes are a true record of the Surrey Hills Board AGM meeting held on Wednesday 16th October 2013.
Signature of Chairman
Date

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