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27th October 2009

SAFFRON WALDEN CONSERVATIVE CLUB

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

Meeting held on Tuesday 27th October 2009

Members Present: Mr Keith Eden (KE) (Chairman); Mr Malcolm Head (MH) (Treasurer); Mrs Gemma Hill (GH) (Events); Mr Keith Hill (KH) (Licence Officer); Mr John Gerrard (JG) (Membership/Minutes Secretary); Mr Colin Long (CL); Mr Richard Harrington (RH) (Bar & Catering); Mr Bob Eastham (RE) (Secretary);


1. Apologies for Absence: Mr David Watson (DW), Mr Keith Elsom (KEl)

2. Minutes of Meeting: Held on 25th September 2009: Minutes were accepted.

3. Matters Arising from Item 2: All matters arising dealt with in Chairman and Treasurer’s Reports

4. The Chairman’s (KE) Report:

KE announced that funding of £30,000 has been agreed with ACC so we can meet all of our obligations.

Asset Issue:
KE asked what should we do about the Club furniture etc
RE proposed that we wait until we have decided whether or not to keep the present Club building.
Philip Smith (PS)(ACC) said that a proposal to lease the Club was totally unacceptable. ACC would be very concerned if SWCC accepted this proposal.
The committee also unanimously agreed that it was unacceptable.
ACC would prefer us to rent the property for a fair rent and use the income for other things e.g. rent a suitable property for SWCC.
MG proposed that we maximise the sale of the Club and should not accept the original estimate of £680,000.
RE still awaiting an offer from a.n.other either to lease or buy the property.
RE reported that an email had been sent to all estate agents in the town for quotes to sell the property. Cheffins, Bidwell’s and Wakelins @ Inter County (W@IC) all replied within the timescale. MH and KE met the agents. The 2 most likely to succeed were W@IC and Bidwell’s. RE has received written proposals from each of them. Following negotiation, all parties finally agreed on a joint agency deal. If the Club sells for up to £850,000 their commission would be 1.25%. The rate increases progressively until if sold for over £1,000,000 it would be 1,75%.

KE met with Mike Hibbs (MH) this evening and agreed that the plans to convert the building back to residential would be ready for public display on 7 Nov 2009. MH will seek planning permission for two buildings.

The estate agents will jointly advertise the property in the press on 5 Nov 2009 and there will be an Open Day at 5 Museum Street on 7 Nov 2009 from 1000 hrs. The plans for the building will also be available for viewing. It will be advertised for sale as subject to planning consent.

RE has instructed Michael Snow to carry out a survey. The Club will be marketed for private or commercial use.
KE suggested that if no interest is shown within a month we should look at the rental market. We should keep all options open.
Tania Wreathall (G-K) has enquired about the sale of the snooker table. We will get an estimate of its true value before asking for offers. KE will write to interested parties for offers based on its true valuation.


5. Treasurer’s Report (MH)

We now have cash in the bank from ACC charged at 6.5% interest. MG queried this as our loan charge is only 5% and he will check it tomorrow. This money will allow our creditors to be paid. Bondholders will be paid in January when the 12 months period expires; they will receive 5% interest. MH will notify those bond holders who are not committee members.
Most creditors have now been paid. Eon gas bill still has to be paid. Prestige is owed £200 but the company has closed and MH has been told to deal with their administrators.
G-K has not yet asked for repayment of our loan.
There are two full barrels of IPA in the cellar but they are now out of date. We have a barrel of Carlsberg and a barrel of Fosters, which expire on 15 Nov 2009. MH will approach the OEG regarding sale.
RE read a letter from NFU insurance. Our payments have been reduced but we are no longer covered for water damage or theft while the property is empty. We will need to turn the water off and then turn it on only when necessary.
RE will visit every day to check the property.

6. Club Website:

JG has received a bill for £25 to keep the Club website domain name, which is due to expire on 21 Dec 2009. Agreed unanimously to renew, as SWCC has not closed, just the building.
It was also proposed by KE and agreed unanimously that these minutes be published on the website to keep members up to speed.

7. AOB:

a. The front door lock has been changed, RE, KE, DW, MH and estate agents have keys. The rear gate can be easily opened, DW to improve its security.

b. Mike Sargeant has asked for first refusal on the sale of all darts equipment.

c. There are a number of snooker cues still in the snooker room and members can arrange to collect them by contacting Malcolm Head (Treasurer) on 01799- 504908

Date of Next Meeting: Monday 23 November 2009 at 2000 hrs.

Meeting closed at 2106 hrs

29th July 2009

The Future of The Club

Following the EGM and a request for Club Members to pledge to support the Club financially, only 44 Pledge forms were received, which amounted in total to £8,100, which was well short of the required amount. As announced at the EGM failure to support Option 2 would mean default to Option 1.

At a Committee Meeting held on 27th July 2009, all committee members present voted unanimously in favour of the following proposal:

"The Committee has regretfully had to close the Club from 30th September 2009 and give the Club Steward formal notice.

Between now and 30th September the Committee will, however, examine an option of either selling the flat or the cottage and if that is possible would plan to keep the Club open after 30th September"

 

Bill Melhuish R.I.P.

Bill Melhuish passed away on Thursday 21st May at Addenbrooks Hospital after a short illness, age 94

The funeral will take place on Wednesday 3rd June - at 13.45 at St Marys Church, Saffron Walden and then on to his burial at Cheshunt Cemetery for 15.15

There will be a wake at the Conservative Club, Saffron Walden from 16.30 for all those who would like to come and have a drink and some food on Bill.

Peasgood & Son Saffron Walden are handling the funeral arrangements, and any flowers can be sent there.

 

Recently Deceased Members

Mona Rumsey

David Steel

William Taylor

George Benson

Stanley Butcher

Eric Swann

Denis Holman

Brian Blackwell

Bill Melhuish

It is with regret that I have to report that the members named above passed away recently. They will be sadly missed and our thoughts are with their families.

 

Wing Commander Mel Bennett DFC SNB
7 Jan 1926 -7 April 2008

The funeral of Mel Bennett took place on Friday 18 Apr 2008 at St Mary The Virgin Church, Saffron Walden. The coffin, covered by a Union Flag, was led into church by the Bomber Command Association Standard and the Royal British Legion (Saffron Walden Branch) Standard. Following the flag-draped coffin came Mel’s grandson, Timothy, carrying his medals on a cushion.

The service began with the RAF hymn and was followed with a poem “High Flight” which was read by John Guy of the Aircrew Association.

The first tribute was paid by Air Vice-Marshal H A Merriman, CB, CBE, AFC*, FRAeS, DL and he outlined Mel’s career and in particular how he was awarded two Queen’s Commendations for Valuable service in the Air in addition to the Distinguished Flying Cross, which was presented to him personally by Her Majesty The Queen.

The Air Vice-Marshal also went on to describe how on 8th December 1962 the Air Officer Commanding Far East told Mel to prepare his Squadron to move to Borneo for a special mission. Mel took off in the late afternoon with 100 Gurkhas and had to land in the dark at an airfield that had been taken over by rebel insurgents from Indonesia. The Gurkhas recaptured the airfield and remained there for the rest of the Emergency. The Sultan of Brunei presented Mel the Star Negara Brunei (SNB) (equivalent to a knighthood in UK), which means if he ever visited that country in an official capacity he would have been entitled to an escort of four Pikemen and four Swordsmen. He was also awarded his second Queen’s Commendation for Valuable service in the Air.

The second moving tribute came from Andrew Bennett, one of Mel’s three grandchildren, who described his memories of holidays with his parents (Nick and Sally) and grandparents (Mel and June).

The service concluded with the RAF March and a flypast by a Royal Air Force Hawk jet flying in low from the west.

Amongst the packed church were many of Mel’s friends from the Aircrew Association, RAF Association, Royal British Legion, Conservative Club and 1824 Squadron ATC. Mel would have been particularly proud to see many of his former ATC cadets at the service including Flt Lt Guy Harvey, now a pilot with 8 Squadron at RAF Waddington, Sgt James Eaton now based at Northwood, Cpl James Howell now working with the US Air Force near Nevada, Graham Burling now an engineer with BA at Heathrow and his wife, Marie, another former cadet. Henry Luck was given leave from the army to attend but he is hoping to follow in Mel’s footsteps as a pilot in the RAF. Captain Richard Webb, now an Apache pilot with the Army Air Corps, sent his apologies, as he is about to leave for his third tour in Afghanistan. Squadron Leaders Ian Poole and Jeff Carpenter represented East Essex Wing ATC.

Afterwards at the Conservative Club, Mel’s son, Nick, also an airline captain, personally met and thanked everyone who had attended the service.