Executive Committee

Working Parties

Nomination Form for 2010 Election of Officers to the Essex Area Council of the Ramblers

As an innovation we are asking Groups to nominate members to Area Posts in the hope of attracting new personnel onto the Executive Committee.  The nomination form appears below and can be printed off..  Nominations can still be made at the AGM itself.   We also need nomination for people to attend the General Council on behalf of the Essex Area – we never have trouble filling places from the Executive but would prefer new people to experience the main decision-making body of the Ramblers at work.   This year’s General Council will be held on Saturday/Sunday 10^th and 11^th April at Royal Holloway University, Surrey – all expenses are paid by Area.   Please e-mail Len Banister if you want any further information about being a delegate or any of the posts we are advertising.

Please return the completed form to:-

Kevin Clark, Assistant Secretary, Vine Cottage, 366 London Road, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 8LU. or e-mail at kevin@vine-cottage.co.uk  

Minutes of the Essex Area Ramblers’ Association

Annual General Meeting Held on 7th February 2009

1. The 51 members present were welcomed by the Chair; she congratulated them on braving difficult weather conditions to attend.  She welcomed our Guest Speaker, Ade Morris (Head of Walking and Environment) and drew attention to the attendance of Sarah Clements, also from Central Office.  She apologised for the fact that the Area’s Public Address System had not been brought to the meeting.

2. Apologies were recorded for: John Pavitt; Lucy Fletcher; Kevin Nicholson; David Cullington; Ian Hynd; Dave Hitchman; Roger Young; Mags hobby; Richard Iles; Wally Webb; David Ebdon and Rose Siviter.

3. The minutes of the last AGM (2 February 2008) were signed as correct.  There were no matters arising.

4. The Chair added to her written report by paying tribute to the massive contribution made by Fred Matthews and John Dowding to local and national walking.   When introducing the Annual Report she drew attention to the difficulties involved in accepting some of the developments in national policy.   She went on to highlight the work of the Area and regretted the lack of support for the running of Groups and Areas.  She noted that the Area Walks Working Party would, as their first job, take on the organisation of an Area-wide programme to celebrate the 25^th Anniversary of the Area formation by the RA.   She praised the work of the Executive Committee in general but singled out the contributions of Colin Jacob and Mags Hobby as particularly notable given that they had both taken up their posts in difficult circumstances 

5. The Treasurer produced the Audited Accounts for the Year which were accepted.

6. The Secretary also drew attention to the changes which were being required by Central Office in terms of the way that the RA was to be run and its priorities.  He also made a plea for groups to consider assigning terms to Offices and dividing tasks up into smaller units in an effort to promote volunteering.

7. The countryside Secretary noted that the Local Government Association’s request for judicial revue of the building plans for South East England had been denied.

8. Ann McLaren, Vice-President announced that she was building an archive to celebrate 25 years of the Essex Area and called for the contribution of artefacts and memories.

9. A problem involving a road bridge in the Basildon Greenway District was raised under the Footpath Secretary’s report but it seemed that Area had this well in hand.

10. The formal reception of the Annual report was moved by Terry Foster and seconded by Ann McLaren.  The motion was carried with one abstention.

11. The following officers were elected for 2009/10:

    1. Constitutional: Chair Hazel Jarrold; Vice Chair David Cullington; Treasurer; Norman Berry Secretary Len Banister; Footpath Secretary Mags Hobby; Countryside Secretary Terry Foster

    2. Others: Membership Colin Jacob; Public Relations Margaret and Ken Adams; Webmaster Ian Hynd; Assistant Secretary Kevin Clark; Communications Maureen Taylor.

    3. Election of Honorary positions (President; Vice Presidents) President Dave Hitchman; Vice President(s)  Ann McLaren & Kevin Ascott

12. Additional appointments to the Area Council were confirmed: Norman Turner of the Billericay Society (representing affiliated groups); Michael Cullen and Adrian Vincent-Jones (representing individual members).

13. Hazel Jarrold; Colin Jacob and Len Banister were elected as our delegates to General Council.

14. Len Banister was nominated as a candidate to stand for election to the Board of Trustees.

15. Jim McWhirr, who had been thanked for his efforts this year, was re-elected as Auditor of Accounts.

16. The Secretary gave the background to the Essex Area’s Strategic plan.  He pointed out subtle differences between this and the National document on which it was modelled.  The Plan was adopted.

17. It was suggested that nomination papers for Area Officers should be sent to Groups.  The Executive Committee would be asked to look at this idea.

18. There being no other business to discuss, the Chair introduced the guest speaker.

Ade Morris described himself as, “a traditionalist who had been convinced of the need for change”.  He like others, paid tribute to Fred and John, then went on to describe particular aspects of his work emphasising initiatives on Coastal Access; support for our campaign on Stansted; and highlighting his enthusiasm for the ‘Safe to cross’ campaign which he promised to support locally.

He made a special plea for people to sign the online petition to remove the cut-off date for the recording of historic paths, which was particularly important now that the Lost Ways Project had been abandoned 

He recognised that people were unhappy about some of the effects of reorganisation.  This reorganisation should have started slowly ten years ago – now we had to change quickly (change should be evolutionary and not revolutionary).  His key priorities were: Coastal Access; South Downs National Park; Funding for Rights of Way Improvement Plans; Research; Improving casework; Providing a single point of contact for new cases; and continuing to support Rights of way and the Urban walking environment.

In future emphasis would be placed on building alliances and avoiding replication of work.  Walking programmes for non-members attracted huge funding (£5m for the Get walking Keep Walking programme).

Within the context of his talk Ade dealt with other issues raised by the floor like Rail Crossings and Health Walks.

19. The Chair thanked Ade for his highly topical speech.  She thanked the Host Group, Thurrock, for organising the AGM and, once again, apologised for the lack of a public address system.  She was pleased to announce that the Friends ES13 had agreed to host the 2010 AGM at the same venue on 6 February 2010.

COUNTRYSIDE & FOOTPATH SECRETARIES (are some of our hardest working volunteers)

They are responsible for keeping an eye on planning developments and the conditions of our Rights of Way.  Most Groups have one of each and some individuals do both jobs.   Whilst Groups recommend appointments, it is the Area which actually makes them.  Once appointed these officers have the automatic right of Group Committee membership.  They remain in post until they either retire or are replaced by the Area.

FORGOTTEN PATHS

Sarah Clements, Volunteering Innovations Manager for the RA, is heading up a 'Forgotten Paths Project'.   She wants to add to the number of highly dedicated and knowledgeable members who have already given their time for many years, to researching and sometimes discovering paths which should appear on our Definitive Maps.

If you would be interested in hearing more about the work which does not involve travelling around, meeting anyone in person or taking telephone calls, please contact Sarah:Tel: 020 7339 8541 or email: SarahC@london.ramblers.org.uk