Minutes of Past Parish Hall Meetings
Minutes of the Ashwater Parish Hall Meeting Held on Wednesday 18th March 2008
Present: L Langston, M Timney, E Gliddon, P Capron, M Gliddon,
A Spratt, G Spratt, A Shadrick, A Gill, A Stacey, J Forward
T Moon, I Buxton, B Parsons
Apologies: H Thomas, K Davis
Minutes of Previous Meeting held on 20th February 2008
The minutes were agreed as a true record.
Proposed G Spratt, seconded J Forward.
Matters Arising
The Big Lottery representatives will meet with sub-committee members in Ashwater on 31st March 2008. They will visit the Parish Hall, examine the new hall site and conduct interviews of committee members. There will be a break for lunch around 1pm and any parish resident may show their support at this time.
P Capron explained, as the total project cost would be over £500,000, the Community Council of Devon had advised this exceeded their criteria for fund assistance. Consequently they would not be able to contribute the anticipated £15,000, which meant TDC would not match this sum either. Considerable effort had been expended in trying to secure a change of heart but to no avail.
Following discussion however, M Timney had established the CCD would help fund a smaller project, which had led to the sub-committee to come up with an alternative strategy. This entailed splitting the project into two, so that the External Site Works were separated from the Building and Construction aspects. In this manner CCD and TDC would probably fund £15,000 each provided we could also contribute £15,000. In essence this would mean the Trustees would have to raise a loan for our share.
As yet this aspect had not been submitted to the BLF for agreement, but if adopted would mean we would be seeking less money from them. The BLF had already questioned how we proposed to raise the shortfall in funding between the likely sum they would grant and the total project cost. In particular they had pointed out they could only give a maximum of 10% over the original budget figure, assuming our bid was successful.
In the circumstances the Trustees now had to consider and vote upon two main aspects:
- To agree the project should be split in two and
- Approve a loan application for £15,000.
The CCD had made it clear we could not provide our portion (£15k) from the sale of the existing hall, besides which we had factored that into the main bid and could not use that money twice.
M Timney advised he had approached ACRE for loan details and they would be prepared to grant the money at 8% interest over 8 years, which would commit us to monthly repayments of around £212. He felt this would be achievable, as we had already demonstrated that income in excess of this amount could be generated through events at the existing hall. He had also been in touch with the Wessex Loan Company who would loan us the money at 7.5% over a shorter period if required. There would be no set-up fees or early repayment penalties and the interest rate would be fixed.
He also advised in his opinion we should consider forming a Limited Company or a Community Investment Company as this would limit the liability of the Trustees in respect of many aspects including the proposed loan. The question of insurance against risk(s) facing Trustees in the event of loan repayment default had been considered, but was a relatively expensive option.
P Capron advised that we don’t envisage having to take up the proposed loan until the BLF agree to give us the large grant. The facilities could be in place and thus satisfy the CCD/TDC in respect of the request for their assistance, but not signed off unless required.
B Parsons expressed disquiet at seeking loan facilities as he felt that at a forthcoming meeting of TDC financial matters were to be discussed and these would include representations for financial assistance for the Ashwater Hall Project. Consequently it might be prudent to await the outcome. There was also a suggestion that the project was too large for the parish and perhaps if it was scaled down there might be more room for financial assistance. It seems there are many other projects ahead of Ashwater’s hall in the funding queue and TDC had to consider the risk of creating a precedent if any money was allocated.
M Timney pointed out it was his understanding that TDC may not be willing to commit to funding, other than where they have already agreed to match CCD grants and we needed to have a strategy in place by 31st March when meeting with the BLF committee members, so it was not practical to delay seeking a solution. Furthermore the entire project was community driven and it was parishioners who had responded to surveys and funding events, as they wanted a multi-purpose hall capable of embracing all of the activities they had identified as needing the proposed facilities.
P Capron advised that any alteration to the scale of building would need amended planning consent at more cost and delay. He considered TDC should appreciate how much independent action had been taken by residents to progress the project and how much this would benefit the District Council in years to come if successful.
L Langston said he was reluctant to commit to any form of debt, but considered there was little alternative to undertake what was in essence a relatively small loan, however it would mean increasing the new hall charges to take the extra expenditure into account. This was an important point because we had written certain figures into the business plan backing our lottery bid and they would have to be adjusted.
He also pointed out we had made separate bids for grant funding from 8 other organisations of which several were actively considering our applications, but we could not rely upon theses sources at present. I Buxton confirmed two other applications were being prepared for possible assistance with such aspects as sports flooring and the heating project if the overall bid to the BLF was successful.
J Forward asked how forming a Limited Company would impact on the present constitution and whether it was necessary to adopt this aspect before taking out the loan. L Langston stated he considered we should investigate this aspect as a separate issue as the Committee/Trustees already had the power to secure a loan if agreed by majority vote. I.Buxton said that if the annual income for the new hall exceeded £10,000 it was his understanding that full accounts, externally audited would have to be submitted to the Charity Commission, rather than the simple accounts now required, which would probably coincide with Limited Company requirements.
The meeting were then asked to formally vote on two issues:
- To split the project into two between the external (ground) works and erecting the main building - proposed G Spratt, seconded T Moon
- To secure ACRE loan facilities for £15,000 at 8% compound interest repayable over a period of 8 years - proposed M Gliddon, seconded J Forward
A third proposal, that M Timney should investigate the benefits, drawbacks and methods appertaining to forming either a Limited Company or Community Investment Company was not put to a vote, but he agreed to secure more information for a future meeting.
Fund Raising
A vote of thanks was recorded to Ali Rowe for the ‘Big Sale’ in February for which money is still being received for items sold on Ebay. The entire proceeds will be donated to the Hall Charity under the gift aid scheme thus increasing the end total.
Posters for the variety night on May 17th will shortly be displayed around the Parish and arrangements will be made to secure the necessary permit for the bar. Tickets will cost £5.00 each with accompanied under 16yr olds free of charge.
Accounts
| Old Hall | Current £540.06 | Reserve £715.90 |
| New Hall | Current £2321.23 | Reserve £1133.92 |
P Capron advised the year end accounts will be drawn up in time and it seemed the new hall will have made a very slight loss during the year, but considering how much expenditure had been necessary this was remarkable.
Correspondence
M. Timney advised that TDC had confirmed the Business rates for the Old Hall had been confirmed at zero.
He also said he had spoken to our County Councillor - D Shadrick and both personally and on behalf of the committee wished him well in his current battle against illness. During the conversation pointers had been raised to other possible sources of funding from the County Council that will be explored. Cllr Shadrick also asked to be kept informed of the new hall developments whilst he was absent from work.
L. Langston advised the Devon Community Association had issued an invitation to a seminar and M. Timney indicated he would attend, as it would provide an opportunity to talk to members of the CCD about funding. G.Spratt proposed and J Forward seconded a proposal that the attendance fee of £20 should be paid from committee funds.
AOB
E Gliddon proposed a vote of thanks to L Langston and the funding sub-committee for continued good work in promoting the bid work, which was endorsed by all those present.
J Forward advised we might still be having some slight communication problems within the parish as he had heard it mentioned that people lacked knowledge of progress of the new hall project. The meeting expressed surprise as regular bulletins have been issued in the newsletter with press articles and work having been started on the site. It was felt there may always be those who felt ill informed but the situation would be monitored where possible.
There being no other business the meeting closed.
Date of Next Meeting Wednesday 2nd April 2008
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