Millbrook Lake Moorings Association Ltd.
Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at 7.30pm. in
The Millbrook Village Hall on 11th December 2013.
The Chairman welcomed those present on a cold December evening:-
Board Members – Bruce Selkirk (Chair. & Tres.), Justin Elworthy (Moorings), Keith Bousfield (Shore), Tony Edwards (Fish), Steve Creese (Parish), Rob Wingate and Ken Banks.
Apologies – James Buss and Bryan Luxford (Sec)
Members – 26 members present (including Board members above)
Apologies – Kathy Boston, Roland Stuart, Peter Walker and Nicky Wilson.
The minutes of previous AGM were accepted as a true record.
Proposed – John Horsley and Seconded – Peter Lillywhite.
Matters Arising from the Minutes. None.
Chairman’s Report
The members present were given 2 hand-outs one being a financial summary and the other a Plymouth Waterways leaflet, also available for inspection was;- the official Directors Report (prepared by the Treasurer and Chris Knott and lodged with Companies House), details of the Island renovations in the Millpond and an Information Request Log for members own copies of information.
Bruce thanked the following people;-
1. Charles Clements, who resigned in June, our thanks for his efforts during his chairmanship.
2. Chris Knott for her help with our official annual report, yet again.
3. Peter Walker who has taken on the task of maintaining our website.
4. The Board members for their time and input through the year.
The Years Key points.
a) The 3 major commercial enterprises at Foss Quay, Foss Quarry and The Mill have all been consolidated under Darren Newton’s leadership.
b) The Board has a good working relationship with all the commercial license holders on the Lake.
c) Board members have attended liaison meetings concerning the following subjects;- boating, fishing, legislation, the environment etc. our presence at these meetings means that our opinion can be heard before any legislation materialises.
d) Plymouth City Council publish a Water Events Diary in January which is available each year to anyone who Logs a request.
e) After a very lively board meeting the directors agreed to leave license fees unchanged for the coming year- the 4th year running.
f) Bruce made a request to the membership present to become a treasurer or a Board member as there were 2 vacancies. Nobody volunteered.
Bruce answered the following questions from members;
What was meant by “Keeping an eye on the Whitsand Bay Conservation Area” ?
The MLMA are an interested party and have put forward views to those proposing the conservation measures, on behalf of our members, to protect leisure boating interests. The fishermen put forward their own views concerning commercial fishing. We do not expect any restrictions on leisure craft activity in Millbrook Lake or using Whitsand Bay.
Keith Jackson-Brown had lost his official mooring buoy and wondered if this was theft? Answer – No other problems reported, an unidentified buoy had been found on the foreshore.
Secretary’s Report
Keith kindly read Bryan’s report in his absence:-
The whole membership not just the Board thanked Bruce for taking up the mantle of Chairman whilst continuing to do an outstanding job as Treasurer.
Ken Banks joined the Board in June and attended 3 meetings, over the past year the Board met 9 times, Bryan attended 9, Bruce, Keith and Rob 8, Justin 7, James and Tony 4.
The regular business of running the Moorings as a Limited Company continued smoothly over the year.
The past year had been disjointed with the surprise departure of Charles, I know he enjoyed being Chairman and a very good job he did whilst in office. Considerable groundwork had been established to understand the correct channels to pursue for the next proposed project to improve our marine interests.
Treasurer’s Report
Bruce discussed his two page report and explained the reason the total assets had fallen slightly in 2012: extra expenditure (such as grants to local causes totalling £3300) came from reserves in 2012 not 2011, as previously reported. Bruce gave his apologies for this error. He expected a steady increase in reserves to resume in the next financial year.
Alec Elworthy asked why – since the MLMA has Public Liability Insurance, is it necessary for mooring holders to have their own Insurance ?
Bruce answered with the help of Tony – the MLMA insurance protects the Association from public liability but does not indemnify members from any claim which may arise from their individual activity.
Mooring Officer’s Report
Justin thanked members for their co-operation in his first year as Moorings Officer and felt the transition from Patrick to himself had gone well. All mooring fees had been collected and passed to the treasurer.
During the year one boat had been broken into but luckily there had been little kept on board. One boat broke from its mooring but with little damage. A number of marked buoys had broken from their moorings and had been returned to their owners.
Justin thanked members again for their help but asked everyone to check the security of their chains and shackles.
John Horsley asked if the orange marker buoys were still essential ? Justin confirmed this as they indicated an official mooring.
Mark Hayward asked about the need to repaint numbers on the buoys? It was agreed that the paint does fade over time and mooring holders should repaint as needed.
Foreshore Officer’s Report
Keith updated the meeting on the beach moorings along the footpath between Foss and Ancarva and thanked those mooring holders who had made adjustments to their lines to avoid obstructions to the path. There had been a number of issues around the Foreshore, none serious and all resolved.
Any Other Business
None.
Election of Officers
Keith Jackson-Brown proposed that the membership “keep this lot” and Mark Hayward seconded the proposal. The meeting unanimously approved the re-election of the Board.
Bruce closed the meeting at 8.05pm.
The members present then socialised with a festive drink.