Minutes of the Ringwood & Fordingbridge Footpath Society 43 rd AGM – 20 March 2017 Apologies: Janet Arts, Claire Knapp, Elaine and John Mawhinney, and Hazel and Kelvin Winch. Minutes: The Minutes of the AGM held on 14th March 2016 were accepted Matters Arising: Rowan thanked Kelvin for all the work he does for the Society & the wider community. Chairman’s Report: – see attached Footpath Matters: Rowan read the Footpath Secretary’s Report in the absence of Kelvin Winch – see attached Treasurer’s Report: The Treasurer submitted the accounts as at 28th February 2017. It was proposed that the membership fee should remain the same. Acceptance of the accounts was proposed by Rowan Brockhurst & seconded by Patrick Whiteing. All were in agreement with no dissensions. The Chairman thanked the Treasurer & Auditor. Election of Officers: The following Officers and Committee Members were elected:- Ruth Croker – Chairman, Rowan Brockhurst – Vice Chairman, Hazel Winch – Secretary, Tricia Holloway – Treasurer, David Knapp – Auditor, Kelvin Winch – Footpath Secretary, and Catherine Avery Jones, Marlene Sexton, Marion Westcott and Julie Whiteing – Committee Members Any other Business 1. The Avon Valley Path in Fordingbridge: – HCC have spent a lot of money remedying faults on the network. The Badger path is now usable, having been resurfaced. “Jim’s Bridge” leading to Harbridge had been replaced, a boardwalk made and some stiles have been replaced by gates. There is to be a new information board about the path at Fordingbridge Church. When this is in situ Ruth will organise a ‘Reopening’, followed by a walk along the path. The event will be publicised on walks and the email alert system. 2. Julie Whiteing reported that a venue (Ibsley Village Hall) had been found for the Summer Lunch on 25th June and it was hoped as many people as possible would be able to come. 3. Ruth Croker advised that 2 of last years Committee Members had stood down. Firstly, David Seymour who joined in 1991. He became a committee member in 2000 and Social Secretary in 2002. Not only did he organise skittles evenings but, with the help of his wife Ros, took bookings and payments for social events. David led many walks,usually long ones and could always be relied upon to help to erect our publicity stand at shows. He did this for many years before Julie took on the publicity role. Due to poor health, David has had to retire from the committee. As he is unable to be here , a small gift will be taken to him at home and he will be thanked for his work over the years on behalf of all the members of the Society. Secondly, Charles Sexton who joined in 2003. He became the editor of Waymark in 2005, producing his first copy in September of that year. Charles was also a walk leader and took a particular interest in the Forest and was very informative about the wartime here. Charles was thanked for his input to the Society and a presentation was made. 4. Rowan thanked Ruth for all her work for the Society. 5. Rowan mentioned that he was a founder member of the Society & had been President for many years & would be happy stand down as Vice Chairman if a suitable replacement could be found. However, he will continue in his present capacity at present. The date of the AGM in 2018 will be published at a later date. Chairman’s Report AGM 2017. Throughout the last year the Society has continued it's work to try to ensure the rights of way in all our 13 parishes remain open and in good condition. We also take a keen interest in the neighbouring areas of Wiltshire and Dorset and in the New Forest National Park. We have worked closely with the Countryside Service of HCC and with the NPA. National matters of interest to us are the: 1. Development of the England Coast Path. Particularly the route through the New Forest. 2. The Deregulation Bill, previously referred to as the Right to Apply. Although parliament approved the new method of simplifying the making of Map Modification Orders, it has not been implemented. Government guidance on how the new Bill should be implemented is still awaited. Membership. Total membership 02.01.2017 is 310 (family 202 single 108), Over the year a net loss of 29. Footpath Matters – see separate document. Walks Programme. As you know walking the rights of way is a good means of keeping our paths in good order. "Use it or lose it". We remedy or report any problems we encounter. The walks programme offered walks totalling 476 miles (458 miles last year). Very few walks had to be cancelled this year. In bad weather please contact the walk leader or look for an email alert to avoid a wasted journey. Usually the walk leader is able to go to the start point even if the walk is cancelled. Catherine Avery Jones has taken over the role of Programme Secretary and has been co-opted onto our committee. I am very grateful to her and to those who took over the role temporarily before she volunteered. We still need more walk leaders. Help and advice can be given to anyone who wishes to lead a walk. A recce is needed to check for problems and the suitability of the route. A check before putting the walk into the programme and another as close to the walk date as possible as mud, flooding and fallen trees can suddenly cause problems. Finding suitable parking places from which to start a walk continues to be difficult so car sharing is desirable. The Health Walks Programme continues. It is very successful in Fordingbridge. Attendees enjoy both the walking and the social aspect. There are to be changes to the scheme in Ringwood as NFDC are taking over. Craig Daters of the NPA will tell you more about this later. I led 3 walks for the New Forest Autumn Walking Festival and this resulted in some new members. Publicity. Julie Whiteing is writing articles for local publications. We had our "stand" at the summer shows in Fordingbridge, Ellingham and Damerham. Walk Leaflets continue to be sold at Shows and some other outlets. Website. David Knapp continues to manage the website. Do please look at it as it is a good source of information. Email Alert System. Barry Thornton continues to run this. It is an excellent way of communicating with members. Do sign up for it. If you change your email address please let Barry know. Waymark. Charles Sexton continued to produce Waymark until the end of 2016. Marion Westcott has now taken over. Waymark continues to be appreciated by all who receive it. We send out about 255 copies of each issue of which 60 are posted and the remainder are hand delivered. Complimentary copies are either hand delivered or send by email. Thank you to all involved in the distribution process. Social. This year we again had our Trig Point Walk /celebration, our Christmas event and Mince Pie Walk. If we are to have additional events we do need a new Social Secretary and volunteers to run them. We have had a successful talks programme from September to March. Once again we participated in the Greyfriars Community Challenge Quiz. Unfortunately unsuccessfully. A new team member has been recruited for next year. Visits took place to: Martin Green's farm where we viewed the archaeology and flowers. Ann Sevier's farm where we learnt about plants growing on her SSI and about commoning. Ibsley Airfield Yomps. 2 different ones took place for small groups. Disappointingly we were unable to visit the Control Tower because of a change of landowner. A small number of members participated in a walk and picnic in Fordingbridge to celebrate the Queen's 90th Birthday. Representation. I continue to represent you and other walkers through: The New Forest National Park Local Access Forum. Hampshire Area Council of the Ramblers Association. Hampshire Ramblers Footpath Committee with Kelvin Winch. The New Forest National Park Recreation Management Strategy Advisory Group. The England Coast Path where I am Chairman of a sub group involved in developing proposals for a route through the New Forest. The plans for the proposed route in the New Forest are due to be published by Natural England 16.05.2017. Thanks to: Sam Jones and his team: They are now managing the rights of way network in the south of Hampshire. More from Sam later. Rowan Brockhurst. President: Vice Chairman and Assistant Footpath Secretary. Always available to give help and advice. Kelvin Winch: Footpath Secretary who is responsible for the inspection of the rights of way network in our area, including Rolling Review and the BVPI (best value performance indicators). Problems are reported to him and he is able to rectify some himself. He also organises working parties for clearance work and replacing stiles with gates. More details of this work have been given in the Footpath Report given by Rowan earlier this evening. Kelvin also helps in many other ways. Hazel Winch: Honorary Secretary. Hazel also organises the distribution of Waymark, assists Kelvin with footpath matters and plays a big part in organising social events. Tricia Holloway: our Honorary Treasurer. David Knapp: Auditor and Website Manager. Marlene Sexton: Membership Secretary. Charles Sexton: our recently retired Editor. Marion Westcott: who has recently taken on the Editor role. Julie Whiteing: Publicity Secretary. Julie writes articles for local publications and organises our publicity stands at local shows and also deals with the sale of walk route leaflets. Besides this Julie is very involved in the arrangements for social activities.