North Strathclyde Area Annual General Meeting followed by walk led by a member of Strathkelvin Group th Saturday, 20 January, 2018 CONTENTS OF THIS BOOKLET Page 2 Location map. Page 3 Notice of the AGM of North Strathclyde Area. Page 3 Agenda. Page 4 Notice of Motion affecting Area Standing Orders Page 5 Notes on Nominations and Motions. Page 5 Annual Report of Area Council 2016/17. Page 12 Treasurer’s Report and Accounts 2016/2017. THIS BOOKLET CAN BE OBTAINED IN LARGE PRINT FROM BARRY POTTLE, C/O FRIELS, THE CROSS, UDDINGSTON, GLASGOW, G71 7ES OR [email protected]. North Strathclyde Area comprises Bearsden & Milngavie, Cumbernauld & Kilsyth, Glasgow, Glasgow Young Walkers, Helensburgh & West Dunbartonshire, Mid-Argyll & Kintyre, Monklands and Strathkelvin Groups. It is part of the Ramblers' Association, a registered charity (England and Wales no.: 1093577 Scotland no.: SC039799), and a company limited by Guarantee, registered in England and Wales (no. 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7TW. AGM LOCATION MAP Page 2 of 16 . NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Eighth Annual General Meeting of North Strathclyde Area of the Ramblers’ Association will be held in the lower hall, Lenzie Public Hall, Lenzie, Kirkintilloch on SATURDAY, 20TH JANUARY, 2018 at 10.00 a.m. for a 10.30 start. The Agenda for the meeting is on Pages 3-4 of this booklet. Area Secretary: Mrs. E. Lawie, Burnside Cottage, 64 Main Street, GLENBOIG, Lanarkshire, ML5 2RD. Please see the location map on Page 2 of this booklet. Copies of the Area Constitution and Standing Orders may be obtained on request from Barry Pottle, 33 Brackenbrae Avenue, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, G64 2BW or [email protected]. Dr. Ann Glen of the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland has agreed to give a talk on “Saving Green Places”. After the Meeting, Jim Lawson, Area Chairman and also Chairman of Strathkelvin Group, will lead A Historical Walk Around Lenzie & Kirkintilloch. This walk is approximately 7km long with an accumulated height gain of approximately 100m. It is a circular walk starting and finishing at Lenzie Public Hall. It will be taken at an easy pace giving time to take photos and absorb the history. It can be muddy so best to wear boots and bring waterproofs as the Scottish weather is unpredictable. Members wishing to stay for the walk should bring packed lunches. The start time for the walk will depend on when the meeting finishes. AGENDA 1. Chairman’s Introduction. 2. Apologies for absence. 3. Minutes of the Seventh Annual General Meeting of North Strathclyde Area held on 21st January, 2017. Copies of the Minutes will be available at the meeting, or may be obtained in advance from Barry Pottle, 33 Brackenbrae Avenue, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, G64 2BW or [email protected]. 4. Matters arising from those Minutes. 5. Annual Report of the Area Council of North Strathclyde and Audited Statements of Account for the year ended 30th September, 2017. See Pages 5-11 of this booklet for Annual Report and Pages 11-14 for Treasurer’s Report and Accounts. 6. Motions affecting the Area Constitution and/or Standing Orders. See notice of motion affecting Standing Orders on Page 4 of this booklet. See notes on Nominations and Motions on Page 4 of this booklet. If any further motions are notified, separate notice will be circulated to members 7. Election of Honorary Officers. Nominations are invited for Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Footpath & Countryside Co- ordinator, Publicity Officer. See notes on Nominations and Motions on Page 4 of this booklet. 8. Election of Representatives of individual members to the Area Council. Nominations are invited for election of Representatives of individual members to the Area Council. The AGM will decide how many representatives it desires to elect, subject to the maximum required to comply with the final sentence of Clause 6(i) of the Constitution See notes on Nominations and Motions on Page 4 of this booklet. Page 3 of 16 9. Determination of representation of local affiliated organisations to the Area Council (if necessary). Each local affiliated organisation is entitled to nominate one representative to the Area Council, provided that, where more than two organisations have made nominations, the places are allocated by lot. In the event that drawing of lots is required, this will take place at the AGM. 10. Appointment of Independent Examiner. Nominations are invited for appointment as Independent Examiner, whose responsibility is to check the Accounts prepared by the Treasurer and certify whether they are a true and accurate record. See notes on Nominations and Motions on Page 4 of this booklet. 11. Ordinary Motions: • Area motions, • Motions to Scottish Council, • Motions to General Council, • Recommendations to the Area Council and/or to local Groups of the Area. See notes on Nominations and Motions on Page 4 of this booklet. 12. Election of Representatives to Scottish Council and General Council. Nominations are invited for: • two representatives of the Area to the Scottish Council of the Association, which will be meeting on Aberdeen on 10-11 March, 2018, and • two representatives of the Area to the General Council of’ the Association, which will be meeting at University of Bangor on 7-8 April, 2018. See notes on Nominations and Motions on Page 4 of this booklet. 13. Any other competent business. NOTICE OF MOTION AFFECTING AREA STANDING ORDERS Amend SO 5 of the Area Standing Orders to read as follows: HONORARY OFFICERS In addition to the Honorary Officers specifically referred to in Clause 7(i) of the Area Constitution, there shall be a Footpath and Countryside Co-ordinator, a Publicity Officer and a Training Officer. Notes: Clause 7(i) of the Area Constitution states: The Honorary Officers of the Area shall be as follows: Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary and such other officers as the Area Council shall from time to time determine, to be elected at the Annual General Meeting. The existing wording of Standing Order 5 is: HONORARY OFFICERS In addition to the Honorary Officers specifically referred to in Clause 7(i) of the Area Constitution, there shall be a Footpath and Countryside Co-ordinator and a Publicity Officer. Page 4 of 16 NOTES ON NOMINATIONS AND MOTIONS Any motions affecting the present Area Constitution and/or Standing Orders must be notified in writing, signed by the proposer and seconder, to the Area Hon. Secretary by 23rd December, 2017. Nominations for election and ordinary motions must be notified in writing, signed by the proposer and seconder, and with the signed acceptance of the nominee, to the Area Hon. Secretary by 13th January, 2018, except that: the requirement for prior notification of a nomination will be waived if there is a vacancy for any post and no other nominations for that post been notified, at the discretion of the meeting, emergency motions may be accepted relating to matters arising at a date when it would not have been possible to give timeous notification. All nominees, proposers and seconders must be individual members of the Area or representatives of local affiliated organisations. (Representatives of local affiliated organisations may not be nominated as, or be proposers and seconders of, representatives of individual members.) If notification of any motion affecting the present Area Constitution and/or Standing Orders is received, notice of the motion will be sent to all members in advance of the meeting. Details of all nominations and ordinary motions notified will be available at the start of the meeting itself. REPORT OF THE AREA COUNCIL 2016/17 This is the seventh Annual Report of the Council of the Ramblers’ Association Scotland – North Strathclyde Area, which came into existence on 1st October, 2010. The period covered by this report is 1st October, 2016 to 30th September, 2017. It is stated in a number of places that copy documents can be obtained on request from Barry Pottle. His contact details are shown on the front page of this booklet. Note on abbreviations: AC - Area Council AEC - Area Executive Committee CEC - Scottish Council Executive Committee CRs – Concerned Ramblers BofT - Board of Trustees of Ramblers as a whole. AREA COUNCIL AC met on 5th November, 2016, and on 3th February, 13th May and 30th September, 2017. As in previous years, it appointed a Standing Committee comprising the Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and two others, to take any urgent decisions between AC meetings. Informal AC meetings were also held on 6th March, to discuss business coming up at Scottish Council, and on 31st March, to discuss business coming up at General Council. Monica Ferguson resigned as one of the Representatives of Individual members to Area Council and AC appointed Muriel Hanlon to fill the vacancy until the next Area AGM. A list of members of AC, as at 30th September, 2017, can be supplied to any Area member on request to Barry Pottle. FOOTPATH & COUNTRYSIDE Joint Access meeting for North Strathclyde and other Areas As in previous years, the Area hosted a meeting in November 2016 of Group Footpath Officers, Access Forum members and other interested members of the four successor Areas to the former Strathclyde, Dumfries & Galloway Area. Matters discussed included local access issues raised by members, an introduction to Pathwatch in Scotland (see below), an update on Ramblers Scotland’s campaigning activity (hill tracks, level crossings, national parks, etc), an update on the national access picture – discussions at the National Access Forum (camping management, core paths on OS maps, etc), update of Local Access Forum activities, Core paths plan reviews and other footpath and access matters. Page 5 of 16 Pathwatch The Pathwatch Project was launched in Scotland. The Pathwatch technology has been successfully used in England and Wales, but this is the first time it has been updated to include Scottish OS maps to make it available north of the border.