THE WOOLTON SOCIETY PO Box 127, Woolton, Liverpool, L25 8WY [email protected] ISSUE NO: 320 October 2011 THE WOOLTON SOCIETY - SERVING THE COMMUNITY FOR NEARLY 40 YEARS NEWSLETTER Annual General Meeting Notice is hereby given that the thirty ninth Annual General Meeting of the Woolton Society will be held on Wednesday 26th October 2011 at 7.30pm at Woolton Village Club, Allerton Road, Woolton Village, Liverpool L25. Agenda 1. Notice convening the meeting. 2. Apologies for absence. 3. Minutes of the thirty eighth AGM held on 27th October 2010. 4. Hon. Treasurer‟s Report. 5. Chairman‟s remarks. 6. Election of Officers: (a) Chairman (b) Vice-Chairman (c) Hon. Secretary (d) Hon. Treasurer 7. Election of Members of the Executive Committee.(Four of the 10-12 members of the Executive Committee retire each year under Rule 7. Retiring members are eligible for re- election. 8. Any Other Business. 9. Open forum for discussion of views & events. Refreshments will fo llow the AGM. Newsletter contents in full: Minutes of the 38th Woolton Society AGM of 27th October 2010: pages 2 & 3 Society News: pages 4 & 5 Woolton News: pages 5 to 7 Planning news & applications: pages 8 to10 Gift Aid form: page 11 Membership renewal & standing order form: Page 12. 1 Minutes of the 38th Annual General Meeting held at the Village Club, Allerton Road, Woolton, on Wednesday 27th October 2010 at 7.30 pm. Present:- Committee:- Edith McGlashan in the chair; Paul King(Vice-Chairman), Henry Stott (Hon.Secretary), Charles Davies (Hon. Treasurer), Ann Fearon, Jean Davies, Norman Callaghan, Les Baldwin, Brian Watt. Members and Visitors:- Ladies: M Condy, V Stott, J Earps, E Pimblett, A Hesketh, M McDonald, B Higgins, R Quine, O McDonagh, P McDonagh, M Aspinall, B Plent, A Lloyd, C Bennett, S Makin, L Chase, M Lowe, B Coppell. Gentlemen: J Pope, R Pilsbury, A Smith, G Topham, R McGorian, P Shay, D Maguire, N Chase, N Coppell, J Cumberland, J Pearlman, A Hesketh. The Chairman welcomed all present and commenced the business of the meeting using the published Agenda, having also read out the required Notice convening the meeting. A minor correction to this Notice was given, viz. that the address of the meeting venue should have read Allerton Road. 1 Apologies had been received or were announced from:- Committee: Meryl Kelbrick; John Hibbert. Others: Mr G Nickson, Mr A Gaskin, Renee Curran, Hilary Rock Gormley. 2 Minutes of the 37th Annual General Meeting held on 28th October 2009 and distributed in advance to all members, were accepted as a true record, on a show of hands. Two minor matters arising are referred to in 7 Any other Business below. 3 Hon. Treasurer’s Report. Audited Financial Statements for the year ending 31 August 2010 were distributed to all present. Charles Davies made appropriate comments on various items and compared these with values from a year ago. The substantial increase in Income this year arose from a generous individual donation, and monies received from various donors in memory of the late Janet Gnosspelius. Outgoings were reduced by virtue of the demise of The Civic Trust to whom we used to pay an annual levy. The Treasurer foresaw no need to change the level of membership fees in the near future. He is initiating action to recover money from HMRC via the Charities‟ Gift Aid scheme. Declaration forms had been sent to all members in the recent membership package and he encouraged all eligible tax payers to respond, and for members subscribing by Standing Order to ensure that their instructions to the Bank were for the correct, current amounts. At the request of the Chairman, the Treasurer is to thank the Auditors, Hamilton-Burke Dufau Ltd for their professional input, done under very favourable terms. 4 Chairman’s Remarks. Following established precedent the Chairman invited other officers of the Committee to make statements in their respective spheres, as follows:- (i) The Hon. Secretary (Henry Stott) advised that the Committee had met 7 times during the year. These meetings are now held at the Elephant Hotel. The Society published 5 Newsletters in the same period, these now being edited by Jean Davies, in addition to arranging an excellent programme of Talks. We have lost the services of Martin Thompson as Newsletter editor and Membership Secretary, the latter role being filled on a temporary basis by Paul King. Thanks are recorded to Martin for his services to the Society over many years, and to all involved in the printing and distribution of the Newsletters. The last issue contained a tribute to the late Janet Gnosspelius – a founder member of the Society. In her will she bequeathed all her records and documents relating to Woolton to the Woolton Society. These have been identified and are in safe storage while the Committee considers how to deal with and secure the future of this extensive archive. The prospect of republishing the 2 “History of Much Woolton” is also being evaluated. The Secretary advised that no progress whatever had been made by Council officials in the preparation of an Advisory Leaflet for the Woolton Conservation Area, now 4 years overdue from its original target. The economic climate will probably mean no progress in the foreseeable future. (ii) The acting Membership Secretary (Paul King) advised a current membership total of 203. Our records are under constant review, requiring liaison with the Hon. Treasurer regarding payment of fees and members‟ Bank standing order arrangements, together with the organising of Newsletter distribution lists for our band of volunteer distributors. (iii) The Environment Secretary (Meryl Kelbrick) submitted a report which, in absentia, was presented by Paul King. The Society‟s dealings with the Council‟s planning and conservation department had needed some 30 formal letters, visits to Millenium House, and numerous emails and phone calls. Emphasis is currently focussed on the William Hill application re the former Calvert‟s shop, and the unsightly security measures at the Coach & Horses building. The Secretary had reported in detail on our problems with both these items in the recent Newsletter. Help has been offered to St James‟ Church over their application to erect suitable railings to the boundary wall of the Church Hall. An appeal was made for anyone with tree expertise to help with the Society‟s responses to applications for tree pruning and/or felling – a genuine conservation concern in leafy Woolton, and also for photographs – old or new, to build up a reference archive to assist in this area of the Society‟s activities. Finally, moves are afoot to add the names of local professionals, such as Architects and Surveyors, to our official letter heading, as “patrons”. Paul King reported briefly on the current situation with developments at Woolton Hall which appeared to show that, although progress is slow, adequate measures are being taken to secure the integrity and security of this Grade I listed building. The Chairman thanked the individuals for the above reports, and the Committee at large, in which all undertake their separate duties to form a very effective team. 5 Election of Officers. Chairman The current Chairman, Edith McGlashan, was willing to continue and was duly re-elected. Vice-Chairman Paul King was willing to continue and was duly re-elected. Hon. Secretary Henry Stott was willing to continue and was duly re-elected. Hon.Treasurer Charles Davies was willing to continue and was duly re-elected. All the above were subject to formal propositions, duly seconded, and approved without opposition. 6 Election of Members of the Executive Committee. The four members retiring under Rule 7 of the Society‟s Constitution were named as:- Ann Fearon, Brian Watt, Meryl Kelbrick and Les Baldwin. All were willing to serve and were formally re-elected without opposition. 7 Any other Business (i) After informal contacts with the applicant‟s Agents, the proposal for an Italian-style Pizza Restaurant was discontinued. (ii) There are now no clashes between dates of Woolton Society Meetings and those of the Woolton Village Residents Association. The Madam Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the formal part of the meeting at 8.15 pm. There followed an illustrated talk by Clara Paillard on the pursuit of local history, based on a recent presentation made to the Friends of Reynolds Park. Please bring these minutes if you plan to attend the AGM on October 26th. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 Society News Diary Date The last meeting of 2011 will be on Wednesday 23rd November, when Anthony Moscardini will be Looking at Liverpool: an urban design study. Anthony Moscardini studied at the Glasgow School of Art & at the School of Architecture before working in local government, private practice & The New Towns & Planning Inspectorate. He has written & illustrated several books on architecture & heritage, including one on Woolton & Gateacre. He is a long term Woolton resident, & a former committee member of the Woolton Society. Meeting of September 28th Our speaker on Wednesday 28th September was Kerry Peacock, horticultural manager of Woolton in Bloom. She gave an informative & entertaining talk on the challenges of preparing Woolton for the visits of the Royal Horticultural Society judges in our Britain in Bloom & North West in Bloom bids. The Woolton Society has given a donation to WIB funds. Subscriptions & Gift Aid After discussion in committee, the Society has decided not to raise the level of subscriptions this year. However, it was decided that those members who require a postal delivery of the Newsletter will pay an extra £2 per year to cover postage and envelope. Please amend your payment accordingly to ensure that you continue to receive your newsletter and maintain your membership.