Minutes of an Annual General Meeting of the Manx Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club held at The Creg ny Baa Pub in the upstairs meeting room scheduled for 8pm.
Present:
Non-committee Full Members
Martin Webb
Phillip Maltby
Gabriel McGouran
Sean Cole
Michael Swales
John Fargher
Richard Watson (at 2027h)
Kristian Cowin (at 2045h)
Committee Members
Richard Barker (Secretary)
David Casement (Sites Officer)
Phillip Swales (Treasurer)
Apologies from:
Dan Wood (arriving late after meeting)
Terry Holt
Giles Morris
Meeting chaired by the Secretary (Richard Barker) in the absence of the Chairman (Dan Wood).
Minutes of the last AGM raised by Phillip Maltby. Proposed by Phillip Swales and seconded by Richard Barker that they be accepted and approved.
Carried unanimously.
The proposed changes to the existing constitution sent to the members by e-mail on 10th June were discussed and voted on accordingly. There were 6 motions.
1) Quorum for AGM / General Meetings / EGMs currently 3 committee members and 5 non-committee members. Proposed change to 3 committee members and 3 non-committee members. This is proposed to make it easier to reach the quorum (minimum turn out) for important meetings in a club which only has around 20 active members.
Proposed by Richard Barker
Seconded by John Fargher
Carried unanimously.
2) Notice period to be given of proposed changes to the constitution. Currently 21 days’ notice – proposed to reduce to 14 days’ notice. This is designed to make the business of making changes a shorter process.
Proposed by Richard Barker
Seconded by John Fargher
Carried unanimously.
3) Membership classes – Associate Membership to be offered to full flying members of other British clubs at the £10 Associate Member rate for one year. No voting rights.
Proposed by Richard Barker
Seconded by John Fargher
Carried unanimously.
4) Membership classes – new class of Visitor Member – for qualified and insured pilots, 30 days club membership for the princely sum of £5.00. Currently we don’t cater for this class. No voting rights.
Proposed by Richard Barker
Seconded by John Fargher
Carried unanimously.
5) Membership classes – Social Member. Open to persons who do not qualify for any other membership class for £10 annual membership. This is intended for non-pilots or pilots under training. No voting rights. Trainee pilots joining at this level will be eligible for credit of fees paid and upgrade to Full Member upon becoming qualified.
Proposed by Richard Barker
Seconded by John Fargher
Carried unanimously.
6) Proposal to add to official communication channels a Members Only WhatsApp group. This will only be open to paid up club members. This is intended as a rapid communication channel for club members. To be decided at the AGM (if approved) the name of the group. This is intended to add to the existing official channels rather than replace any of them.
Proposal (6) was discussed at length and a number of alternative strategies were considered. Concern has been growing about the use of privately negotiated sites as well as public land by pilots whose are not members of the BHPA and / or not members of the Manx Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club. This raises questions over training, experience and insurance cover.
Concerns exist about ongoing relations with the general public, land owners and operators, local authorities and government departments, with uncertainty expressed about the scope for less desirable outcomes.
In order to do everything possible to maintain our good relations with third parties, there was a general feeling the club must make every effort to run an orderly organisation and also be seen to be doing so.
The club’s own BHPA insurance is only effective when an audit is performed regularly of valid members, who are versed in the appropriate air law, suitably trained and experienced and who operate with regard to the provisions of the BHPA Technical Manual.
Non-members are welcome to join the club at the appropriate level, provided they become appropriately trained and take up appropriate membership of the BHPA and the Manx Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club.
Failure of participants to take out the necessary memberships within an appropriate period, which for indicative purposes shall be deemed to be 30 days, will result in the persons being discouraged from flying on privately owned sites where the club holds appropriate permission and they will be removed from the club’s officially designating flying information WhatsApp group should they already be a member of the group and after they have been given suitable notice to comply.
The club has hitherto not designated a formally recognised WhatsApp group. The merits of creating a new group to be used as an official group were discussed as were the merits of continuing with an existing group and operating it in a more structured way.
It was proposed that the existing “Slackers” group would be designated as the club’s official WhatsApp group for the live reporting of flying conditions and arranging flying activities.
Everyone in the Slackers group as of 4th July 2019 will be given 30 days to prove that they are valid BHPA and MHPC members after which non-compliant persons will be removed.
Summary of Constitutional Amendment 6 (revised after discussion):
The WhatsApp group known as “Slackers” will be adopted as the official flying coordination and reporting group of the Manx Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club as of 4th July 2019. Members of the group will be contacted where necessary and asked to provide acceptable proof of current BHPA and MHPC membership. Those unable to do so will be removed after 30 days.
If an existing member of the group is believed to have become ineligible for membership of the group at any time in the future, they will be given 30 days’ notice to provide proof of compliance or they will be removed.
Special circumstances may be considered by 3 committee members and a membership of Slackers granted temporarily pending the matter being put to a majority vote at the next club monthly meeting for approval.
Proposed by Martin Webb
Seconded by John Fargher
Carried unanimously.
New Constitutional Amendment
Re-election of Committee Members.
It was proposed that committee positions will expire and elections will be held for the club committee positions at every Annual General Meeting from 4th July 2019. Existing committee members will be able to stand for re-election should they explicitly agree and will need to be proposed and seconded.
Proposed by Sean Cole
Seconded by John Fargher
Carried unanimously.
Election of Committee Members
Chairman: Dan Wood
Proposed by: Phillip Swales
Seconded by: John Fargher
Carried unanimously.
Treasurer: Phillip Swales
Proposed by: Richard Watson
Seconded by: Martin Webb
Carried unanimously.
Secretary: Richard Barker
Proposed by: Phillip Swales
Seconded by: Martin Webb
Carried unanimously.
Sites officer: David Casement
Proposed by: Richard Barker
Seconded by: Sean Cole
Carried unanimously.
Safety officer: John Fargher
Proposed by: Martin Webb
Seconded by: Sean Cole
Carried unanimously.
It was then proposed that, given his extensive flying experience and enthusiasm, a committee position should be given to Martin Webb. Following some discussion and a number of creative suggestions, it was decided that Martin’s experience with the RASP website makes him an ideal candidate for the position of Meteorological Officer.
Election for Meteorological Officer: Martin Webb
Proposed by: John Fargher
Seconded by: Phillip Maltby
Carried unanimously.
Any Other Business
David Casement stressed the importance of letting people know when we are out flying. This will normally be via the Slackers WhatsApp group but failing this alternatives such as the club Facebook group or a text message to one of the other club members will be better than nothing.
The benefits of this are safety and co-operation. It is a lot easier to work out which site to go to if you know somebody is already flying it and similarly it is important to report if you believe that there are hazardous conditions at a particular site or if the site becomes un-flyable.
It is also important that one or more people are aware that you have set off to go flying in case you fail to show up after a lengthy period of time. Similarly, it is very helpful to report when landed safely. Ideally it is best to fly with others but if you do fly alone remember to let the group or somebody else know.
Noted
There being no other business, the meeting ended at 2120h.
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