Minutes of meeting held on Wednesday, 2^nd December 2009

Present Mary-Clare Buckle, Fingal Green, George Leslie, Sam Wilson, Arran Green, Nigel Melville, Julie Day, Sue Melville, Denise Bilton, Philip Bilton, Peter Laurie, Barbara Laurie.

Apologies Dave & Heather Stevens, Lucy Bailey.

Mary-Clare passed on the message from Lucy Bailey that her group is still waiting for a decision about grant funding to put in place some equipment in the area leased to it (162 x 130 ft) as part of the proposed improvement to the play facilities for children there.

Nigel passed round a plan showing how the field is to be divided, with Dave Stevens’ ball game area marked (155 x 90ft). He also provided images of multi-use games areas and adult exercise trail equipment.

The four young people who had been invited to the meeting (as a result of a poster displayed in Abbotsbury, which described the frustration of children having nowhere to play) explained the types of activities they would like to take part in when the field has been put into a proper usable state. All were very enthusiastic about the ball game area, and were convinced that many of the local children would use it. As a result of the discussion Mary-Clare and the boys will set up a Facebook page so that more people can comment and make suggestions. That will be followed by a letterbox drop to the whole village inviting everyone to a further meeting to take forward their ideas to the Parish Council.

Julie asked about the dog walkers and was reassured that dogs would not be excluded from the field and there would be a special bin for dog owners to put waste. She also warned about the problem of vandalism in the past.

Mary-Clare, Julie and the four young people left to go to another engagement. The meeting continued.

Altered as follows:

Treasurers Report …20% contribution on profits from……

Xmas Carol Night … Julia House…… sited in Dorset ……(not Sussex).

Then Approved.

Web-Site Renewal It was agreed that as this has been renewed for 2 years it should be kept updated with photos, posters and reports of events past and future, and should include the minutes of meetings. Peter agreed to do this with the proviso that others shall email the information and images in a suitable form. ( ie jpegs or word documents.)

Treasurer’s Report Philip handed out his report showing that total income for 2009 has been £1,172.19 and expenditure was £1,393.05, creating a loss for the year of £220.86. The Current account holds £892.83 and there is petty cash of £83.51 so net balance is £976.34.

Resignations Sheila Blake and Jane Burton have resigned from the committee. Peter will send them a letter on behalf of ARC thanking them and Shirley Turner, who resigned previously, for all their hard work over the last two years. It was suggested that an agenda item for the AGM in January should be the re-forming of the committee. Perhaps a smaller committee – Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary.

Village Clean up Progressing well and other villagers joining in.

Flower Tubs Philip, Denise and Dave Stevens have agreed to take responsibility for keeping these planted, tidied and watered. £20 will be spent now on replanting all four with winter pansies.

Quiz Night Was fun and made a profit of £23.52

Various suggestions were made for 2010, and are being explored to see if they are viable. If so, they will be brought to the next meeting for approval.

It was agreed that we should do the garden trip for the elderly again.

None.

Meeting finished at 9.30 p.m.

The Chairman handed the meeting over to Chris Brown who introduced James Foster-Pegg, a director of Poundbury Garden Centre, our generous sponsors for the event, for the results of our Abbotsbury in Bloom competition . He had completed a comprehensive tour of the village looking for the best exhibits whether it was a hanging basket or window box. He explained that he was looking for not just quality but also considered it's position and whether it was in keeping with the village. The results announced were:-

3rd position Andy King of 4 Grove Road who received a voucher for £25

2nd position was The Old School House who received vouchers to the value of £50

1st postion was Pat Arnold, Chesil House who received £75 in vouchers.

Mr Foster-Pegg has said that he would be happy to sponsor us again next year should ARC decide to hold a similar event.

Peter Hoare, Hazel and Peter Evans.

Approved

None

Chris Brown reported that our bank balance now stands at a healthy £852.03 in credit, our only recent expense being plants and saundries for the tubs on the green.

Nigel Melville reported that our Post Offices in Abbotsbury and Portesham have initially won a reprieve from closure but the final proposals would not be announced until September.

Our chairman read out a note from Peter Evans. It seems we have exceeded 100 members and he has started talking to suppliers. In anticipation that he will soon have some useful information to pass on he has booked Portesham Village hall for 7.30pm on Monday 1st September. The intention is that we can review the various option and hopefully make a decision on how to proceed.

(i) Tubs on the Green The tubs have been positioned on the green and filled with compost. Many thanks to David Stevens for organising this so that our secretary was able to plant them up.

(ii)Barn Dance Tickets are now on sale at £10 each inclusive of a 2 course supper. Shirley has obtained a drinks license to enable ARC to sell alcohol. She will pin up posters around the village and tickets can be purchased from Bellenie's and Wheelwright's tea shop. She has appealed to volunteers for help in preparing food for the event on the day.

(iii) Green Waste Nothing to report at this time

(iv) Children's Photographs Nothing to report at this time.

(v) Oxfam Knitted Squares Rebecca Freiesleben sent a note to inform ARC that 281 squares have now been completed by the knitters of Abbotsbury which will be sent off the week after 28th July.At the recent coffee morning a further £16 was raised towards postage costs. The closing date for receipt of the squares is 26th July.She wishes to thank everybody for all their efforts and their support on the project.

(vi) Biodegadable Bin Liners Bec Freisleben has now spoken to a few of the local supermarkets. Best price so far is Asda, where they work out at 8.7p ea. She suggests ARC could sell these for 11p. Waitrose have bags which are 40% recycled but which are twice the price of Asda's. Somerfield have an offer of buy one get one free (i.e buy 5000 for the cost of 2500). The price is 6p ea which we suggests ARC sells for 10p. She has yet to hear from the other supermarkets.

(vii) Flute Band Sue Melville now has a group of 3 recorders who have prepared one carol in readiness for the xmas carol concert proposed for the 19th December at Strangways Hall. Chris Brown has kindly volunteered to organise this event.

(viii) Pub Quiz Sheila has now spoken to the landlord of the Ilchester Arms who is happy to host the event on Friday 14th November.

Dave Stevens submitted a proposal for the recreation field at the end of Hannah's Lane. He is in consultation with Lucy Bailey who leads the play area parents group. Whilst she has applied to various organisations for funding for the playground equipment, as this area accounts for only 30% of the total area of the field Dave is keen for ARC to help fund the devolopment of the remainding area with a fenced off sports area for the older children, a picnic area, some benches and a gravel path for dog walkers. He proposes that the plans along with supporting letters or signatures would then be presented to the Parish Council for their approval.

Next Meeting at the Strangways Hall on Wednesday 24th September at 7.30pm.

Francesca Radcliffe, Eric Turner, Heather Stevens, Iris Trevitt, Bec Freiesleben, Marie Laywine, Francesca Radcliffe, Mr & Mrs Koberger

Approved

(i) Peter Evans now has 100 people interested in the bulk purchase of oil and therefore will begin negociations with oil companies.

(ii) Paul Gower has received permission from the Parish Council to proceed with his application for the removal of the kissing gate at Furlongs Homestead and create a car turning space.

Chris Brown reported that the auction realized a profit of £616.38. ARC's bank balance now stands at a healthy £736.19 in credit.

Nigel Melville has been asked by the CBPC to form a 'task force' to put forward a case against the closure of the Post Offices in Abbotsbury and Portesham.

Our chairman suggests that in future we email minutes of our meetings to members .

(i) Auction Sheila Blake reported on a very busy but enjoyable two days. The entire committee was taken up with laying out the halls, accepting incoming goods, cataloging and laying out items for auction. There was a very positive response in terms of the numbers of lots received and members of the public coming along to buy on the day. Our Dukes Auctioneer started proceedings at 2pm and created a good mix of professionalism and bonhomie amongst the assembled bidders. Catering was left in the capable hands of Jane Burton and Shirley Turner who kept the team fortified with 'bacon butties'. Many thanks to the people who brought along cakes for afternoon consumption, to Barbara Laurie who produced our catalogue at a moments notice but a big thank you for all of those who came along to support us. Unfortunately Stephanie and Matthew Read from Fleet Cottage had prior committments but donated £100 to the ARC funds.

(ii) Tubs on the Green No decision made on this at this time.

(iii) Cloth of Gold Nothing to report at present

(iv)Barn Dance. Nothing to report at present

(v) Village in Bloom Chris Brown and Jane Burton will organise another leaflet drop in mid June and a banner sponsored by Poundbury Gardens will be erected on the railings at Strangways Hall to remind our local residents of the competition which will be judged between the 2nd and 3rd weeks in July.

(vi) Green Waste Jenny Crocker has applied for lottery funding but our project is deemed too small. However Martin Gregory (Waste Reduction Officer from West Dorset District Council) has supported our community composting scheme both in the promise of funding and in advising of the many regulations to which we would need to adhere. Meanwhile Jenny has again been in touch with Marcus Scrace from Ilchester Estates with a request for a proposed site. She suggests because of the work involved we may need to set up a composting group.

(vii) Bulk purchase of Oil See Matters Arising.

(viii) Children's Photos Barbara Laurie has received donations of a camera from both Nigel Melville and Everett Koberger for use for this project. Barbara suggests that we hold the competition in May '09 and exhibit our display at the Swan Inn with separate sections for adults and children. However photographs emailed to ARC will be displayed on our wesite until then.

(ix) Oxfam Knitted Squares Bec Freiesleben reported that a few residents attended the meeting on 18th May at Stangways Hall for the knitting meeting bringing spare wool and completed squares. Oxfam shops are not collecting the squares and they must be sent to the organiser in Leeds. To cover the cost of postage and hiring the hall etc she is organising a ££££ sale on Saturday 12th July at Strangways Hall 11- 4pm. Any money left over once the squares have been posted will go to ARC for other village projects. She welcomes donations of raffle prizes, cakes and biscuits and also any help on the day. Many thanks go to Pat Hawes who donated a huge quantity of wool, to Veronica at the Ilchester Arms who donated some wine for the raffle and to Nigel Melville for producing the fliers. Also a big thank you to Francesca Radcliffe who donated £50 to this project.

(x) Biodegadable Bin Liners Bec Freisleben has researched bio-degradable bin bags further by contacting' Greenpeace' who suggest that it is probably best that we buy recycled plastic bin liners instead. Their reasons being that special crops of GM maize are grown to make the bio-degradable material which diverts from land used for food crops leading to food shortages. To grow large quantities of maize, deforestation may have occurred. She therefore has contacted a company to ask for a sample of their recycled bin liner with a view to bulk buying. Anyone interested in purchasing the bag may leave their name on a sheet at the Post Office.

ACTION B.F

(xi) Flute Band Sue Melville is learning the recorder and is confident of having a group formed in readiness for our Christmas Carol Concert.

(xii) Article in Chesil Magazine Peter Laurie has volunteered to produce a monthly update on ARC activities to Mike Freegarde of Chesil Magazine. Whilst in the past we have sent the minutes of our monthly meetings for publication these are now proving to be somewhat protracted.

(i) Eric Turner - village diary nothing to report at this time.

New Projects Bec Freiesleben suggests we as a community make a rag rug for exhibition at Strangways Hall during its' Arts Week.

AOB Sheila Blake is keen to arrange a Pub Quiz at the Ilchester Arms sometime in the autumn months. However Jenny Crocker pointed out that the landlord already organises such an event every month so therefore may not be practical. Sheila will liaise with the landlord prior to the next meeting.

Next Meeting at the Strangways Hall on Wednesday 25th June at 7.30pm.

Ron Sullivan,Jenny Crocker, Linda Wilson, Everett Kohberger, Hazel Evans, Sheila Blake, Barbara Laurie, Peter Laurie, Michael and Jane Burton, Iris Trevett, Heather Stevens, Sue Melville, Nigel Melville, Dave Stevens, Chris Brown, Peter Evans.

Jenny Crocker, Linda Wilson, Richard Wilson, Sheila Blake, Barbara Laurie, Peter Laurie, Michael and Jane Burton, Sue Melville, Nigel Melville, Dave Stevens, Chris Brown,Shirley Turner.