22 September 2021 at 18.00
QEII Room, The Shoreham Centre
Agenda
1. Minutes of last AGM
2. Chairman’s Statement
3. Election of Committee and Officers
4. Any Other Business
5. Questions
Attendees:
Dave Collins, Chairman
Kevin Hall, Vice Chairman
Jonathan Marshall, Treasurer
Mike Whelan, Secretary
Twenty one other forum members,
incl. 6 new members
Apologies for absence:
Councillor Kevin Boram
Tony wallington
1. Minutes of last AGM
Joss Loader pointed out from the floor that the minutes of the last AGM should be the first item on the agenda. This was accepted but a copy of those minutes was not immediately available. Given the unavoidable passage of time since the last AGM and no-one having objected to the AGM minutes when they were published online and emailed to all members (along with a full community Engagement report), the minutes were taken as having been read and agreed.
Note: the previous minutes were read by 92 people via email and by 57 people online. J.Sargent commented about one graphic in the engagement report, rightly pointing out that “not all elderly people walk with a cane”. See figure 1 below.
2. Chairman’s Report
The Annual General Meeting was opened with a statement of the status of the emerging Neighbourhood Plan by Dave Collins, the Chairman of the SBNF Management Committee. This outlined the status of the Forum and the emerging Neighbourhood Plan as it has evolved since the last AGM in 2018 and the reasons why little progress has been possible especially while the Forum was in the process of being redesignated by Adur & Worthing Council.
A considerable amount of work remains to be done to incorporate Planning Department review comments about the draft Neighbourhood Plan while maintaining consistency with data and aspirations set out by the Working Groups. Have Your Say days and consultation with stakeholders will further refine the Plan resulting in a Regulation 14 Draft Plan for consultation.
ACTION: The Forum appeals for volunteers to help complete this process by taking part in the reconvened Working Groups, covering Regeneration, Green spaces and Transport. Contact the group leaders at https://www.shorehambeachforum.com/contact
3. Election of Committee and Officers
The Management Committee currently consists of four members (the Community Engagement Officer, Tony Wallington, having retired) and the quorum required by the Constitution is five. Therefore nominations for candidates to stand for election to the Committee were called for. Two candidates were proposed:
James Breckell proposed by Joss Loader, seconded by David Johnson
David Johnson proposed by Susan Storrar, seconded by Julia Watts
Both have been involved since the start and have a wealth of relevant local expertise in planning, architecture, and sustainability. The nominations were put to a vote in the room and both candidates were unanimously elected to the committee.
There then followed a series of votes for the positions of the Committee Officers. The current Officers (Dave Collins, Kevin Hall, Jonathan Marshall and Mike Whelan) were elected unopposed. Some 40+ proxy votes were also received prior to the meeting.
Neither of the two new committee members wished to stand for the position of Community Engagement Officer and this position remains vacant. It was agreed that the community engagement strategy and a description of the role of Community Engagement Officer should be re-distributed so that a suitable volunteer/s for the role can be found. In the meantime the essential function of liaison with stakeholder organisations to maximise community engagement will be carried out by other Committee members.
ACTION: MW urged the members to view the Get Involved section of the website, as well as the Project Status section, which includes a list of actions and stakeholders that need to be involved in each stage of the process.
4. Any Other Business
Joss Loader (SBRA Chair) appealed to the Forum committee to reach out to stakeholder organisations such as SBRA, FOSB, FOSF to maximise engagement with the Shoreham Beach community. The committee welcomed this suggestion and opportunity offered to contact beach residents through stakeholder organisations. All stakeholders that we are aware of are on our mailing list and receive regular emails.
ACTION 1: The committee would appreciate it if the organisations that we contact would pass on any pertinent information in our emails to their members.
Fig. 1 - Example of email activity by the Forum
Several forum members spoke of not having sufficient information about what the Neighbourhood Plan contains, what it can do and what it cannot do. The committee took this on board and will make sure that the extensive information on the website (Plan, Maps, FAQs, etc.) is communicated through public events and social media whenever possible. This will be part of the community engagement process mentioned above.
Fig. 2 - Screenshot of the Frequently Asked Questions section of the website
ACTION 1: The committee would appreciate it if members use the website for information until we can raise funds and recruit volunteers to hold a Have Your Say Day.
ACTION 2: We will publish some FAQs in the next Beach News.
It was pointed out that the Committee is currently exclusively white, male and not youthful. However the committee can only be composed of residents who volunteer to serve on it and in that sense its composition cannot easily be diversified. The age range of people attending the AGM was similar to that of the committee, so in that sense it is representative. The committee has been more diverse in the past and can be so again. However the Committee readily accepts that there is an urgent need to encourage and enable younger and more diverse public participation.
ACTION: Please contact us if would like to join the committee or engage young people.
Fig. 3 - Excerpt from the community engagement report
Several members called for the Forum to maximise its use of social media as that could increase community engagement, especially among younger residents. The Forum already does use a variety of social media channels including Facebook, Nextdoor, Linkedin, Youtube and Pinterest, but it is up to residents to follow, like and share this content - and crucially volunteer some time to help moderate and produce more content. More funding will be needed in order to boost the reach of social media posts.
Social media is open to everyone so it is difficult to ascertain who is actually a resident. The Forum is also testing an online forum on our website for registered members.
Fig 4 - Excerpt from the community engagement report showing social media activity on Facebook over the course of a year.
ACTION: please follow, like and share our content and/or volunteer to help produce more, or raise funds to boost posts.
The following questions were also sent in advance:
1) Looking forward to the next twenty odd years, how do you envisage ensuring that living on the Beach, is not just for the rich?
2) Given that many dwellings will be able to add a third storey, how will the Beach accommodate this level of development - both people and servicing pressures?