9 December 2021 at 1900
Committee Room at the Shoreham Centre
Agenda:
1. Opening new SBNF Bank Account with Santander
2. Application for SEA Appraisal of the Neighbourhood Plan
3. Any Other Business
1. Opening of new SBNF Bank Account with Santander
Santander have informed the committee that they only provide accounts on the basis that any one signatory can approve a transaction. Currently the Constitution requires two signatories to sign a cheque (paragraph 10.1) and that the Treasurer must be authorised by the committee to operate the account online (paragraph 10.2). JM has proposed the following motion, which was presented by the Chair in JM’s absence:
To amend the Constitution as follows, in order to clear the way to opening an online Treasurers account with Santander, the wording of Finance 10.1 should simply be amended to read “Any one signatory to sign”
Also, 10.2 “The committee must authorise the Treasurer to make any online banking payments” should be deleted.
This change is purely technical to satisfy Santander’s terms and conditions and makes no practical difference to the way the Forum will operate its finances. It is essential that the account be set up as soon as possible as this will enable the Forum to apply for additional funding, necessary to publicise and hold Have Your Say Days.
The Committee voted unanimously in favour and so the motion was carried. In accordance with the Constitution the proposed amendment must be put to the Forum for approval at a Special General Meeting. This will be held as an online meeting at 7pm on Thursday 20th January, to maximise attendance. RSVP: https://www.shorehambeachforum.com/rsvp
2. Application for SEA Appraisal of the Neighbourhood Plan
A critical part of getting the Neighbourhood Plan completed is for Adur Planning to carry out a Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) of the emerging plan. This can be a lengthy process so it is important the committee applies to Adur Planning for this appraisal to be undertaken. This will not prevent further revisions to the draft plan being made during and after the assessment.
The committee unanimously agreed that the Chair should initiate this process.
3. Any Other Business
KH raised the point that according to the constitution three committee meetings each year need to be open for forum members to attend. No meetings since the 2021 AGM have been open. This was discussed and it was felt that such open meetings would ideally be held when matters of the widest Forum interest were to be discussed. DJ suggested it would be helpful if an annual calendar of monthly meetings was created. It was suggested that the second Thursday in the month could be the default date. Those present agreed, JM and MG will be consulted before this is adopted.
MW suggested the committee should survey forum opinion more frequently. To get the widest circulation for digital surveys, DJ suggested using the Forum’s announcements published in Beach News. Links to questionnaires could be published there. This was agreed.
Meeting closed at 1955.
The next committee meeting will be held on Thursday January 13th.
Attendees:
Dave Collins (DC) Chairman
Mike Whelan (MW) Secretary
Kevin Hall (KH) Vice Chairman
David Johnson (DJ) SBRA
James Breckell (JB) Architect
Apologies received from:
Jonathan Marshall (JM) Treasurer
Mike Gibson (MG) Planning Consultant