The AGM for 2010 took place at the Village Hall on 8th June.  The following is the collected reports of the various sections, beginning with the minutes of the meeting of 2009.

Chairman :: Treasurer :: OIAW/Website :: Village Hall :: Entertainment :: Environment :: Flooding matters

MINUTES OF THE 17th AGM TUESDAY 9th JUNE 2009

Present: D Walton (Chair); A Bloxham (Secretary); C Weeks (Treasurer); J Clark (Hall); K Barton (Entertainment); C Scott (Environment); E Burley (Planning); A Hackney (OIAW & Web Site); C Morgan (Co-opted); Cllr J Murray and 38 members.

The Chairman opened the meeting at 7.30pm.

Apologies: Cllr. K Trott; T Reeve, M Reeve, M Downing.

Minutes of 2008 AGM: Proposed M Blyth and seconded R Downing that the minutes should be adopted. Carried without dissent. There were no matters arising from those minutes.

Summary of Reports: Written reports from Chairman, Treasurer, Planning, OIAW Editorial Board, Hall, Entertainment and Environment had been submitted to the meeting and were summarised for the benefit of members present. There were no matters arising from the reports and it was proposed by A Humphrey and seconded by J Wilcox that the reports should be adopted. Carried without dissent.

Election of Officers and Committee Members: It was proposed by M Blyth, seconded by J Wilcox and unanimously agreed by members that the following should be elected as Officers and members of the Executive Committee for the year 2009/2010:

OFFICERS NAME PROPOSED SECONDED
Chairman David Walton W Banks J Banks
Secretary Alan Bloxham D Walton A Hackney
Treasurer Clare Weeks M Weeks L Goldstone
COMMITTEE
Evelyn Burley B Favell J Favell
Keith Barton G Bird B Knapp
James Clark K Barton A Bloxham
Arthur Hackney P Getty J Roderick
Charlie Scott D Blyth A Bloxham
Chris Morgan M Tod A Bloxham

Cllr. Katrina Trott has been re-appointed as the representative of Fareham Borough Council with Cllr. Jim Murray as her deputy.

AGM 2010: The meeting will be held on Tuesday 8th June 2010 at 7.30 p.m.

There being no other business the Chairman closed the meeting at 8.00 p.m.

NB:  The notes from the Open Forum/Discussion forming the second part of the proceedings can be found under ‘AGM Forum 09’.


Chairman’s Overview

1. In many respects 2009/10 has been another un-remarkable year for WVCA; testament in no small measure, to the extensive 'Corporate knowledge and professionalism' of the team who have supported me in this, my final year as Chairman.

2. In terms of achievements this year I would cite the following highlights:

  • Re-launch of the WVCA website.
  • Restoration of 'The Old Wall' in Wallington Shore Rd - completes in Sept.
  • Supporting FBC in securing £162,000 worth of central Govt funding for Flood mitigation work on Village properties most 'at risk'.
  • Re-surfacing of the roads & pavements in Riverside Avenue/The Heights.
  • Recruitment of x 3 new Trustees to help secure the long-term future of WVCA.
  • Establishing a strong and very capable team to organise/run the Village Fete.
  • Landscaping of 'The Mound' opposite the Cob & Pen; courtesy of a £1,500 CAT grant from FBC.

3. Under the expert tutelage of Clare Weeks our finances remain on a very sound footing, the Village Hall under John Wilcox’s guiding hand remains probably the best such facility in Hampshire and the OIAW, thanks to Arthur Hackney & Keith Barton is a magazine of which we can all be proud.

4. As one of our founding members and having served WVCA in a number of different capacities for many years, Arthur Hackney is now taking a well-earned break and is standing down from the Executive Committee at the AGM. As an indication of the scale of Arthur’s contribution, the first 3 'achievement bullets' at Para 2 are entirely due to his efforts.

5. The good news however, is that the remaining Trustees have all agreed to serve for another year and I am very pleased that Madeline Close, Wendy Reilly and Louis Judge have forwarded their nominations to join the Executive Committee for 2010/11, which subject of course to the nominations being agreed at the AGM, will be under the Chairmanship of Eve Burley, who has been a member of the Executive Committee since moving into the village a number of years ago.

6. In Business parlance, WVCA is now a 'multi faceted, charitable organisation with assets in excess of £0.5M' and I’m sure that you will support Eve as you have supported me.

7. On a personal note, I will be 'retiring to the WVCA Back Benches' in June and enjoying sailing my new (albeit circa 1967) boat from Lower Quay @ Fareham - a future OIAW article beckons!

David Walton


Treasurer’s Report 2009/10

1. Gross receipts

The financial statements for this year show gross receipts for the year of £16,985 compared to £12,647 last year showing an increase in the amount available to add to reserves this year.

2. Income

Overall income for the year was £63,757 a decrease of £2,124 over the 2009 figure.

a. The fete was not as successful financially this year as last year due to the bad weather.  Income therefore dropped by £3,737.

b. The hall has continued to be our main source of income.  The closure of the pre-school was a concern to the committee as this meant that a regular source of income was lost.  A stronger marketing campaign was started and has already meant that hall bookings have increased.

c. Last years’ subscription increase has helped to minimise the decrease in total income.

d. Interest and dividends have increased compared to last year in spite of the bad financial market.  The fixed interest accounts taken out when the interest rate was about 6% have matured leaving us with difficult decisions about reinvestment, as interest rates are nowhere near comparable.  Reinvestment consists of new fixed rate accounts at much lower rates and further investment in equities.

3. Payments

Overall payments for the year were £46,772 a decrease of £6,462 over the 2009 figure.

a. Fete costs show a slight decrease.  This is due to the costs of the bar being less because of the lower attendance figures.  Most costs of the fete are fixed well in advance as events and attractions have to be booked to secure them for the day and therefore cost changes do not coincide with income changes.

b. Hall costs have also decreased, as fewer improvements have been necessary this year.  The only large item purchased this year was the replacement lighting at a cost of £2,400.

c. Social activities’ spending has decreased because of the timings of the anniversary dinner costs held at the start of this financial year.

4. Cash reserves

At 31 March 2010, monies held in bank accounts, fixed interest accounts and cash amounted to £91,833.  A further £55,000 is held in investments.  The increase of £30,000 from last years’ figure of £25,000 is made up of a gain in the value of investment by £9,000 and further investments from cash reserves of £21,000.

5. Treasurer’s summary

The main source of income, the hall, appears to be stable but as this amounts to more than 50% of total income, our reserves policy caters for the possible loss of income if the hall was not able to be hired.  The reserves held to cover this currently stand at £70,000, covering two years’ worth of lost income.

The water meadow reserve has again been increased this year so that funds are available and ring-fenced to cover any costs that might be incurred in protecting the meadow.

The WVCA is in an enviable position with regard to the level of reserves it holds and is, due to a conservative and careful approach over many years, well placed to cope with any unforeseen costs or loss of income.

Clare Weeks

Click here to view the 2010 Accounts


Once in a While and Website

We hope that members were pleased with the three issues of the Once in a While for 2009. The purpose of the magazine is, of course, to keep villagers informed about the thinking and actions of the Trustees whilst providing a platform for the various busy groups like the Gardeners and Wine Circle.  We also try to include articles of general interest alongside those about more serious local matters.

The costs were down on last year - £2579 (gross) as against £3097 the year before - which is gratifying.  We have managed to contain both years within 36 page editions without having to go to 40 pages as has sometimes happened. The number of issues printed has been steady at 440 copies per edition, which equates to a cover price of £1.95 per copy.  It is not a cheap production and so we do try to get value for money out of every page whether text or graphics.  Happily comments always seem to be favourable and the finished article never looks like a cheap production.  I should like to thank Keith Barton for putting up with my fussiness at production times and for interpreting what is wanted in preparing the layout to go to Farleys Printers.  Incidentally we thanked Ian Farley on your behalf at the end of our anniversary year for having been our printers throughout almost the entire thirty years of WVC/WVCA.  Their help and friendly advice is invaluable.

Advertising provides a useful offset to printing costs - last year nearly £600 came from this source.  Peter Buckley looks after this part of the production and writes to existing and potential advertisers each February.  We have lost a couple of regulars so the revenue is likely to be down slightly during the current year. Readers probably don’t want too many anyway - although the villager discounts can be useful.

At the last AGM I reported that the newly re-launched website was taking shape and throughout this year content has been loaded up as promised. The recent spring issue of the OIAW gave a fairly detailed description of the site listing what is held in what cupboards.  One of the important new features is the existence of so-called user portals. This enables authorised members of the Committee to upload their own material (e.g. News, Social Event notices etc.) without always involving the Website maintainer so that the site should be more dynamic and up-to-date.  Some of the content will also derive from the Once in a While.  A third user portal - for Environment News - has just been created.

As with the OIAW we are always happy to hear suggestions for content or improvements.

Arthur Hackney for the Editorial Team


Hall sub Committee AGM report 2010

Aim: To maintain the Hall in an "as new" condition, market it to its full potential and reduce carbon footprint

Another year passes by and the Hall continues to be a valuable asset to the WVCA. January was an uncertain time for the Hall with the closing of the pie school and the regular income it provided. We will continue to monitor the situation but at the present time bookings to replace its income appear to be encouraging. A new leaflet to market the Hall is being produced and this will work in conjunction with the new pages on the WVCA website.

John Wilcox has done his usual sterling work again this year undertaking the usual maintenance and coordinating the larger works. Things don't get any easier with regulatory authorities, but as usual John has managed to keep us up to speed on these matters, and the Hall remains up to date with all its statutory responsibilities.

We welcomed Chris Morgan to the committee this year and I am happy to say that he will be taking over the Chairmanship for the coming year.

I will, as mentioned above, be standing down as Hall Chairman. Having fulfilled this role for nearly 6 years I'm looking forward to a break, although I will continue to serve on the main Committee. I should like to take this opportunity once again to thank John and his staff for all their work throughout the year and also personally for his help and support over the last 6 years.

James Clark


Entertainment Report

The Village BBQ was the first in the line up for last year and despite a lower attendance than normal the event went well with a small profit made.

Last Year we had some more great performances from Forest Forge and the attendance level picked up a little from the year before which is good news. I hope this trend will continue as Forest Forge shows are always well worth seeing. We had to put the ticket cost up to £7 as from the show this spring to decrease our losses when we have low attendance.

We tried some comedy theatre back in September with Kevin Tomlinson, which is an act from Hog the Limelight. Again we had a low attendance which was a shame due to he went down very well indeed. Kevin will be returning later this year with the second part of his act from the tour.

The Christmas events were a mixed bag but went down well. The Children’s party went down very well; the entertainer we had was excellent and is coming back this year. The attendance is always good and we have to remind people that we try to keep the number of children at around 50 so you have to get in early. This is another event that the WVCA heavily subsidize. The Forest Forge show was their first show that came away from the traditional ‘panto’ style but like every other time still went down well. Lastly the New Year’s Eve party had about 35 people less than last year and hence only made a very small profit but still went very well.

We have had Forest Forge already this year with Free Folk back in March. This concludes the events to date but for some others this year/2011 please see added notes below.

I would just like to say another thank you to our new Chairman this year, Eve Burley who does all the food for the Children’s party. Also, a big thank you to Di & Mike Blyth as they both do so much on the entertainment side of things and help with most events that take place.

Village BBQ: Aug 28th

For this year we are having Malcolm the Magician, He recently done our children’s Christmas party and was very popular. So he will be there doing his summer show. In the evening the Band is still TBC.

Kevin Tomlinson - On the Edge Sep 4th or 11th

The exact date is still to be confirmed due to Kevin had to re-arrange a show abroad but it will be one of the above dates. Some of you will remember Kevin from last year with his improvisation comedy act. Below is a brief write up from the Hog show case.

On the Edge appeared at the Edinburgh Festival in 2005, where it sold out and received a standing ovation. It then toured to Hawaii, Bali, Singapore and various other countries in Europe...and then Hampshire!

On the Edge explores all those moments in life when we are 'on the edge', for example of: marriage, childbirth, a new job, leaving home, divorce and even, on the edge of death.

Suggestions are taken from the audience and Kevin then improvises amusing or touching scenes, based on these ideas. The show has toured the world and has received 5 star reviews, wherever it has been seen.

"Good family fun" - Droxford,

"Lots of laughter, lots of interaction, plus many favourable comments after the show" - Sparsholt

"I haven’t laughed so much in ages" - Tangley

His show last year went down very well but it was a shame once again to only have 30 odd people. I am hoping this time for a bigger response as people enjoyed the show last time round. The event costs £550 and Hog pay back £200.

Forest Forge

At present this autumn there will be no Forest Forge show unless I can move some dates around which I am still working on. This time this is largely to do with a member of staff left and there was a mix up with dates their end. They only have one Saturday left and now the hall is booked for that day.

Christmas events

The Forest Forge Christmas show this year is on - Dec 11th.

Forest Forge says ‘It is a new adaptation of the classic children's story: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aitken. We are delighted that the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton is collaborating with us on this venture and I am looking forward to those discussions about how we animate wolves!’

Iestyn Edwards - Anything for a Tenor...my Tutu’s Gone AWOL - Feb 19th

This is one of the acts that I saw at the Hog showcase and he is very good and a complete change from anything before. Again the brief write up below.

A return to Hog the Limelight for tenor Iestyn Edwards and his alter ego prima ballerina Madame Galina. His new comedy revue show tells the story of his time entertaining the British Forces in Afghanistan and how he was looked after by a Royal Marine Commando called Stacks. "Outrageously, screamingly funny-had the audience near tears." - The Times

This event costs £675 and Hog pay £300, which nicely uses our full £500 allowance.

Forest Forge - Apr 16th

This show is the award winning play Peeling by Kaite O'Reilly. It was first produced by Graeae Theatre Company and Lynn Gardner from The Guardian described it as a 'major piece of theatre' It looks at 3 actors on stage in a production of The Trojan Women and the human being is revealed bit by bit, in turn: funny, angry and heartbreaking.

The other normal events are all booked up until the end of 2011. I have other dates in between of course but will not be putting on anything if I feel it won’t at least break even. There will be more shows on the various dates we have spare so please check the website, notice boards and the once in a while for further updates.

Keith Barton


Environmental Report 2010

The past year has seen exceptional results by the volunteers who have turned out to help. I would like to thank every one who participated and supported the work. We have also received help from young people placed with us to do reparation work by the Restorative Justice Service under the auspices of Catch 22.

The year has seen a return to coppicing of the riverbank as well as the normal scrub clearance, litter picking, bulb planting, weed control of the river and meadow, also the annual river clearance. The environmental group has identified and mapped out where future work on this area is needed and produced a work schedule to progress these issues.

The WVCA environmental group with the full support and permission from the owners of the land, Hampshire Highways, the Environmental Agency (who have agreed to waive the normal fees), Fareham Borough Council ecology, TPO and planning department, also the Arboricultural Office of the Environment Department of Hampshire County Council, has also been looking at other areas of the village and have identified the following new projects that will start soon.

The building of an earth bund on the riverbank at the bend opposite lowlands.

This will help prevent the breeching of the river bank. Also the EA have agreed that in support of this initiative they will look again at the flap valves on the storm drainage system. This Project will start as soon as the relevant permissions are received in writing. This Project will be funded in full by the WVCA.

This work is not intended to interfere with or replace the long-term project by Arthur Hackney in liaising with the EA of rebuilding the riverbank at this location.

The South Wallington Project.

This is the triangle of land between the river and Wallington Way

Over the past years several trees including mature oaks in this area have fallen due to high winds, the undermining of the river bank, and the general softening of the ground. Some of these fallen trees have ended up in the river. Apart from the loss of the trees, the blocking of the water flow in the river adds to the risk of flooding.

It is planned to carry out the following

Light crown reduction of the mature oaks. This will lessen the windage affect and help prevent losing the remaining trees.

Underplanting the area with native trees to replace the trees already lost. Scheduled thinning out will be needed in later years.

Use plants such as dog roses, etc. to thicken the edge planting around the mound end of the plot to discourage the use of the land for 'partying' as some youths currently do.

Replant the noise bund/bank to Wallington Way from the Delme roundabout to the mound at the Cob and Penn which will give improvements in the audible and visual impact of the dual carriageway.

Further planning and more detailed plans will start on this project as soon as the relevant permissions are received in writing.

Laying the hedge at the corner of North Wallington and standard way.

This hedge was planted some years ago by the WVCA with the intention of being laid down at some point.

However on a recent joint inspection, the Fareham Borough Council ecology department concurred with the WVCA that the style of planting used dose not naturally lend itself to a first class laid hedge. The hedge is also very thin in places and will require additional planting. Furthermore the only method that the hedge in its current condition can be laid is Dorset style. This is a very haphazard or what some may describe as an untidy style of laying a hedge. One benefit of this style is that some of the trees may be left standing in the laid hedge line, such as the field maple, and allowed to mature.

It was agreed at this meeting, that the laying of the hedge should go ahead as described with FBC support.

The alternative is to allow the hedge to continue growing until HCC (land owners) decide to cut it. It’s worth bearing in mind that HCC preferred method of hedge control is to use a flail.

Charlie Scott


Flooding  matters - a summary of the year.

As reported during the 2009 AGM we launched what we hoped would prove a major initiative to secure long term flood relief by a written submission to the Environment Agency in September 2008. The correspondence has remained active since then and we made it clear to EA that we were keen to see progress in 2009 particularly because of its significance to our society origins of 30 years ago.

In late May 2009 the meeting with EA took place at Colden Common and provisional agreement was reached over a number of items including:

  • A survey of drains and valves
  • A survey of the walling at Shore Road with a view to replacement
  • Studying the feasibility of constructing a bund opposite Lowlands
  • Looking into the suggestion that there had been a rise in riverbed level
  • Possible removal of shoals

It came as no surprise to hear that nearly all the options listed in the Atkins Report (a follow up to the Halcrow Report) had been ruled out on a 'cost/benefit analysis'. However the policy landscape had changed in one or two important respects.  The first consideration was the possibility that flood reservoirs to the north of the motorway could become feasible if linked into the SDA road plans.  The second consideration arose from the raised profile of Coastal Flooding Defence strategies.

We had already been aware of an early version of our local strategy which had stalled but a new one had been promised and in early February 2010 FBC and the Environment Agency held a public information exhibition at Ferneham Hall to present their draft proposals for future tidal flooding defence.  This is the so-called North Solent Shoreline Management Plan and it covers the section of coast from Hurst Spit in the west to Selsey Bill in the east.

We were particularly keen to see whether Wallington had been included in the study since it had been omitted in the pilot exercise.  As we feared, it had not been included but at least we were able to speak directly to the people most involved with the work and later submitted our written response to the coordinating team based in Lymington.  With the emphasis now clearly shifting more towards the tidal element of flood risk in the future we were particularly anxious that discussions with Environment Agency and others should become more ‘joined up’ so that there was no danger of Wallington being excluded from this latest management plan.

Discussions with the Environment Agency on the other topics continued.  One of the items on the wish list was the construction of a bund opposite Lowlands - nicknamed on Committee as ‘the Bund on the Bend’.  We were pleased to hear (February 2010) that it had now been given an official name 'Wallington Shore Rd, Embankment, Tidal Wallington FAS' but there was little optimism that it could be funded before 2014/15.  The scheme was thought to give a reasonably good benefit to cost ratio but the overall Priority Score was not high enough when compared to other bids nationwide.

Running in the background to all this has been the hope to secure some of the Defra money for household-level flood mitigation grants which are facilitated by Borough Councils. We were very pleased to learn that FBC were already ‘on the case’ and we were invited to collaborate on the application late last year, checking what FBC drafted and adding any information that might lend further weight to it

In mid March 2010 we heard the welcome news that the application had been successful, albeit not the full amount that had been asked for. Originally this was £290,000 plus £40,600 Admin to protect 57 properties and 1 public house.  The actual grant is for £162,450 to protect 28 homes, rather than the 57.  We expect to be liaising with FBC to sort out the details and facilitate meetings with affected residents.

During the coming year there is a good chance that work will begin on the bund - with advice and clearance from EA and funding which may come from a number of sources.

Each of the key events above has been reported in the OIAW - particular news items have also been published on the website.  Once the re-structured FBC departments have settled down it will be necessary to update contact telephone numbers in our Flood Emergency Plan.  Hard copies of the latest edition were distributed to ‘at risk’ households a couple of years ago but anyone can view an electronic version of the plan on the WVCA website. Concerned residents are especially advised to check the EA flood-line web pages periodically since they seem to be re-vamped on a regular basis.

Arthur Hackney