ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING: 17 APRIL 2012, 7.30PM,
WOOD ST BAR & RESTAURANT (DOWNSTAIRS BAR)

Your House Group Committee hopes you will be able to join us for our Annual General Meeting. We have printed the agenda overleaf: please bring this with you. Our aim is to keep the committee business short, and then enjoy drinks together at the bar, which we have reserved for our private use.

Committee elections

During the year, Susan Hosking has had to stand down from the committee, due to work commitments. We will all miss her wonderful summer parties. All other members of the committee have indicated they are willing to stand for re-election. Their names are listed overleaf.

…and one vacancy to fill

This leaves one empty post, as our constitution allows for up to seven elected members. If you are interested in representing residents’ interests as a member of the house group, please contact the chair, Tim Macer, or any committee member.

Resolution on membership

You will see that item 7 is a resolution proposed by your committee. For six years now we have set our annual subscription at £0.00, because the House Group essentially has no costs to meet: the costs we do incur for printing etc. are recoverable from the City of London as a Recognised Tenants’ Association – provided we maintain our status as an RTA.

Over the years, the City has become more assiduous in monitoring RTA status. There is now quite a list of things we must satisfy. One is that we must present a membership list each year which shows that at least 50% of the long leaseholders are members. (We, on the other hand, accept all residents as members, whether long-leaseholders or not).

Though we do our best to keep our membership list up-to-date, this is hard to do without the annual business of collecting ‘the subs’, which we are in no hurry to return to. The BEO does not supply us with a list of residents, as this information is confidential, so we cannot tell which members are long leaseholders, and which are not. However, this simple resolution allows us to assert that we satisfy RTA qualifying criteria for membership criteria – and this method is accepted by the Town Clerk’s office. This resolution will become a regular feature of WHG AGMs in future years.

Agenda

1. Apologies for Absence
2. Minutes of previous AGM, 18 May 2011
3. Matters Arising
4. Chairman’s report
5. Treasurer’s report and presentation of the annual accounts
6. Election of Committee for 2012/13

All members of the committee stand down annually. The meeting may elect seven members to serve for the coming year. The following six serving members of the committee are willing to stand for re-election:

Simon Ebbins
James Prentice
Petre Reid
Tim Macer
Valerie Mills
Caroline Swash

7. Resolution on membership

“That each flat within Willoughby House will be granted membership of Willoughby House Group until the next AGM, unless the owner or tenant notifies the Hon Secretary in writing that he or she does not wish to be a member during this period.”

Proposed by T Macer and seconded by C Swash.

8. Setting the membership subscription for 2011

“That the annual membership subscription which was £0.00 (no charge) previously, shall be retained at the same rate for a further year.”

Resolution proposed by P Reid and seconded by C Swash.

Speed House Lawn
Wednesday, 13th July
6.30pm until approx 9.00pm

We’re hoping the great turn-for-the-better of the weather will until the 13th, as that is the evening for this year’s Willoughby House summer party. It takes place on Speed House Lawn, as usual, and there will be the customary summer bites, wine and soft drinks available for everyone. Despite the hike in consumer prices, we’ve kept the costs to £6 for those attending, with no charge for under 12s. This is to cover our costs.

If you are a Willoughby House resident, there’s no need to RSVP – come along on the evening. If you are new to Willoughby House or have not been to one of these events, we guarantee you will go away having met new friends. Just make yourself known to us behind the bar or the food table and we will make sure we introduce you to some of the delightful people who live here.

At WHG’s AGM on Thursday 19 May, seven WH residents were elected to the committee for the coming year, which is the maximum our consitution allows. They are:

Simon Ebbins, flat 501
Susan Hosking, flat 701
Tim Macer, flat 603
James Prentice, flat 312
Petre Reid, flat 524
Nazar Sayigh, flat 301
Caroline Swash, flat 106

Thames Water have said the current closed section of Moor Lane will continue to be closed over the weekend until they resolve the major leak. They have been unsuccessful to date after digging numerous pits to locate the leak.

Silk Street will have a two way traffic system in operation over the weekend to allow residents access in and out of WH01/03 car parks. Thames water are to display temporary road signage for this two way traffic system.

7.30 pm, Wood Street Bar & Restaurant (downstairs bar)

This extra House Group meeting is to discuss the current situation with the St Alphage House development, now that the planning application is active, and provide the most up-to-date information. Officially the period of consultation will run to 1 April, though objections will be received later than that. This will be a joint meeting between residents of Willoughby House and Andrewes House. We hope you will be able to attend.

There is more information about the development provided on the BA’s dedicated St Alphage page.

We have just learned there will be a public exhibition of the latest redevelopment plans for the St Alphage Site by Hammerson and the architects Make at St Giles’ Cripplegate, for Barbican residents, on the following three days in September:

Thursday 16th September,  12 noon until 7pm
Friday 17th September , 12 noon until 5pm
Sunday 19th September, 12 noon until 4pm

We strongly recommend everyone in Willoughby House to attend one of these sessions to see the plans for themselves.

Our ever-popular summer party will take place, as usual, in Speed House Gardens, in the area closest to the Cascade on the evening of Wednesday 7th July. All Willoughby House residents are welcome, and we also extend a cordial invitation to our neighbours in Brandon Mews, Speed House and Andrewes House.

We hope you will be able to join us on the lawn for wine and summer bites from 6.30 until 9pm. It’s an ideal opportunity to meet your neighbours and members of the House Group committee. If you are new to Willoughby, or have not made it to one of our events before, we extend a particularly warm welcome and hope we have the chance to meet you at this one,

There is a £6 charge for all adults to cover the cost of refreshments. No need to RSVP – just come on the night.