Our Village Hall

A state of limbo

It was never envisaged that a Chapter 4 would be written about ‘Our Village Hall’, but in view of developments, perhaps one is necessary.

Following my last article ‘Lighting up the future’, I have published a comment that was received from a Village Hall Management Committee (VHMC) member. This can be viewed by clicking on the ‘Comments’ link at the bottom of that article. You can also read my formal response there too.

It appears the VHMC meeting held on Thursday 27 June was a rather fractious affair, resulting in the Chairman and Vice-Chairman walking out. The Treasurer was appointed temporary Chairperson for the remainder of the meeting in order to conduct the remaining business.

No formal Minutes have been issued to date as a record of the business conducted, so it is rather difficult to know exactly what transpired, however I am grateful for an update from the Village Representative:

"From: Sue Morris
Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2013 11:28 AM
To: Geoff Hall
Subject: Re: Nocton Village Hall Management Committee

Dear Mr Hall,

With reference to your email of the 1st of June, I read it all to the meeting of the NVHMC on 27th of June. The matters that you raised were discussed in detail and will be minuted.

Regards
Sue Morris"

The only record of the proceedings from Thursday 27 June is contained in a report submitted to the Parish Council on Tuesday 2 July 2013 from those Councillors who attended. This highlights certain items that were agreed, namely:

• It is important for there to be more consultation and openness by the officers of the VHMC
• The agenda and minutes must be published and sent either by email or hard copy to all committee members in advance of the VHMC meetings
• Within the agenda will be a list of all members of the committee
• A new seating arrangement for all committee members was suggested and accepted
• The Treasurer will undertake a review of the costs of running the Village Hall
• This review of costs must be presented to the full Village Hall Committee to decide how best to ensure outgoings and incomings match
• It may be necessary to review the hiring charges for all groups who use the Village Hall
• Voting should take place on all issues by the whole Committee

Additionally, it was reported to the Parish Council meeting that the Chairman of the VHMC has since decided to resign his position due to ill-health, which somewhat puts the Village Hall Working Group in abeyance too.

At this juncture, it is only right and proper to offer Mr Franklin a speedy recovery and record here the appreciation of the community for his long association with the Village Hall.

With regard to the Vice-Chairman, since leaving the meeting on 27 June it is not clear whether his intention is to formally resign his position as an officer of the VHMC. I am not aware of any formal letter of resignation being received by the Secretary.

Perhaps consideration now needs to be given to filling the vacant position(s)?

The next Ordinary VHMC meeting is not scheduled to be held until Wednesday 31 July 2013, but it would seem more appropriate to call an urgent Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) for this particular business. In which case, it requires one-third or more of the VHMC members to apply to the Chairman in writing (although this position is now vacant).

If this were to happen, a minimum of 14 days notice must be given of the EGM by displaying notices around the village and in the vestibule of the Village Hall. Given that there are 14 or so members of the VHMC, it would require circa 5 committee members to sign the request for an EGM for the application to be valid.

We wait to see how the situation evolves. I will give an update as soon as I have any further information.