Keeping Woolley Grange amazing

AGM: 2021

Meeting held:

Present

  • Matthew Barlow (MB) - Chair
  • Charlotte Smith (CS) - Vice Chair
  • John Gilbody (JG) - Chair
  • Tracey Gilbody (TG) - Secretary
  • Carol Robson (CR) - Member
  • Janine Gregory-Hagarth (JGH) - Member
  • Anni Needham (AN) - Member
  • Wayne Roddis (WR) - Member

Apologies

  • Kelly Jefferson (KJ) - Member

Additional notes

The meeting was held via zoom as advertised and it was announced at the commencement of the meeting that it was being recorded for accuracy of minutes.

The chair Matthew Barlow officially opened the meeting and welcomed everyone; he then went on to give his report for the year 2020-2021.

Chairman's report

The last AGM was in February 2020 and what an unbelievable 16 months we have all endured since then. During this very bizarre time WGRA have continued working for the residents of Woolley Grange and I need to start by thanking the members of the committee for their hard work and commitment they have given since the last AGM and beyond. Thank you Charlotte, John and Tracey.

During lockdown the kind nature and community spirit of people who live on Woolley Grange shone with the Facebook group full of offers of help to anyone isolating or of need of any help. Sharing of useful information, even if it was where there was stock of toilet rolls or flour. I remember how residents made huge effort at Halloween to decorate and then again for Christmas, decorating in November making the whole estate looked amazing, including an initiative started by a resident for lights on trees around the estate and I hope all these continue this year.

Also I’d like to recognise Damien Bond for his effort in arranging for Woolley Grange to made a Gigabit Broadband capable estate with funding from the Voucher scheme. This is a really good thing, as more people are working from home and demand on internet bandwidth is only going to increase over time, putting Woolley Grange into the gigabit band is fantastic.

One testament to popularity of Woolley Grange is the rate at which houses are selling now and more so that people upsizing are often staying on Woolley Grange. We should recognise these are signs of a great community and not take it for granted.

If you remember back to lockdown, people were only allowed out of their homes for 1 hour exercise per day and in July 2020 we implemented the first part of the 3-year plan (that we announced at the last AGM) which was to install two benches and two picnic tables in the green space on the hill and grass semi-circle on the driveway out of Woolley Grange towards Woolley Edge Lane. These were a welcome addition to the open spaces and have been used frequently by many since they were installed.

We have also arranged for additional bins to be installed in the Playground to combat the issue of litter spilling out of the bin previously. Earlier this year the Wildflower meadow and Orchard was planted. We haven’t done this alone, I would like to offer our thanks and gratitude to Luke Streeting who has worked hard alongside John and Tracey in physically working on these projects and planning and administrative work securing the funding.

The Facebook Group has been continually active among the members with a daily average of active members viewing the group between 400-650. Within the last 12 months there have been nearly 2300 posts and over a whopping 18,000 comments and 27,000 reactions! With 92 members leaving the group and 148 joining, the group has grown by 56 members.

Most of the members and content within the group are positive and helpful and the group is an important part of the community. I am pleased to release new rules for the group within the next few days to further support and promote it to be a positive environment. We will continue to moderate and react to any post/comments reported to the admin team.

Events are one layer of the foundations of a great community spirit, we adapted our events to still be able to continue during COVID successfully. Our Easter event, a month after lockdown was quickly changed and we used the same format this year too. Our Christmas event was changed the most, with Santa hosting Zoom calls with the children of Woolley Grange and then later doing a tour of Woolley Grange delivering presents while live on Facebook which was a great community event.

We had hoped to hold our summer event, thought was safe planning nearly a month after the 21st June date, which could not be adapted so has been moved to 19th September.

The success of these events are measured in support by residents of Woolley Grange and all our events are well supported, ticket purchases climb each year with over 150 tickets were purchased for our Christmas event, over 140 for Easter and so far 155 tickets for our summer event.

We have events planned for this year, with our deferred Summer Event and Scarecrow Festival being held on the weekend of 18th and 19th September. Halloween is always a fantastic time on Woolley Grange with many homes going all out with the decorations last year and then our Christmas event will be held again in December.

Looking forward we will be continuing with the implementation of the 3 year plan we launched at the last AGM, holding the events mentioned earlier and continue to keep Woolley Grange a great place to live.

Finally, and once again I would like to thank the committee members for all of the effort and input given in 2020 and so far this year. Thank you Charlotte, John and Tracey.

Accounts financial update

Year end accounts

  • Label Credit Debit Total
  • Balance from 2019-2020 Credit: £2335.28 Debit: £0.00 Total: £2335.28
  • Petty cash carried forward Credit: £136.28 Debit: £0.00 Total: £136.28
  • E-On Credit: £16.39 Debit: £193.29 Total: £-176.90
  • Halloween event Credit: £224.33 Debit: £100.49 Total: £123.84
  • Halloween event (cash) Credit: £27.00 Debit: £5.00 Total: £22.00
  • Scarecrow event (cash) Credit: £26.00 Debit: £0.00 Total: £26.00
  • Christmas event Credit: £794.67 Debit: £635.90 Total: £158.77
  • Three-year plan Credit: £2297.39 Debit: £2742.74 Total: £-445.35
  • Nomadic Pizza Credit: £145.00 Debit: £0.00 Total: £145.00
  • Easter event Credit: £477.48 Debit: £118.44 Total: £359.04
  • WGRA assets Credit: £0.00 Debit: £389.85 Total: £-389.85
  • Totals: Credits: £6479.82 Debits: £-4185.71 Grand total: £2294.11

Fixed assets

  • Label 2021 2020 Depreciation
  • Marquee £14.04 £14.04
     20% depreciation: -£2.81
  • Gazebo £112.75 £140.94
     20% depreciation: -£22.55
  • Halloween signs £249.60 £312.00
     20% depreciation: -£49.92
  • Christmas sign £76.80 £116.00
     20% depreciation: -£15.36
  • Summer sign £116.00 £145.00
     20% depreciation: -£23.20
  • Benches £1972.80 - -
  • Santa's sleigh £95.94 - -
  • Storage shed £342.97 - -
  • Totals. Number of assets: 8 Current total: £2980.90 Previous total: £727.98 Total depreciation: -£527.59

Election of committee members

An advertisement had been placed on the Facebook page some weeks ago asking for any nominations for the posts of Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary along with committee members. No nominations had been received prior to the meeting and the current member stated they were happy to remain in post, but they would have to be formally nominated.

  • Chair - Matthew Barlow was proposed by Charlotte Smith and Seconded by Tracey Gilbody.
  • Vice Chair – Charlotte Smith was proposed by Tracey Gilbody and seconded by John Gilbody
  • Treasurer – John Gilbody was proposed by Charlotte Smith and seconded by Matthew Barlow.
  • Secretary – Tracey Gilbody was proposed by Matthew Barlow and seconded by Charlotte Smith.
  • Anni Needham volunteered to join the committee.

Constitution

MB stated as the last AGM had been more than 12 months ago it was necessary to reaffirm the constitution, this document is available electronically on the Facebook page.

It sets out the standards we work to the structure of the committee and the goals we strive to achieve. It is also used for grant applications.

Three-year plan and 106 money update

JG stated that the 3-year plan was introduced through the constitution and is a result of a long consultation with residents in relation to what they wanted on the development. Not only do we have a 3-year plan, but we also have a 12-month plan which will be covered later in the meeting.

MB had already covered some of the items in the 3-year plan during his chairs report, the picnic benches on the driveway, the wildflower meadow and th community orchard.

The next project on the 3-year plan to be addressed would be the community growing area, this will be located at the bottom of Malty Avenue opposite the orchard. The money to fund this is part of the Section 106 money, which had been a pot of money given to the community by the builders. The committee have been working tirelessly with WMDC for some 4 years to get the money released to WGRA. This has now been achieved and the project is ready to move forward. The community growing area will include, raised planting beds, polytunnel, cold frames to name but a few.

This is a large project and will need a team of volunteers to not only plan the project and drive it forward but for the implementation of it, as a result of this WGRA will be asking for volunteers to help with this project in the very near future.

JG also stated that there was approximately £20K still in the 106-account ready for release and again volunteers were required to prepare detailed plans and drive the project forward in lie with the 3 year plan to release the money to the community.

The Parish council were thanked for their grant which allowed WGRA to purchase the benches and the trees for the orchard. Photographs of these are to be sent to the Parish council via Carole Robson in time for their next meeting.

Defibrillator update

This is a project the parish council have undertaken and has been running for some time. Carole Robson is leading on this project; she updated the meeting that they are still awaiting permission from Bovis in relation to siting the equipment. The plan is to site it near the electricity spur close to the playground (where the Christmas tree is located). It will then be easily accessible for all the community.

The committee thanked Carole for her hard work on this project.

Events 2021

CS outlined the planned events for the remainder of this year. Summer event which had to be postponed has been arranged for the 19th September and this is the weekend of the Scarecrow festival.

The Halloween trail will take a similar format as last year but will be confirmed nearer the time.

The Christmas event will again be dictated by COVID restrictions.

Although WGRA host events throughout the year it was asked that if anyone had any other ideas for events to please let the committee know. They do not have to be large events, anything for the community.

Lisa Needham did suggest a jumble/garage sale to be held on the estate, it was agreed this would take place on the weekend of the 18/19th July and would be advertised on the Facebook group.

Twelve-month plan

JG stated the focus for the next 12 months is the commencement of the community growing area, but stated volunteers were required to help with this project.

Also, to secure the release of the remaining 106 fund for the benefit of the community JG stated he would eb happy to be part of a sub committee in relation to this but would need some help from residents.

The third item on the 3-year plan is an issue that comes to the forefront on a regular basis, this is the adoption of the roads and drains on the development. It was discussed that the resident director (Bovis) are not fit for purpose and are not fulfilling their role. This has become apparent during the application for the 106 and the planned location of the community growing area. Attempts to contact Bovis have been made numerous times, but they have failed to communicate with the committee. Carole Robson stated she has a contact within Bovis who she has been dealing with in relation to the defibrillator and she would share those details.

Any other Business

Janine Gregory-Haggarth volunteered to help with the 3-year plan and join the subcommittee for this.

Councillor Harvey was due to join the meeting but was slightly delayed, however she had previously stated she would give support to the project in relation to the adoption of the roads as she is part of the planning committee in the council.

She had also asked for any suggestions how the council could assist the residents post COVID.

She did join us prior to the end of the meeting and stated she is the director of Wakefield Citizens Advice Bureau and can offer help if required through this.

Councillor Harvey was happy for her details to be placed on the Facebook page to allow residents to contact her directly if required.

JG stated he was happy to lead the steering group in relation to the adoption of the roads and would welcome any volunteers to assist with this.

There was no other business, and the meeting was closed.