Windmill Angling Club – January 16th 2023

Meeting Minutes

Introduction
The meeting was well attended, both in the room and via Zoom. There was a problem with the audio from the Zoom participants and Andy Southern will endeavour to fix this prior to the next meeting.

Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from from Bob Hallworth, Mike Braddock, James Braddock, Ben Crosbie, Chris Plant, Paul Davies, Sandra Carter, Adam Sebes, Julian & Adam Young, Kieron Murphy and Ray Boden.

Minutes of the last meeting
The abridged minutes of the last meeting were read out by Mark Bowden. The only matter arising from these minutes was the concern about people playing Pool or Darts when a Windmill meeting is in progress at Turners. We all agreed that, prior to the AGM, we would get an assurance from the Turners staff that this would be dealt with. The minutes were therefore accepted by being Proposed by Andy Southern and Seconded by Nick Hunt.

UPDATE: After the meeting finished, we were joined by a member of the Bar Staff and we raised thsi concern. She promised to make it clear to all concerned that no Pool or Darts are to be played whilst a Windmill meeting is in progress. 

Secretary’s Report
Pete Boyce announced that we have won the grant to develop and construct the West Bank of the small pool. Work will commence 30th January 2023 and will last about 3 days, however, as the bank is completely new (as opposed to an extension of an existing bank) it was felt that it won’t be good enough to support anyone’s weight for several months. Any new grants announced during 2023 will be vigorously pursued by the Committee. Craig Watson-Parke has kindly worked out some “ball park” figures for the equipment we need to power and control the Aerator donated by the Environment Agency – and it works out at about £1,000. This is over- and-above the kind donation of an outdoor battery by Nick Metcalfe. Andy Southern will set up a WhatsApp group and everyone that can help us complete this project will be invited to join. Nick has also mentioned that he could possibly get a larger battery if we need it.

Treasurer’s Report
The current Financial status of the club is £1,996.55 in the bank with approximately 10 members left to renew their membership. When they have joined and, should the increase in membership be approved, the Treasurer estimated the bank account will stand at about £2,200. Andy also mentioned the waiting list is up to about 20+ people, so we have decided that priority will be given to friends of existing members.

Match Secretary’s Report
Stuart thanked everyone for their support and said that the matches for the current year were on the website. Gillian Beard asked Stuart if any of the matches were over-subscribed and if he felt that this would happen more, should we increase the membership. Stuart replied that, for the most part, the matches are supported by the same people, but, should this become the case, we would juggle things around, even to the point of adding extra matches into the calendar. He did add that all match dates are subject to the conditions prevailing at Hunters Pool at the time and, are therefore, subject to change.

Working Party Officer’s Report
In his absence, Bob wrote…
Thanks to everyone for the response to the work parties. On the whole they have been good. We understood that not everyone can turn up but please make an effort to attend at least one. So much more can be done with a decent turn out. There will be extra work parties when the small pool has been done – dates when work is possible will be announced. Some Tree felling has been carried out recently and the remaining trees that need attention will be taken down as and when arrangements can be made.

All in all I think Hunters has been improving each year let’s keep it going!

A.O.B.

Although we had previously said we would not stock fish in 2023, we had received a particularly attractive offer from WhiteWater Fisheries. 200 Carp for £500 plus £80 delivery. This is considerably cheaper than they have been in recent years. The Treasurer did some basic number crunching and announced we could afford them – but, really only just. So, the Committee put it to the room about the possibility of donations to finance the purchase. We then got a fabulous offer from Raymond Wills. HE OFFERED TO PAY FOR THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE FISH. After a few minutes debate, mostly trying to make sure Ray was certain he wanted to donate circa £500, we accepted his very kind and generous offer.

It was decided that we would continue to look for some donations to facilitate the Aerator equipment purchase, especially as Craig had found out that this equipment was increasing in price at an alarming rate. We agreed that we really need to complete this project by April. The first step would be to hire a generator and make sure the donated Aerator works!

Andy Southern went through the Rules & Constitution changes and they were accepted without objection, so were proposed by Andy and seconded by Pete Boyce.

Alistair Gibson mentioned that several P.A. waters now have clean tanks with Keepnets in, for sole use on the waters where they are based and wondered if this may suit Hunters Pool. The Committee said they would investigate and come back to the members with their findings.

Bob proposed, via the WhatsApp group, had price increases for membership to come into effect from the AGM. This would mean OAPs would pay £20 and Seniors £40 for membership of Windmill Angling Club. This was unanimously agreed and was seconded by Andy Southern.

The next meeting will be the AGM and this was announced that it will be held Monday, 20th March at Turners, Bollington.

Meeting Closed 20:45