Holwood News

28/04/2009  Constiution
  The constiution of HERA is as follows:-............................. CONSTITUTION OF THE HOLWOOD ESTATE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION 1. NAME The name of the organisation shall be ‘HOLWOOD ESTATE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION’. ( hereafter referred to as the Group) 2. OBJECTIVES To safeguard and promote the interest of property owners and residents of Holwood Estate on matters concerning the buildings and the estate. To help, maintain and improve the living conditions, community facilities, and services for residents of Holwood Estate. In order to do this the Group is committed to represent the views of its’ members in these areas of operation and to communicate the Groups preferences to the appointed Estate Manager and Trust Manager, as appropriate. The HERA should further liaise with the chosen Management Company on all financial matters and ensure accurate financial reporting to members. The Committee should also liaise with the Management Company to ensure the adherence of the existing lease conditions, by all residents and tenants. 3. MEMBERSHIP a) Membership shall be open to all property owners and residents. b) Non-owner residents will be welcome to attend meetings and take part in discussions but will not be eligible for any voting rights. c) All voting members must be at least 18 years old. d) There will be one vote per property. e) There will be an annual membership fee (per property) of £25, or such other amount as the committee shall declare, which will become due on the 1st March each year. f) Only members whose annual membership fee is paid shall be entitled to vote. g) Non-attending members should be permitted to vote by proxy and a proxy form is to be issued along with all meeting Agendas. 4. THE COMMITTEE a) A committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the group and shall serve for 12 months. b) The committee shall consist of at least four members, who shall have the occasional power to co-opt replacement members on to the Committee, in order to form a quorum, during the course of the year. All Committee members will have voting rights. c) The Committee members should ideally, but not necessarily, include two representatives of each Crescent Block and two representatives of the Courtyard. d) The Committee shall elect from within their number a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer. No Committee member shall fill more than one position. e) The Committee and office bearers shall make and carry out decisions in accordance with the objectives of the group. f) Meetings of the Committee shall be open to any member of the group who wishes to attend. g) The Committee will meet no less than 4 times per annum (ideally at 3 monthly Intervals) and notice of all meetings of the elected Committee of HERA to be posted on the association website, in order that any non-member may attend the meeting if he/she so desires. h) There must be at least three of the committee members present for any decision to be made at a Committee meeting. 5. Committee members must declare any interest they may have in the topic under discussion and the committee will decide if they need to forfeit their right to vote on this occasion. Such interests should be minuted clearly. 6. CONDUCT OF BUSINESS a) Members may speak only through the chair. b) Decisions will be agreed by simple majority. c) Meetings will end at the time agreed by the Committee. d) Any offensive behaviour or remarks will not be permitted. e) Any member who brings the group into disrepute or refuses to comply with the constitution shall be expelled on a majority vote of the full committee. f) Any such member will have the right to appeal against his expulsion, and such appeal will be heard by the membership at a Special General Meeting called for that purpose. g) The Secretary shall deal with all correspondence. h) Agendas will be distributed to the membership at least four days before a meeting, where possible. Items for the agenda should be forwarded to the Secretary and Chair at least seven days before the meeting. i) Minutes of all Committee meetings will be distributed to the membership promptly after a meeting. Minutes will be produced both in hard copy and on the website. 7. FINANCES a) The group may raise funds by obtaining grants or by other fundraising schemes. b) All funds shall be kept in a bank account that shall be opened in the name of the group. c) The Secretary, Treasurer, the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson shall be signatories on the account and all cheques shall require two of these signatures. d) Accounts shall be kept by the Treasurer, and brought to every committee meeting where they may be inspected. e) All expenditure shall be agreed and controlled by the committee. Receipts will be required for all expenditure. f) All payments shall be made by cheque, not cash. Any exception to this rule shall be agreed by the Committee. g) No officer will sign a blank cheque. h) The Accounts will be audited and presented to the AGM. i) All correspondence including the bank statement shall be addressed to the secretary. 8. PUBLIC MEETINGS a) Public meetings of the members shall be regularly held to discuss matters of importance and to keep members fully informed of the groups activities. b) Members shall be given 14 days notice of a public meeting. c) All votes shall be decided by a simple majority of the members present. d) Any member, having the written support of 10 other members, may request the Committee to call a Special General Meeting of the group. The committee shall call the meeting within 21 days of this written request. e) Any decision taken by the Committee, which is subject to a Special General Meeting (SGM) shall not be implemented prior to the SGM. 9. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING a) An AGM shall be held every year to discuss the activities of the group, to receive the audited accounts, to elect the committee and appoint the auditors. b) The quorum shall be 51% of members present, with a minimum of 20 attendees. c) At least 14 days notice needs to be given to members of the AGM. d) At the AGM the resignation of all committee members will be accepted and a new committee elected. 10. CHANGES TO THE CONSTIUTION a) This constitution shall only be changed at a Special Public Meeting of the group, or at the AGM. b) For decisions to be taken there must be a quorum of at least 51% of members present, with a minimum of 20 attendees. The voting shall be by simple majority of those present. c) All members shall be given 14 days notice of the meeting and proposed changes. d) Proposed changes shall be submitted to the secretary in writing not less than 28 days before the AGM. The secretary must notify members of any proposed changes within 21 days of the meeting. 11. DISSOLUTION OF THE GROUP a) The group may only be dissolved by a special meeting called for that purpose. Such a meeting shall come about following a proposal in writing signed by a simple majority of those remaining on the committee being submitted to the Secretary. b) All members shall be informed of such a meeting at least 21 days before the date of the meeting. c) Dissolution of the group shall only take effect if agreed by two thirds of the members present and voting at the meeting. d) On dissolution, any assets remaining, and any documents belonging to the group, shall be disposed of in a manner agreed by that meeting.
  Article added by:Steve
   
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