AGM minutes 2008
The Friends of The Trap Grounds
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 4 March 2008
St Margaret’s Institute, Polstead Road, Oxford
1. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION. Norman Gregory, in the Chair, welcomed approximately 50 members of the public to the first AGM of The Friends Of The Trap Grounds. He explained that the group, which had been operating informally since 1996, had recently moved into a new phase of existence since entering into a partnership with Oxford City Council (the owner of the land) to manage the Trap Grounds for wildlife, education, and recreation. A working relationship with the Council and with other public bodies now made it necessary to establish the Friends as a formal organisation with a proper constitution and an elected committee.
2. PROGRESS REPORT. The Secretary, Catherine Robinson, summarised the main activities of the FOTG since 1996: clearance of invasive willows from the reed bed; on-going clearance of rubbish from the scrubland; the creation of the pond in 2000; on-going monitoring and recording of wildlife; and a campaign to get the scrubland registered as a Town Green, culminating in success in the House of Lords in 2006. A total of £53,000 had been raised to pay the costs of the Town Green case, of which £1170 remained at the end; the recent membership drive had raised a further £1990. The precise balance in the bank as of 4 March 2008 was £3160. So far 110 supporters had joined the register of members.
3. ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION. Two amendments to the draft constitution were agreed: in clause 5, the quorum at an AGM was increased to 10 non-committee members; and the phrase ‘or an EGM’ was added after ‘at an AGM’. The amended constitution was then adopted by a show of hands (proposer: Chris Goodall; seconder: Bob Cowley).
4. ELECTION OF COMMITIEE. All eight members of the provisional committee were appointed to serve for the coming year (proposer: Jim Campbell; seconder: Chris Goodall): Norman Gregory (Chair), Catherine Robinson (Secretary), Polly Holbrook (Treasurer), Alan Allport, Clive Hambler, Caroline Jackson-Houlston, Peter Loudon, and Diane Wilson. Anthony Roberts (Oxford City Council Countryside Officer) serves ex officio as a non-voting member.
5. FUTURE MANAGMENT PLANS. Clive Hambler (Oxford University zoologist) described the difficulties of maintaining a balance between the needs of conservation and recreation, and the problems of managing the varied habitats of such a complex site. The immediate priorities must be to restore the grassland habitat of the reptiles and butterflies, and to prevent the scrubland (an important habitat for warblers) from turning into a sycamore wood. The presence of nationally protected species requires a professional long-term management plan, and this will be a prime concern of the committee in the coming months. Anthony Roberts announced that the City Council would deal with the dangerous willows and poisonous Giant Hogweed in the near future.
6. RELATIONS WITH THE SCHOOL OF SS PHILIP AND JAMES. Peter Loudon explained the committee’s wish to work closely with the school to make the Trap Grounds safe for use as an open-air classroom. It is hoped to install a pond-dipping platform, and to obtain grant funding to enable an artist to do creative work on site with the children. In reply to a question from the floor, he expressed the hope that eventually children from other schools, and particularly St Aloysius’ School, might also be involved.
There being no further business, after a break for refreshments Professor Alan Allport gave an illustrated talk about the wildlife of the Trap Grounds. The meeting ended at 9.30 pm.