AGM Minutes St. Ives 5 November 2022

Present            Ted Hand   Chairman

Martyn Dale     Secretary

David Lappin    Membership secretary

Site Representatives: Claire Hensby

Attendance     70 Members  2  Guests

Apologies        46

Chairmans address

 The Chairman opened the meeting by welcoming members present and thanked Christana and her staff for the excellent catering and the wonderful  entertainment provided; our guest singer Mandy (Soul Diva). He also thanked Ed Newbold and his staff for hosting an evening at Kenegie Manor for owners.

Mr Chairman then made a power point presentation which began with welcoming new members to the association and attending the AGM.  He highlighted that the last couple of years has been difficult for all but noted that CMOA continued on supporting members and maintaining good communications with both JFH & MJL. Special thanks went to the Secretary, Membership secretary and Treasurer who is now standing down after many years looking after the finances of CMOA. Tribute was also paid to our site reps Clair Hensby, Kathryn Hewitt and Debbie Croucher. Debbie is having to stand down due to personal reasons.

At the Spring meeting in April owner feedback forms were introduced and although the meeting was lightly attended the information gleaned was invaluable. The information was acted upon at the pre AGM meetings with JFH and MJL. All members had been issued with a new feedback form and asked to return to the Secretary or bring it with them today. The more feedback we have the better the understanding of members needs and the ability to address them with the various site management. The Chairman then went on to list the ever growing achievements secured by CMOA on members behalf. The presentation was concluded by stating that the future of CMOA lies in member’s hands in “CMOA needs each and everyone of us”.

Minutes of the last meeting 24^th April 2022

The Secretary called for a proposer and seconder of the last minutes to verify that they represented a true a proper record. Lilian Taffs proposed the minutes and was seconded by Linda Dolata.

Matters arising

The Secretary reported  to the members on a meeting held with Martyn Fowler at Barnstaple head office of JFH on the 20^th October, and added that David Lappin had also met with Ed Newbold to discuss Kenegie Manor issues prior to the AGM. He confirmed the information received on the feedback forms from the spring meeting had been acted upon. The secretary then reported he had received feedback forms issued with the AGM notice. He made a plea to members to print clearly the information, as it was difficult to read some of the comments. The feedback forms will be collated and acted upon in due course.

Treasurer’s report

In the absence of the Treasurer Arthur Saunders,  David Lappin gave a quick overview of the accounts for 2021/22 which were displayed on screen. Accounts for 2021/22 attached.  Please note the accounts have not been independently audited.

Election of Officers

In accordance with CMOA constitution each member of the committee is required to stand down at each AGM and be re-elected if willing to do so.

Ted Hand wished to step down as Chairman but was willing to be elected as site rep for St. Ives.  Arthur Saunders stood down as Treasurer.

Nominations were then called for the vacant positions.

Membership Secretary: David Lappin agreed to be re-elected

Site reps: Claire Hensby agreed to be re-elected as St. Ives rep and Kathryn Hewitt for Perran View.

The Secretary then asked for site rep volunteers

Kenegie Manor:           no volunteers

St Ives:                        Ted Hand and Georgina Charlesworth volunteered

Tolroy Manor:              Gavin West and Dawn James volunteered

As there were no objections all volunteers were duly elected by acclaim.

New committee for 2022/23

Energy costs

High on the agenda this year for owners is how much they are going to be charged for electricity.

When the electricity industry was privatised in 1990, supply contracts for high usage businesses were entered into in October of that year. Business was then free to negotiate the best price and able to shop around. Most contracts ran for number of years and renewed in October. The problems facing business now is not just the higher costs but the uncertainty of future prices and reluctance of energy supply companies to offer fixed terms. Many companies have been forced to pay variable market prices. The government recently introduced a price cap for industry, which guaranteed a maximum for 6 months to the end of March 2023.

JFH current supply contract ended in October 2022 and they have entered into a new supply contract in. It is a 3 year variable contract which means that the unit cost will fluctuate with the wholesale price of electricity. When the price is reduced and stable the contract will be converted to a fixed price. The wholesale price is capped for 6 months at 21.7 pence per unit.

Total, the electricity supply company for JFH are unable at present to supply cost per unit and are waiting for clarification from the government, The price when known will be posted on CMOA website.

It is proposed to invoice electricity charges quarterly next year, this allow owners who do not use the letting scheme to spread the payments instead of having to pay a large bill at the end of the year. Owners using the letting scheme will have their account debited quarterly removing the danger of owing money at the end of the season after letting income received.

MJL – Kenegie Manor entered into a new 4 year fixed price contract earlier in January. MJL contract is out of sync with industry as the company purchased Kenegie Manor from JFH and needed to find a new provider.

The unit price is circa 19p. MJL is also likely to issue quarterly billing, but this will be based on actual meter readings rather than estimates.

What can owners do to mitigate energy costs?

Owners have little control over the energy consumption of paying guests other than ensuring  Low energy lighting is used and the property is well insulated i.e. Loft insulation and double glazing.

The Kenegie management has carried out research of electricity usage during the last 5 years and the finding is that close to 30% is consumed during the winter period when most properties are vacant. The likely cause is leaving the heating on during this period. Owners are advised to leave heaters on a low setting, however, that means the heating is consuming power 24 hours a day, which adds up. To reduce this cost it is better to have the heater on a timer for a few hours in the morning and evening and this should have the same benefit.

Energy Grant

As we know the government decreed that all households would receive a £400 energy grant which will be paid by the energy supplier from October and included owners of second homes.

Properties not connected to the grid and therefore do not have an account with a supplier i.e. though a third party such as JFH and MJL, will not receive a payment.

The government has agreed that properties off -grid will receive the grant, but have yet to determine has this is going to be administered.

The latest update from Website Energy Report is a follows:

If you are not connected to the grid

Those households not on standard gas or electricity contracts, such as those living in park homes or on heat networks and so outside the scheme, will receive support equivalent to both the Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bills Support Scheme. The business which has the direct commercial relationship with the energy supplier (for example the park owner) will receive support via the Energy Bill Relief SchemeThe UK Government is acting now to introduce legislation so that they have to pass the benefit directly on to residents. Customers do not need to take any action in order to receive this support, which they will receive by the end of the year. It is still unclear as to when and who will be responsible for actioning the payments.

CMOA will provide updates as information becomes available via the “Latest News” section on CMOA website.

Electric Vehicle Charging

There are now over 1 Million electric vehicles on Britain’s roads and growing. As reported in the AGM minutes November 21 both JFH and MJL had planned to install charging points on each site during the summer of this year. The programme has been pushed back mainly due to long lead times by the equipment suppliers.

JFH hope to have the charges in situ on each site by spring of next year.

The E V Chargers will be rated at 22KvW which will take 3-4 hours to fully charge the battery. The charging points will be classed as private and will not be available on any location app.

They will only be available in theory to electric vehicles on site.  Estimated cost per kilo watt unit is circa 20p.

MJL will order a charger in April and hope to have it installed by May 23.

There will be a growing temptation for visitors to use owner’s electricity supply where they can park near to the property. As this can add considerable cost to owners it has to be deterred. There is also a potential safety fire hazard, as one owner found; the 13 amp outlet socket being damaged due to overheating. The current drain can be as high as 11amps and over an overnight charge of say 12 hours could cause the connection to the 13 amp socket to heat up resulting in the plastic to break down and act as a conductor from positive to negative, thus a potential fire. Fortunately in this case the circuit tripped, but the socket could still have ignited.

Both JFH & MJL have agreed to include warning notices to visitors. JFH in the Hand book MJL in the Welcome pack.

Owners who let privately will need to issue their own notice, if they believe their supply can be used.

Wi-Fi progress

During the past year trials and research has been carried out by JFH to determine the best and most reliable way to achieve full coverage to all holiday properties on site. It has now been decided that all sites will be hard wired with fibre-optic cables. Work on St. Ives is now underway and cable trenches are being dug. St. Ives has been split into 3 phases and each will have its own fibre-optic feed. This should ensure that fast broadband will be available to all properties.

The plan is to install a cable to each property and then the distribution equipment will be installed by Club Wi-Fi, who will also manage the system.

Tolroy Manor and Perran View will also be hard wired. The time to go live will largely depend on Open Reach being able to supply a lease line for each site.  At best it will be 2024.

CMOA Website

Most members will be aware that CMOA were forced to invest in a new website as the previous provider had imposed punitive charges that were not affordable to the association.

The new site was launched at the Spring meeting and went live shortly afterwards.

CMOA now has complete control of the site and members are able to use their own password to login.  

Home Pages

The main purpose of the home page is to attract non-members, new or existing owners and encourage them to join.

The members section is the hub as it contains a range of information which is of benefit to us all.

Members who have paid have been sent a login email. Unfortunately quite a few members have yet to do so.

A demonstration tour of the website and facilities was provided for members present.

Members Section

• Home page facilities; provides links with quick access to:
• Minutes of last meeting
• Suppliers list
• Constitution
• Latest News Letter
• Login link to JFH owners portal
• Login link to MJL owners portal via ICat

Latest News – Keeps members informed on any new developments

Committee members – Photographs and email link to current committee members.

FAQ’s – this section contains all minutes, reports and news letters issued by CMOA and dating back to 2005. This is a data bank that then be searched by members seeking information on a particular topic. The search facility will quickly identify the appropriate reports. When the report is selected the ‘Find on Page’ facility can then be used by clicking on the 3 button icon on the tool bar …

Contact us – members can quickly contact CMOA from any device including smart phone.

Forum – This was a specific request by members when the website was originally established yet it is little used.

Members present were encouraged to treat it as a Face Book or WhatsApp page to log your questions, comments etc. Members have been asked by the Chairman to complete the feedback forms identifying the “ Most important issue to you as an owners” and “ The most important issue to you with your site”.  The forum can be used for this very purpose.

Letting Income Comparison figures 2021/22

There are fewer owners using the letting scheme with each site seeing a reduction on last year, however, the average gross income with the exception of Perran View has increased marginally.

To counter inflation JFH intend to increase selling prices for 2023 by an average of 8%.  MJL are adopting a different approach by increasing off peak prices by 10% (Spring and Autumn) and high season ( Summer) by 4%.

Business Rates & HRMC 

New rules will apply from April 23 for claiming business rates

• Proof required that the property will be used as holiday self-catering accommodation
• Change of letting criteria will reduce from 105 days to 70 days minimum
• Property valuation every 3 years instead of 5 years

The Government has made recent changes to stamp duty rates increasing purchase price to £250,000 before duty is paid. This change does not affect second home buyers who will still have to pay an additional levy. The only exception is for holidays homes which are classed as non-residential.

Stamp duty is not applicable on Lodge purchases. 

Spring meeting

It has been a tradition for CMOA to run two meetings a year for owners to get together and discuss common issues. The Spring meeting is not as well supported as the AGM November meeting and numbers have been declining year on year.  Spring of this year saw only 27 attending, however, it was in reality only 10 as the property owned is counted as one member and other others attendees were committee members. CMOA has circa 200 members, therefore 5% of the membership attended.

The cost of hiring a meeting room with refreshments was £580.00 and costs for next year are likely to be much higher.

There are many reasons why attendance is falling away but perhaps one of the main factors is the shift in the demographic location of owners.

The location chart below shows a high proportion of owners now live in Cornwall closely followed by Devon and represents circa 25% of the total membership. Members living there including committee members are not inclined to travel to Swindon.

Proposal put to members present.

A proposal was put to the members present to abandon the Spring meeting and replace this with Newsletters. The committee would meet 3 times in the year.

• Spring
• Summer
• AGM November

Following the spring and summer committee meetings a Newsletter would be distributed as well as the minutes in the usual way from the AGM.  This way it is hoped that the committee would be more pro-active and members will be better informed and issues raised dealt with quickly and efficiently.

Mr Chairman then  asked the meeting to vote on the  proposal. The proposal was voted on and carried by acclaim.

Side Meetings

Tolroy Manor

The secretary Martyn Dale reported back on the Tolroy side meeting.

The meeting was kindly chaired by Denyse and Karinda with a Q & A session.

Trees – owners reported that tree roots were blocking the drains and causing water to back-up inside the property. The site management will arrange for remedial work to be carried out.

Long Terms lets – there has been an increase in some owners letting properties for longer than the 28 days allowed. Action will be taken by JFH against owners who contravene the terms of their lease and planning regulations.

Communication – some owners are concerned by the apparent lack of communication and the absence of Newsletters.  Denyse and Karinda responded and explained that the workload  since their arrival had been on the high side, but intended to resume Newsletters next year.

Blocked roof gullies – attention was drawn to roof gullies and valleys between properties being blocked by leaves and other debris. The management will investigate.

Members present were pleased with the improvements made by Denyse and Karinda since their arrival earlier this year.

St. Ives

Claire Hensby reported back on behalf of St. Ives members. Please find attached site report with addition information.

Christina carried out a Q & A session.

Cleaning

Recruiting and holding cleaning staff still proves to be challenge. However, efforts made during the season has impacted positively on TripAdvisor feedback.

Security

The site has had gas bottles stolen as well as fly tipping issues. Security will be tightened over the winter period with entrance gates being locked between the hours of 7 pm and 8 am. Authorised owners will be provided with an access key code.  All owners intending to visit over the winter period are required to notify the site to comply with fire and safety regulations.

Maintenance

Recruiting and maintaining maintenance personnel meets with the same challenges as cleaners. A proportion of staff will remain on site over the winter, which should ensure some stability for the new season.

Gas Bottles

As the cost of gas is increasing with all energy costs, JFH as a major purchaser of gas for all their Caravan sites endeavours to negotiate the best possible price.

Roof Cleaning

A private company is offering to provide a roof cleaning service at £485.00 per property.

Lighting

Additional lighting will be installed over the winter period.

Perran View

Kathryn Hewitt was unable to attend the meeting.  Alison Harper kindly deputised on her behalf.

Lisa and Nick kindly chaired the Q & A session as Amanda and Tony were on holiday.

Lighting

There are issues with some of the lighting, which was reported to Lisa & Nick.

Toilets

The toilet facilities in the club house are in need of upgrading.

Lodges property prices

The main concern of owners is the imminent arrival of Lodges and the perceived lack of communication by JFH.  This subject was addressed at the meeting held in Barnstaple on 20^th October.

It was confirmed that the total number of Lodges to be installed over the next 5 years will be 41. The play area will be redesigned to enable owners cars to park and be nearer to their properties.  The subject of Lodges was previously addressed by CMOA and the reason for them. Non-members and new owners would not have been informed by CMOA.

The other issue concerning owners is the potential impact on property prices. Whilst all property prices are subject to market forces there has not been any reported effects on St. Ives prices as a result of the lodges being there.

CMOA will continue to address concerns with JFH on members behalf.

Electrical supply

There is concern that the electrical supply to properties is inadequate for the house requirements and causing the electrics to trip. JFH will be carrying out an electrical demand audit to address the issue if required.

Kenegie Manor

David Lappin chaired the Kenegie members meeting and appraised them of the meeting held with Ed Newbold on Thursday 3^rd December that had not been covered in the main agenda.

Short Breaks

Some members have tried to opt out of short breaks as not being economically viable from their point of view.  MJL response is because Kenegie is a small site with 45 properties using the letting scheme any reduction in short break availability would seriously impact on the businesses viability. This is one of the reasons JFH sold it on. To address the issue MJL have agreed to raise prices for the shoulder season i.e. Spring and Autumn when short breaks are most popular.  The increase will be circa 10% and that should benefit owners.

Planned changes for 2023

The emphasis will be on back room work and house keeping. All the things that go on to run the business which are carried out behind the scenes.

Business levels for 2023

Whilst there is a strong customer base for repeat bookings, MJL need to attract new quality business. To do this they need some USP’s. Members who use the letting scheme can help by having their properties well appointed as we all know visitor expectation is constantly rising. The market has now settled down after the turmoil of Covid and normal patterns are starting to emerge, which will see an overall reduction in bookings for 2023 but will hopefully be of better quality.

Lighting

Members present reported that a number of lighting posts were not working.

Action: D Lappin Trees

Tree branches were overhanging at the rear of properties in Old Court.

Action: D Lappin External Painting

Old Court members questioned when the last time the facias and soffits etc. were painted. The opinion was that it was at least 5 years ago.  David will address this with Ed Newbold and report back.

Action: D Lappin

Kerbs and Parking

A member asked if the kerb leading to the parking bay could be re-aligned to make parking easier.

Action: D Lappin

Waste Bins

Some of the bins on site are placed closed to properties marring their view and producing an odour in warm weather. Members requested the bins are re-sited were possible and fenced in.

Action: D Lappin

Smart Meters

A member has enquired if a smart meter can be installed. David was able to verify that smart meters can be installed and cost circa £300. The value of doing so was queried as the owner could not control electricity being consumed by the visitor.

Charging Electric Vehicles

A member suggested that the registration number of the vehicle should be logged when a booking is made. This will enable the site to establish if the vehicle is electric or otherwise and may help to deter the theft of owners electricity during their stay.

Action: D Lappin

Parked vehicle

Members reported that an Audi car with flat tyres had been parked for some considerable time in Old Court. The owner of the vehicle which is untaxed appears to be resident, which of course is in contravention of the owners lease and planning regulations.

Action: D Lappin

General discussion and any other business.

As there were no other points raised the retiring Chairman Ted Hand again thanked all for attending and their contribution to the meeting. He also thanked those who have volunteered to serve on the committee.

A big thank you to Christina and her staff for providing excellent catering and entertainment.

Next meeting

AGM Tolroy Manor Saturday 4^th November 2023.