Minutes of Annual General Meeting

Sunday 30^th October 2016

St. Ives Holiday Park Cornwall

Present           Liz Ashenden              Chairman

Jean Tolchard             Vice Chairman

David Lappin              Secretary

Arthur Saunders          Treasurer

Site Representatives:   Ted Hand, Judith Hasell,

Christopher Nell, Jules Emery,

Christopher Mitchell

Attendance     79 Members

Apologies        70

49% of the membership responded

Madam Chairman opened the meeting at 1 pm and thanked all for attending

Minutes

Madam Chairman asked the meeting to approve the Minutes of the Spring meeting held on 20^th March 2016.  John Bennett proposed the approval and was seconded by Arthur Saunders.

Matters Arising

• Council Tax and planning regulations

Members were advised at the Spring meeting that if they wished to let their property throughout the year they must apply to extend the current 10 month regulation to 12 months.  Members asked if this could be done on a bloc application basis.  Cornwall Council will only allow an individual application at a cost of £195.00.  The application can be made online by completing the form titled “Planning removal or variation of planning following a grant permission”

• Pet Income – This issue continues unresolved as the changes to the accounting system have not yet been carried out. The Secretary will address it again at the next annual meeting with Martyn Fowler.
• Deposit scheme.

A request for a deposit scheme to help reduce theft and damage was discussed again. The Secretary again explained the reason why it was not possible to implement. The Secretary then informed the meeting that he had managed to get the “Honesty Envelope” scheme re-introduced to St. Ives, Perran View and Tolroy Manor with the support of the managers. The scheme is already in place at Kenegie. For practical reasons the envelope part has had to be dispensed with and the wording on the notice adjusted to reflect the change.  Please refer to copies of the ‘Important Message notice’ attached.   All owners properties let through the JFH & MJL letting scheme have been issued the Important Message notice.

Chairman’s Report

Madam Chairman opened her address by commemorating 25 years that the Association has been in existence and to formally thank Kevin & Carenza for providing a wonderful celebration evening for all members and especially to Dr Martyn Fowler for funding the evening in its entirety. Madam Chairman then took the meeting back in time to a recruitment letter from 1997 informing them of issues being dealt with such as Rates, Insurance, Letting Agreements and Dog Income.  These subjects may seem familiar, Madam Chairman noted. Madam Chairman then went on to talk about communication and how we can all make it more effective.  Members were urged to use CMOA website forum to post comments whenever you visit the site you are on. Site reps will also record on the forum any meetings they have with managers.

Please refer to Chairman’s report.

Treasurer’s Report

Annual Accounts for the Year Ended 31^st March 2016

The accounts show a loss for the year of £373.00.  This is due to the payment of the first 50% of the cost of upgrading the CMOA website at a cost of £660.00.  The second payment will be in the accounts for the year to 31 March 2017.  Without this cost the accounts would have shown a profit of £287.00 and the committee therefore see no reason for a change in the annual subscription cost.

The current bank balances are as follows:

National Westminster                         £1,937.00

Britannia Building Society                 £18,332.00

Total                                                   £20,269.00

The Treasurer then asked if there were any questions with regards to the accounts and advised that there are still some members who have not yet paid for the current year and was happy to accept payments after the meeting.  Members were reminded that if you are paying by bank transfer to please make certain that your name and membership number are clearly

shown so that you can be sent your receipt and sticker.  The Treasurer has received one payment in March for the current year paid by Bank Transfer that he is unable to trace back to a member because of the lack of details.  If you think this might be you please can you contact him direct.

The Treasurer then asked if there is anyone who would be willing to review the accounts after he has prepared them to please see him after the meeting or contact him at his home address which is listed with the minutes of this meeting.  He advised that it would cost approximately £200.00 to have the accounts audited by a firm of accountants which is a cost he would prefer not to incur on behalf of the Association.  An audit is not really required as the accounts are not filed with any official body.

Please refer to accounts 2016 attached.

The Treasurer then handed over to the Secretary to introduce another system to enable subscriptions to be paid quickly and easily when due.

Over the last couple of years the committee has encouraged members to make electronic subscription payments via online banking and setting up automatic renewal payments and paper bank standing orders. A lot of members have taken up this option whilst others prefer to pay by cheque. The Secretary addressed how life is changing as fewer cheques are being used and accepted by many businesses and banks do not in the main automatically reissue new cheque books. Utility companies prefer direct debit and don’t issue bills. As a result we are losing the habit of paying bills by cheque and when one comes along from CMOA, there is a tendency to put it to one side and deal with it later. Times goes on and we forget. The Treasurer then has to generate a reminder which costs time, money and effort and which could meet the same fate.

Payment by Card

We are all used to paying for our goods and services by card and your committee feels CMOA should embrace the same technology.

PayPal

CMOA cannot use the normal card payment service of Master Card & Visa, but can use a third party system through PayPal. It works in the same way as Master Card & Visa and you do not have to have a PayPal account or register.

It is proposed to have this facility in place before the end of March 2017. Members will then have the following payment systems available to choose from

• Online bank payment
• Online automatic renewal payment
• Paper – Bank Standing Order Form*
• Debit Card PayPal payment
• Personal Cheque

*Please find attached Bank Standing Order- Please quote your membership number.

Election of Officers

As required by CMOA constitution all committee members are required to stand down at the AGM and can if they wish stand for re-election.

Madam Chairman then began the election procedure and handed over to the Secretary to call for any nominations. As none were forthcoming Liz Ashenden was duly re-elected by acclaim as Chairman. The procedure was repeated for the other officers of CMOA and Madam Chairman called for a show of hands to re-elect officers willing to continue.  This was duly done and the officers were re-elected by acclaim.

The meeting was then advised that all existing site representatives with the exception of Simon Arkell who is standing down on health grounds are willing to serve on the committee. Madam Chairman called for additional representatives for Kenegie Manor – Tolroy Manor and Perran View to ensure the sites were presented at the Swindon meeting.

All sites representatives were then duly elected. Kay O’Neill kindly volunteered to represent Kenegie Manor and John Johnson volunteered to represent Tolroy Manor.

As there were no volunteers for Site Representatives for Perran View at the meeting, Madam Chairman is calling through the minutes on other members to step forward and help.

Committee 2016/17

Chairman                                 Elizabeth Ashenden

Vice Chairman                        Jean Tolchard

Secretary                                 David Lappin

Treasurer                                 Arthur Saunders

Site Representatives

Kenegie                                   Hazel Jones, Joy Polglase and Kay O‘Neill

Perran                                      Judith Hasell and Nick Muller

Tolroy                                      Christopher Nell, Jean Tolchard and John Johnson

St. Ives                                    Ted Hand, Jules Emery and Christopher Mitchell

Madam Chairman welcomed the new committee members.

List of Committee attached

Letting Income JFH/MJL (2014/2016)

Letting income figures were provided on a site by site basis showing the gross average income.

Owners          No. of owners letting              Average per owner

£                                                                      £

Perran

2016                          268,029                   38                                    7053.39

2015                          263,486                   36                                    7319.06

2014                          272,693                   40                                    6817.33

St Ives

2016                          424,046                   49                                    8654.00

2015                          424,438                   53                                    8008.26

2014                           328,543                  44                                    7466.89

Tolroy

2016                           622,831                  82                                    7595.50

2015                           615,639                  80                                    7695.49

2014                           624,890                  90                                    6943.22

 Kenegie

2016                         247,072                   32                                     7721.07

2015                         246,365                   35                                     7039.00

2014                          266,076                   36                                     7391.00

Billing & Vat

Members raised a number of issues concerning JFH accounts that could not be satisfactorily answered at the Spring meeting. The Secretary advised the meeting that he was now going to attempt an explanation, which was met with laughter.

JFH Accounts Statement Example

Unit     Amount     Surcharge      Commission     Cleaning     Linen    Rebate       Net (£)

A Unit      750.00           125.00             135.00            18.00            18.00                     454.00

The above are the columns as they appear on the statement.

• Amount This is the total amount charged for the holiday letting period.
• Surcharge This equates to VAT @ 20% and is a handling/admin charge.
• Commission 18% charge of total amount
• Cleaning Cost of cleaning excluding VAT.
• Linen Cost of cleaning excluding VAT.
• Net Amount due to owner.

The Secretary said he needed to wind the clock back to 2007 when the billing system was changed.  Trevor Healing – now retired CMOA Treasurer kindly carried out a detailed study on our behalf.

• In 2007 the commission charge was 22% of the letting charge
• In 2008 a handling/admin charge was introduced and equated to the then VAT rate of 17.5%
• The commission charge was reduced to 18% and linen plus cleaning charges reduced. In addition the facilities charge was dropped (only for owners using letting scheme)
• The handling/admin charge is now called “Surcharge” and is charged at the current VAT rate of 20% but is not a VAT levy.

A discussion then took place with members seeking further details as to why the charge is necessary in addition to the commission charge.

Madam Chairman and the Secretary will seek further clarification from JFH at the annual meeting in the New Year.

Kenegie owners should be aware that MJL accounts follow the same format.

The Secretary reminded the meeting that all services provided by both companies attracted VAT at 20%.  The only exception is Electricity at 5%.

Examples of charges which include VAT:

• Water/sewage
• Ground rent
• Service charges
• TV Licence
• Replacement/Damaged items

Tree Conservation and Management

Ted Hand made a presentation to the meeting on Cornwall’s environmental issue and how it is managed.

If Cornwall were a likened to a room it would have:

• Beautiful curtains
• Dull interior
• Not a lot of woodland
• There is only 5-7% woodland coverage
• Compared to parts of South East England 16-23%
• There have been complaints from some guests of trees causing the St Ives Holiday village to be dingy and affecting their breathing.
• Every tree on St Ives Holiday Village is under a preservation order
• They can only be felled/lopped with the express permission of Cornwall County Council.
• Trees can only be felled/lopped where they present a danger to life or property.
• The penalty for unauthorised felling/lopping – £20, 000.
• St Ives Holiday Village – a little gem of 100 acres of woods.
• St Ives Holiday Village Unique Selling point?
• Possibly the largest area of woodland in West Cornwall

Recruitment campaign

At the spring meeting the Secretary informed members of a recruitment campaign aimed at owners on JFH sites that who were not currently members of CMOA.  JFH kindly posted letters from CMOA inviting them to join.

Letters sent:

St. Ives                        38

Perran View                39

Tolroy Manor              96

New members recruited to date:

St. Ives                        6

Perran View                2

Tolroy Manor              10

Total                           18       

This represents a return of circa 10% which on the face of it doesn’t appear to be a success, however as this process has continued over a number of years a hard core of owners remain that need to be convinced of the benefits of membership.

Offsetting any gains is the loss of a member when they sell their property.  At this point the Secretary made a plea to all members for their help and support when they make a decision to sell and put CMOA at the top of their priority list when contracts are exchanged to advise the Treasurer or Secretary and also to provide contact details of the new owner.  CMOA will then invite them to join thus enabling the Association to grow and provide more services and benefits as well as keeping subscriptions down.

Wi-Fi

JFH contracted a company to provide Wi-Fi distribution on one of their Caravan Parks and if successful this would have been rolled to other Parks. Unfortunately considerable technical difficulties were encountered and the project was abandoned.  Other avenues are being pursued but it doesn’t look likely that Wi-Fi distribution will be on any of the sites soon.

Kenegie Wi-Fi

There is a solution on offer for Kenegie members and was discussed in greater detail at the Kenegie side meeting.

Website Review

The Secretary demonstrated the information and facilities on offer using a live site.

• When connecting to CMOA website it is better to use the full domain address and not use Google / FireFox / Safari etc. as the search engine. Some of them have compatibility issues. Use cornishmanor.co.uk
• Logging on

Email – Do not use your own email address – Use members@cornishmanor.co.uk

• Use the password provided by the Treasurer. Remember it only last for 1 year.

Members Section

Latest news

Any information appertaining to sites – legislation etc. affecting owners is reported here.

FAQ’s (Frequently asked Questions)

This portal contains CMOA Minutes dating back to 2005 as well as site and Chairman’s reports. It also contains other categories such as Service Providers – Property Selling Price Guide – CMOA Constitution etc.

If you wish to search for any topic, regulation, safety etc. then enter your question in the search box and press enter on the key board or done on your smart phone or tablet. Your search can be further refined using “find on page” on your Microsoft system options.

Forum

This is open for all members to use.  Members are encouraged to make a blog whenever they, friends or family visit their site. Tell other members what’s going on and keep us informed. Site reps will in future inform members whenever they have any meetings with the site management.  If a written report has been issued, it will be available in the FAQ section.

Making a forum blog

• Click on “New Question” enter your details
• Complete description box
• Choose a site or category
• Enter code
• Click “ Save” box

Contact

This section is for members use for queries, questions etc. Complete in the same way as for the Forum.

Side Meetings

St. Ives

Kevin and Carenza kindly provided a Q & A session for St. Ives owners.

Please refer to full report issued by Ted Hand

Kenegie

In the absence of a Kenegie representative the Secretary chaired the side meeting. The Secretary reported on the meeting held with Ed Newbold and attended by Madam Chairman.

• Wi-Fi – MJL can provide an ultra-high-speed internet distribution system for the entire site through BT Openreach. It will be a chargeable service which needs owners’ approval. The service can be in place before the start of the new season.
• Jet washing. Work has finally started on jet washing the paved areas and patios Weather permitting the work should be completed by March.
• Car Parking – Allocated spaces. During the summer parking became an issue as visitors and some owners did not use their allocated space, thus causing unnecessary obstruction for other vehicle owners. Car Parking numbers and line painting will be carried out over the winter period – weather permitting. The Park management will ensure that visitors are aware of the parking arrangements and those with more than one vehicle will be required to use the overspill areas.
• Owners Booking Portal – The lack of this facility has caused some irritation during the season. MJL advised they will be able to launch it in the spring.  CMOA hope to provide a demonstration to members at the Spring meeting, prior to it going live.
• 28 day rule – Some confusion arose when it was stated in MJL newsletter that owners could not use their properties for more than 28 days. The regulations have been clarified with MJL and the usage and letting rule remains unchanged.
• Getting Together – Ed Newbold and his staff are very keen to form closer ties with owners and as such would like to arrange a social evening. The problem is getting owners to Kenegie at the same time. A proposal is for Kenegie members who are attending the AGM to get together on the Friday preceding the AGM.

Please refer to Kenegie site report issued by Joy Polglase.

Tolroy

Gavin and Amy kindly chaired the Q & A session for Tolroy owners and were able to cover a wide range of topics.

Please refer to site report issued by Christopher Nell.

Some of the points discussed are as follows:

Heating

Owners are being asked to provide wall mounted heaters which are safer and neater than the current portable ones.

Painting

Tudor Court properties will be repainted over the winter period and a more durable paint will be used.

Outdoor Seating

Visitors often complain about the lack of outdoor seating outside the property.  This results in furniture being moved around and corresponding complaints from owners.  Owners who do not currently have benches or other suitable furniture are urged to supply them before the start of the 2017 season.  Gavin and Amy will provide the necessary information.

Mattresses

Poor quality mattresses are also causing complaints from visitors.  New mattresses should be to the following standard – Hotel Mattress BS 7177 Medium Hazard – Crib 5.

Tudor Court Car Park

Although the car park is need of resurfacing a sufficient budget has not been secured, however surface repairs will be carried out to ensure the surface remains more durable.

Perran

Matt kindly provided a Q & A session for Perran View owners.

Please refer to site reports issued by Judith Hasell, however some of the areas discussed are listed below.

Discounted Breaks – Some owners were unhappy with these discounts as it meant they could end up paying to subsidise a visitors’ stay.

Missing items in particular frying pans that appear to be used by visitors as a makeshift barbeque set and then discarded.

Cladding – a solution has now been found to improve the external décor on the pebble-dashed properties. The front façade can now be cladded with a self -coloured maintenance free cladding board.  The cost is circa £400 which is a one-off cost as no ongoing maintenance is required. Work has now begun and it is hoped that all owners will take advantage of the new look.

Main Car Park – Continues to be an issue as the surface does not improve with time and is in urgent need of attention. The Secretary will raise the issue again with Martyn Fowler at the annual meeting.

General Discussion

Ted Hand thanked those who attended the 25^th Celebration evening for donations and fund raising through the raffle which unfortunately only managed to raise £161.00, which was disappointing given that £1,000 was raised for RNLI at the 21^st Anniversary and proposed that CMOA donate a further £100.00 to charity.  Jean Tolchard Vice – Chairman proposed that CMOA should make it a round figure of £300.00 by adding the difference. The proposal was put to the meeting and duly carried. A further £15.00 was added by members of the committee.

Service Providers Booklet – The Secretary asked the meeting if they wished to receive the printed version of the Service Providers given that it was available 24/7 on CMOA website. A show of hands was called for with the majority preferring the online version.

AOB

As there was no other business to be discussed Madam Chairman closed the meeting and thanked all members and JFH staff as a well as a special congratulations to Gavin and Amy (Tolroy Managers) who will tie the knot on Saturday 12^th November 2016.

Next Meeting

A date for member’s diaries is the Spring meeting to be held at the Village Hotel Swindon on Sunday 19^th March 2017.