Blackheath Village Society Minutes 4th July 2023

Minutes of the Meeting Held at Theobalds on 4 July 2023

Present : David, Anne, Paul, Max, Simon, Laura, Ralph and David Bushill (verges and flooding).

Apologies : Charlie

1. The minutes of the meeting held on 22nd May 2023 were approved with the following matters arising :

a) The Village Hall - Simon has not spoken to Stephen Briggs and at the village hall AGM no volunteers offered to be the liaison between the village hall and the BVS.  Simon will ask the Secretary of the village hall whether he is interested.
b) The Village Fair - It was agreed that we will hold the village fair on alternate years.  Perhaps a different event can be held during the intervening years, like a ball similar to the cricket club or a street party.  This will be discussed in the future.
c) Accounts - The correct accounts for 2022 were presented and agreed.  Paul will ask Charlie to publish these on our website and Anne will send the appropriate figures to the Charity Commission.
d) The vans parked in Blackheath Lane has not been resolved.  Various ideas were discussed by the committee and options were suggested.  These included offering the owner slightly more than he paid for the site and letters will be drafted for both James Herbert and Michael Goodridge together with letters from the BVS and TWM Solicitors.  Simon will organise the various communications including letter from the BVS and will keep the local residents in the immediate vicinity updated with our proposals.

2. Village Fair
Max completed all of the figures on 23rd May and since then there have been a few minor updates and he will distribute the final figures to the rest of the committee.  Profits were in the region of £8,000 for the event.  The following contributions are agreed at the meeting:
£500 The Abbey
£500 Wonersh & Shamley Green School
£100 Wonersh Scouts
£750 The Ukraine Appeal Charity
£1,000 Cricket Club
£500 Village Hall
£200 St Martin’s Church
Paul will write out the appropriate cheques for signature and distribution.

It was agreed that due to the lower levels of profit from this year’s fair that there is no requirement at this stage to set up an independent BVS finance committee.  We will be focusing on payments to improve the verges, flooding, village signs, and traffic calming posts as a priority.

3. Coronation Party
It was confirmed that we broke even and agreed that this was a very successful event.

4. Summer Party
It was agreed that we will hold this on Monday 28 August 2023 from 1pm to 5pm. We will arrange games and rounders (Colin and Jackie Hayward) with music from Ralph and arrange the usual BBQ (pork and sausages).  Games will include football and tug of war which David will organise.  Paul will book the Punch and Judy/magician and this year we will include raffle tickets with appropriate prizes. Beer will be arranged through the cricket club and other beverages - the BVS will also provide Pimms and all residents will be asked to make a donation of £5 per head with children free. Everyone will bring either a salad or pudding as usual.  

David will speak to Charlie and put together the various bullet points in order that a flyer can be produced and distributed to the village as soon as possible.

4. Verges
David Bushill joined the meeting and presented the committee with a suggested plan how to deal with the flooding from the top of Blackheath Lane, Littleford Lane and Sampleoak Lane. It was proposed that before we can consider repairing the verges we must engage with Surrey Council Council to resolve the flooding issue.

David suggested it included two soakaway’s on either side of the crossroads on land managed by Waverley Borough Council and this would result in far less water passing down through the village to the usual flooding point close to Rose Cottage.  It was also suggested that a further soakaway would be located on the common land adjacent to Rose Cottage which again will require permission from Waverley Borough Council.

Max is already in contact with Surrey Council Council and both David and Max will arrange to meet the engineers to discuss our options and this will include a discussion with local residents to maintain the ditches that run underneath their driveways in Blackheath Lane.

This will be dealt with urgently and further discussions will include the repair and replacement of the posts, village signs, and how we can rebuild the verges in the village.

5. Village Hall
There is no further update.

6. Cricket Club
Simon reported that the Summer Ball was very successful and made a profit of nearly £17,000 needed for refurbishment work and new equipment.

Simon confirmed that cricket week will be in the first week in August and this will be included on the BVS website.  There are further three more Friday training nights for this season.

7. Any Other Business
a) Rosemary Hill Memorial Fund - This presently stands at £2,297 and has been ring fenced within the accounts of the BVS. Colin Hayward asked members of the committee independently whether any more bank interest could be raised from these funds and was assured that the funds are for exclusive use of the repair and upkeep of the memorial fund. We will include this on our website which will then enable residents to contribute to the fund if they wish.
b) It was confirmed that the "This Way That Way” sign will be refurbished and designed by Peter Walshaw.

8. Next Meeting - It was agreed this would be held at Theobalds at 7.30pm on 1 August 2023.
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Blackheath Village Society
http://www.blackheathsurrey.co.uk
Tel: 01483 790000 Mob: 07768850003 Email: paul@bil.uk.com
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