Phone: 07741 284132
Email: LanghamCC@gmail.com
LANGHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes of a Finance Committee Meeting
held on 26th October 2020 at 7.30pm on Zoom

Present
Alan Cadman, Maureen Shouksmith, Paul Armstrong, Liz Schofield, Peter Dawson, Sue Armstrong

Minutes of Previous Meeting on 15th June 2020
These had been approved by those present at the meeting and circulated to all Trustees.

Matters Arising
Floor protection under hand sanitiser dispensers
Perspex wall protectors have been installed, but a degree of stainage to walls and floors is unavoidable.
COVID revisions to standard hiring T&Cs
Sue has so far been through two major rounds of revisions in line with guidance provided by RCCE. Further guidance may follow on from the recent new COVID tiering system (Essex now in tier 2).
Cleaning of carpets and upholstered chairs
30 of our older plastic chairs have been re-introduced into service, to enable easy wiping down by hirers at the end of their sessions. (Thanks to Bob S, Cheryl and others for carrying the chairs across from storage in the Recreation Ground lock-ups). Cheryl undertakes further regular cleaning as well. Our padded chairs have been blocked off with marker tapes. Maureen and Sue noted good adherence to the new cleaning protocol by hirers.
Velux two-yearly maintenance
This was completed on schedule during the summer.
Flooring quotes
Following the approval of Ed Hyde’s quotation at the Trustee Meeting on 1st October, Sue has since spotted an oversight in the comparison information she provided at that time. Ed Hyde’s quote included a lower specification mat than the competing quotation – something she had not noticed at the time. Sue has now asked Ed for samples of the two different specification mats. If, as Sue expects, we feel that the higher specification mat is a worthwhile long-term investment, she will endeavour to negotiate a better price for this upgrade. Sue noted that Ed had provided good flooring advice and maintenance support in recent years, so she is keen to continue using him if possible. SA
Updating of maintenance plan
The need for a regular maintenance schedule for all of our water heaters was discussed at some length. Alan recommended an annual routine simple service/clean/inspection by a plumber, which should normally only require about 20 minutes per unit. There are now 5 units in place (2 in the Pre-School, 1 in the Shop, 1 in the Shop disabled toilet, and 1 much older unit in the Committee Room). Alan offered to organise one of his company plumbers to do the job, probably in December or January. Sue noted that for the Pre-School units, a post-3pm appointment would work best. Sue would now add this annual servicing to her overall maintenance schedule.
AC/SA
Manuals for water heating appliances
There was some uncertainty as to the current location of the user manuals for the new water heaters. Paul would liaise with the Shop and Pre-School and hopefully retrieve the manuals for reference storage in the old boiler room. PA

Renewal of Shop and Pre-School Leases
Alan had previously circulated to the Committee members, copies of the existing five-year leases that fall due for renewal in January 2021. He suggested that the existing monthly lease payments be left unchanged at renewal, on the basis that these figures probably continued to reflect what the two leaseholders could realistically afford to pay whilst remaining viable. This proposal needs to be put to all Trustees for discussion and agreement (or consideration of any counterproposals) prior to the lease renewals. A Trustee Meeting needs to be arranged for this purpose. A date of Thursday 19th November was proposed, using a Zoom at 7.30pm. Secretary to organise this. Sue confirmed that the Shop and Pre-School quinquennial electric tests were booked in with Chris from Future Electrical. PA

Existing Hirers and New Hirers
Sue explained that almost all of our regular club hires are currently dormant. Some are currently unable to meet due to government COVID restrictions. Some are legally allowed to meet in our COVID secure venue but do not yet feel comfortable doing so. Meanwhile there has been a steady stream of hire enquiries from potential new hirers (Karate Club for local children; Boxted Silver Band; two different Choirs; Little City infant play group etc.). This is increasingly going to cause potential timeslot conflicts between new and regular hirers. It raises the question of how long we can “reserve” historic timeslots for existing hirers, versus the need to bring in new hires to maintain some revenue in these difficult times.
Taking the example of Bridge Club (dormant Monday evening hire) and Karate Club (new temporary Monday night hire), Sue has negotiated a temporary hire for them on Monday evenings through to April 2021, after which the situation will be reviewed if Bridge Club are able and ready to return at that point. Other such potential timeslot conflicts look likely to arise over time if COVID restrictions drag on. It was agreed that we should endeavour to establish a clear policy that ensures that all regular hirers are treated fairly and consistently in these difficult times.
Maureen & Liz therefore suggested that we allow any new regular bookings a guaranteed slot until end of April 2021, to give new clubs a chance to get established. The situation could then be reviewed again towards the end of this six-month period. This proposal also needs to be put to all Trustees for discussion and agreement (or consideration of any counterproposals).

Chairman’s Report
Alan has recently been in touch with our Solicitors to initiate the lease renewal process. He has continued to chase the insurance claim for the vandalism affecting the LCC roof and security cameras, but the insurers are being very slow and unhelpful. This is in marked contract to their helpfulness with a previous claim – reasons for this are currently unclear.
Alan has also organised the cleaning of the car park drains ahead of the outside Autumn Fair held on 25th October. This had proved a timely intervention in view of the heavy rain that fell during the early morning of the Fair! Liz thanked Alan for his efforts and all concurred.
Further discussion ensued about the state of the drains and ditches in the vicinity of the LCC, and maintenance responsibilities associated with these. Sadly, there is a long history of neglect and infilling of local drainage ditches. Peter reported that the drains had been inspected by cameras last year, with tree root ingress being noted close to the Pre-School. Maureen asked where the responsibility lay for drains on the LCC grounds and Peter & Alan confirmed that we have responsibility for drains under our own grounds.
It was noted that Anglian Water had recently dug up our Car Park (with no prior consultation) around a drainage manhole in our grounds close to the boundary hedge. Liz Winter had spoken to one of the workers who apparently said that they had “consulted the Council” prior to undertaking the work. It was unclear which level of Council was being referred to; certainly the Parish Council were not consulted though. The car park surface was promptly re-instated after the work was completed. It is currently assumed that the work related in some way to the current construction of the new Langham Oaks School – but that leaves open the question of why they would need to work on private LCC drains within our grounds? It was agreed that Kier needed to be approached for further clarity on what had happened.
AC/PA

Treasurer’s Report
Maureen had circulated her report in advance of the meeting and there were no specific questions on it. She will continue to monitor the volatile month-by-month financial situation, but at present a monthly loss of about £1,000 looks likely going forward.
With the recent move of Essex into “Tier 2” restrictions, there may be the possibility of further local government hardship grants being made available.
It was noted that Cygnet (ex-Danshell) bookings remain very subdued at the moment.
Liz expressed her strong approval for the sentiments of the last two sentences of Maureen’s report.

Marketing Manager’s Report
Sue ran briefly through the report that she had shared in advance of the meeting.
There followed some discussion about usage of the LCC car park. Both Maureen and Suzanne Dawson have recently witnessed small groups of cars using the car park as a starting point for walking excursions by groups of walkers. Sue doubted that these were official Ramblers expeditions as they have in the past been very considerate in making prior contact regarding car park usage. One of the recent walkers apparently commented that the LCC Car Park was “advertised” on a walker’s website as a provider of free public parking. Paul undertook to do some googling to see if he could identify the offending website.
PA
Peter noted that Dedham Parish Council make ~£30k pa revenue from managed car parking in their village. The flip side is the significant management organisation and expense. Liz wondered whether we should consider erecting donation signs at the car park entrance. It was agreed that Langham’s situation is very different from Dedham’s. Our priority should be to work together to minimise overload and overspill onto the public highway verges. Revenue generation is very much a secondary consideration.
It was noted that the new Langham Oaks School across the road has a very good size car park. Going forwards there may be opportunities to collaborate in managing peaks of car parking demand.
The new headmaster for Langham Oaks has recently been confirmed (first name Simon). Peter plans to meet him after half-term to introduce himself and the Parish Council. There is the possibility of establishing stronger community links, with Langham Oaks pupils being encouraged to undertake community projects within the village. Liz suggested that it might be good to try and encourage village headmasters to become LCC Trustees.

Any Other Business
Sue reported that following the success of the recent Autumn Fair in the car park, Charlotte Parker was planning a further Christmas Market on 29th November. Sue would liaise with her and also Maria at the Pre-School, to try to maximise the potential for a joint community event. Sue noted that the Community Shop had donated £100 to LCC funds from the proceeds of the Autumn Fair, and she proposed a vote of thanks which all agreed with. SA
Peter had recently approached Sue with a view to erecting a new noticeboard on the wall between the Shop and the Pre-School. The purpose of the new board would be to display semi-permanent community notices such as bus timetables, refuse collection schedules etc. A new board was required to alleviate pressure on Parish Council noticeboards following the move towards a larger number of publicly reported meetings (Parish Council Sub-Committee Meetings as well as full Parish Council Meetings). The proposed board design would be the same as two boards already on display facing the car park. Alan liked the idea. Liz wondered whether the current notice board location by the wooden gates would get better exposure. Maureen was nervous about the aesthetics of the increasing number of boards on the LCC walls, and wanted to have a look around to assess this further. SA/PD
Sue reported that a new improved LCC website had just been made live, kindly built for us by Louise Armstrong. Sue proposed a vote of thanks to Louise for her hard work, which was agreed.

Date of Next Meetings
The next Finance Committee Meeting was arranged for Monday 7th December at 7.30pm by Zoom.
The next Trustee Meeting was proposed for Thursday 19th November at 7.30pm by Zoom. Paul will issue the initial invitation to all Trustees. Peter kindly offered to allow us to use his personal paid Zoom account to host this meeting, in view of the large number of attendees and the potential problems of drop-out and re-connection after 40 minutes on a free Zoom.
PA/PD
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 9.30pm.
How To Find Us
Langham Community Centre, School Rd, Langham, Colchester CO4 5PA
Get In Touch
07741 284132
LanghamCC@gmail.com
About Us
The Langham Community Centre was opened in June 1988 and has been serving local village residents and other commercial hirers ever since.

We are based at the heart of Langham Village, with easy access from the A12.
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