MINUTES OF THE 48th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE DULWICH SOCIETY held on Monday 23rd May 2011 at The Crown & Greyhound.
PRESENT:
President (Chairman): HH. Michael Rich QC.
Vice-Presidents: Marion Gibbs, Peter Lawson, and approx 45 members.
The members were welcomed by the President who announced he was not standing for re-election as he was leaving Dulwich and proposed:
ELECTION OF PRESIDENT: Dr.Colin Niven (long a resident of Dulwich, educated at Dulwich College & former headmaster of Alleyn’s School). The Meeting confirmed the appointment unanimously.
PRESENTATION: A presentation was made to Michael Rich made, with sincere thanks by Ian McInnes for Michael’s support, advice and enthusiasm over the 10 years he had served as President (and previously a Vice-President) including chairing the committee which spearheaded the Edward Alleyn statue project.
Dr.Niven took the Chair, and thanked the Society for his election
APOLOGIES:
Vice-Presidents: HH Michael Goodman & Dr. J.Spence.
Vice-Chairman: Dr.K.Wolfe; Alastair Hanton, Jill Manuel.
MINUTES of the 47th AGM
The meeting was held on 25th May 2010 – the minutes were previously available on the Society’s website and at the meeting. The minutes were approved and there were no matters arising.
These were previously available on the Society’s website and at the meeting. These were summarised by the relevant Committee member as follows:
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT: (Ian McInnes)
The report was highlighted by a power point presentation.
Particular points made included:
The Dulwich Estate is continuing to publish the planning applications under the Scheme of Management, and its decisions, monthly on the website, which the Society had pressed for.
The Society had given £5000 to assist in setting up a charity to run the Herne Hill Velodrome.
The Society promoted six successful Cleaner, Greener, Safer funded projects from Southwark including two benches in Dulwich Village, improvements to gate to Cox’s Walk, Red Post Hill fingerpost, re-turfing part of the Village verge and the new boundary fence on the South Circular to the Marlborough Cricket Club. All work had been completed, and the refurbishment of part of Roseberry Lodge was in hand.
Other projects we have been involved with in included the refurbishment of College Road Lodge, the improvements to the carpark and the new changing rooms at Belair, the zelkova tree and saving the tulip trees opposite the Gallery.
All these activities would not be possible without the hard work and advice from the members of the Executive and Sub-Committees.
SECRETARY’S REPORT: (Patrick Spencer)
The Executive Committee met 9 times
We were saddened by the death of Ken Jeffries who had been the honorary auditor for 42 years, from the founding of the Society until 2006.
We were represented at the dedication on 19th March of the restored War Memorial at Dulwich Hospital which we had campaigned for; we have also had a bench installed nearby.
Similarly, we were present on Remembrance Sunday when the bench in Dulwich Village was dedicated to the memory of Lt.Mark Evison.
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY’S REPORT: (Wilf Taylor)
Membership remained at just under 1100 with 58 new members joining. We received £2590.83 in Charity Gift Aid.
PLANNING & ARCHITECTURE GROUP: (David Roberts)
Monthly visits were made to the offices of the Dulwich Estate to inspect licence applications (approx 340), and appropriate comments submitted.
An important planning application was for a new Community Music Centre at JAGS which we supported subject to adequate parking being provided.
The 5 year battle to have the listed wall in Red Post Hill rebuilt was finally won and the construction appears to be of excellent quality.
We have been involved with work in Gallery Road relating to the installation of lamp posts, kerbs, and parking bays.
We are in the process of preparing an Architectural Poster Map of the area for publication.
TRAFFIC & TRANSPORT SUB-COMMITTEE: (Adrian Hill on behalf of Alastair Hanton)
We continue to work for the improvement of the environment, road safety, facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, and better public transport.
The Herne Hill junction, with which we have been very actively involved, has been virtually completed and seems to be a great improvement. More minor works at the Village Way/Red Post Hill junction were also completed successfully.
Improvements have been made to the timetable of the evening train service to/from North Dulwich Station and London Bridge.
We are keen to support the new Car Club (by which registered members may hire a car for a short period).
Several questions were asked by members including pedestrian safety under the railway bridge at Herne Hill, a proposed railway telecoms mast at Sydenham Hill station to improve train safety and the layout of the junction at Court Lane/Calton Avenue.
LOCAL HISTORY GROUP: (Bernard Nurse)
About 70 people attended the unveiling of the red signpost at the head of Red Post Hill which commemorates the original post which gave the road its name, and was an unusual feature in London.
The annual walk was led by Brian Green along the Sydenham Hill ridge; a later walk led by Brian and Stephen Humphrey was in the Bankside area featuring places associated with Edward Alleyn, including the excavated remains of the Rose Theatre where Harvey Sheldon, the archaeologist involved, gave a talk.
We were saddened at the death of Mary Boast, one of the sub-committee’s longest serving members; she had been Local Studies Librarian for Southwark and author of local guides and histories; a road in Camberwell has been named after her.
An increasing number of articles have appeared in our Journal of local historic subjects, both on buildings and individuals.
GARDEN GROUP: (John Ward)
5000 copies distributed of ‘Dulwich Gardens open for Charity’ and the information and publicity were warmly received by the garden owners and visitors.
Successful events included visits to Leonardslee and Buckingham Palace Gardens, and a talk on auriculars.
TREES SUB-COMMITTEE: (Stella Benwell on behalf of Jill Manuel):
After years of discussion action had to be take,n on the grounds of safety, to cut back the Zelkova tree at the junction of College Road and the South Circular. It was reduced from 100ft to some 20ft with the hope that it will produce new growth.
It was contended that several trees on the east side of College Road were causing subsidence and we fought to preserve these, and this resulted in the construction of a root barrier outside No.11.
A walk in Peckham Park was poorly attended as the weather was foul but a successful visit was made to Sheffield Park and Nymans.
The beech grove we had planted in the Horniman Triangle has suffered under adverse weather conditions.
The Tree Map continues to sell well.
WILDLIFE GROUP: (Angela Wilkes)
We commissioned a number of plant and wildlife surveys in Dulwich Park and Gallery Road. Also we noted the continued presence of owls in Belair Park and Dulwich Woods.
Grants were applied for to install nesting boxes for owls and swifts, and we supported a successful grant bid of £10,000 from the Dulwich Community Council for work on Belair lake. Six disease-resistant English Elm whips were planted in the Gallery Road area.
We have been consulted to advise Natural England on visitor access to Sydenham Hill Woods and the damage caused by over use by professional dog walkers.
TREASURER’S REPORT: (Russell Lloyd ACA)
Audited Accounts for 2010 were circulated. Total income was £18,843, an increase from the previous year of £1,257, principally due to the increased number of subscriptions.
Expenditure was £13,489, a reduction of £1,474. We made donations of £10,521 (previous year £1,873) resulting in a loss in the year of £5,167 (the profit in previous year was £750).
The net bank account balances at the end of the year were £24,545 (previous year £25,690).
Donations in the year were:
Herne Hill Velodrome Trust £5000.
Marlborough CC fence £2250.
Dulwich Hospital war memorial landscape & bench £1000.
Complete Ecology £206.
Architectural Map of Dulwich (on account) £1965.
South London Botanical Trust £100.
Approval of the Accounts was proposed and seconded and passed by the Meeting.
We are very grateful to our Honorary Auditor, Sally-Ann Jeffries, who was re-appointed.
AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION:
Notice as required had been published in the Journal that Rule 6 should be changed to allow an increase in the number of Honorary Vice-Presidents to be elected from the present number of 6 to 10. No objection being made to this, the amendment was confirmed by the Meeting.
ELECTIONS FOR 2011/12:
The following, having been proposed and seconded, were elected:
Officers:
Chairman: Ian McInnes
Vice-Chairman: Kenneth Wolfe
Hon.Secretary: Patrick Spencer
Hon.Treasurer: Russell Lloyd
Membership Sec: Wilf Taylor
Executive Committee:
Brian Green Journal Editor
Alastair Hanton Traffic & Transport Sub-committee
David Roberts Planning & Architecture Group
Jill Manuel Trees Sub-committee
Angela Wilkes Wildlife Sub-committee
John Ward Gardens Group
Bernard Nurse Local History Group
Sue Badman
Bill Higman
Adrian Hill
Vice-Presidents:
Ian Dejardin MA
Marion Gibbs BA Mlit
HH. Michael Goodman
Peter Lawson FRIBA, FRSA
HH. Michael Rich QC
Dr. Joseph Spence.
On behalf of the Society Ian McInnes thanked Barbara Richardson, who had stood down, for her contribution to the Executive Committee, and welcomed Sue Badman. We have not lost the services of Michael Rich who becomes a Vice-President. After many years organising the distribution of the Journal and the advertising, Margaret McConnell had decided to step down and the Society owes her a great debt of gratitude.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS:
Appreciation was expressed for the Society’s donation towards the development of the Herne Hill Velodrome.
Michael Rich, who had installed a bench alongside the front boundary of his house for the benefit of passengers awaiting a bus, confirmed that he was donating this piece of ground to Southwark on his vacation of the property to ensure the continued benefit of this amenity.