25th January 2015

Post date: Feb 24, 2015 7:5:0 PM

Minutes of the North Chelmsford Community Trust held on 25^th January 2015

Present Stephen Robinson (SR) Chair; Rev Paul Greenland (PG) Treas; Lynne Foster (LF) Sec; Jude Deakin (JD), Daniel Kenning (DK)

Apologies Jill Smith Hughes

Treasurer's report – Still waiting for HM Revenue & Customs to issue a statement re NCCT being a charity; once we get that we can create a bank account. This is proving a catch 22 situation.

Chairman's report – A decision on the St Peters site has been postponed while the requirements of special needs schools are reviewed again. Late Spring/early summer is earliest we can expect a decision.

Daniel Kenning (DK) was welcomed to the meeting to present his ideas for the site. DK set up Splendid Engineering to advise businesses on sustainability. DK is looking for a base for micro businesses. He and a couple of others are at the Ideas Hub presently but will need more permanent base. It was agreed that this would fit with concept of North Chelmsford Community Hub.

The Trustees agreed to invite DK to Trustee meetings as an adviser provided he did not participate in matters where he may have a conflict of interest as regards use of buildings.

It was agreed to look for existing buildings where the services of a Community Hub could begin - and then move into when new premises built on St Peters site. A couple of suggestions were made, including the old pavilion at the Sport & Athletics centre and the old Melbourne police station.

Parish councils The Trust had previously considered the idea of backing a parish council for the area. As a result of changing rules it had become easier to create parishes. After the election in May it might be possible to create a parish council for North Chelmsford. One advantage of this would be access to Community Infrastructure monies arising from new developments and ensuring they are spent locally.

The three main grant applications that SR had made had been turned down. The ‘Chelmsford Grand award’ application was pending, in part because the council like to have three similar projects to put to public vote upon and nothing else like ours is pending.

Signing up members SR had sent an email to all 66 prospective members of the Trust who had given their email addresses but not paid yet. He gave out lists of people to be phoned and asked to join and make a donation. JSH, JD and LF for action

Other local groups Outstanding action for LF was to draft a letter to possible interested local organisations. LF would have another go at identifying relevant organisations via Essex Connect at the CSVA.

Time and date of next meeting Tuesday 24^th Feb 9.30 am at St Andrews.