Minutes of the Annual General Meeting November 15th 2022

Published by Joy Dobie on 27th November 2022

1. The chairman welcomed those present and thanked everyone
   for coming, as the meeting is quorate, and was delighted that
   the President is able to attend. It is now 53rd year of the
   Berwickshire Civic Society.
2. Apologies were received from:
   Will Ramsey, Bridget Darling, Georgina Home-Robertson, Simon Furness, Martin and Sue Bates, Caroline Douglas-Home, James Sherriff, David Long, Shelagh Townsend-Rose, David and Linda Hedley, Diana Higham, Barbara Morris. Also Richard Blake, Jim Stobo, Rebecca Fraser, and Carol Jefferson Davies all of whom are in favour of Resolutions 1 & 2.
3. Report from the Chairman is in the form of the newsletter (hard
   copies distributed and it has been sent by email to all
   members and is on the website). Brian explained that he had
   stepped in the chair for legal reasons. He thanked Hugo Burge
   for his support hosting the 50th Anniversary event in May. It
   has resulted in increase of interest in the society and new
   members joining. Adrian and Gail Smith have joined, giving the
   Society a new direction. There is a new strap-line “Everything
   that was, is, and will be Berwickshire” and the new project ‘A
   Flag for Berwickshire’ will take off soon. Unfortunately Philip
   Tibbetts was unable to attend the meeting but Adrian will give
   a presentation shortly. On the planning front, 96 consultations
   have been made this year of which 90 were uncontentious. A
   couple of plans have been opposed with a very strong
   objection and one in particular has been rescinded. Two
   members have recently volunteered to help with the planning
   consultations.
4. Treasurer’s Report: Derek reported that there was £4962.61 in
   the bank account on 15th November. There had been relative inactivity over a long period. The Society has been in contact with OSCR, 3 years of accounts have been independently signed off by BAVS and have been submitted to OSCR recently. The accounts were formally adopted with the minutes of the previous AGM by Brigid, Lady McEwen and seconded by Adrian Smith.
5. There have been no applications received for anyone to join
   the board and no complaints. The board was re-elected
   without opposition.
6. The society’s constitution was signed by 2nd Earl of Haig, it is
   out-of date and unfit for the society. BP will draft a new
   constitution which will be inclusive and diverse and will allow
   an electronic voting system. Resolution 1: ‘that there
   constitution and rules of the Society be revised and redrafted
   in accordance with modern best practise’ was proposed by
   Brian Payne and seconded by Jill McColl, nobody objected,
   nobody abstained so the resolution was carried unanimously.
   The membership will be able to see the revised
   constitution and comment on it before it is adopted. Resolution
   2: ‘that the Management Committee approve and operate
   under the revised constitution until such time as it can be
   formally adopted by a vote of the membership’ was proposed
   by Brian Payne and seconded by Alexandra Richards. It was
   also carried unanimously. Hugo Burge asked if there were any
   charming quirks in the present constitution and as Brian had
   the document to hand, he cited a couple of examples.
7. AOB: There was no formal business but a discussion took
   place on how Berwickshire could get into the minds of under
   30’s and make them feel a strong sense of identity
   to Berwickshire. Derek suggested the newly created
   Berwickshire Alliance, BAVS and any organisation using
   Berwickshire in their name e.g. Berwickshire High School.
   Adrian Smith suggested reinventing the role of awards,
   especially in community youth groups. He suggested that the
   Scottish Civic Society would help as it is the umbrella for 150
   societies in Scotland all working towards new civic roles. Judy Torrance reminded the meeting of the Civic Society’s ‘Keep Berwickshire Tidy’ awards which involved the community councils. The meeting closed at 8.02 followed by a break before a presentation by Adrian Smith about the new project and competition for ‘A Flag for Berwickshire’. He explained the benefits of having a flag for Berwickshire: a symbol to make communities proud of living in Berwickshire, an external branding of Berwickshire for anyone to use including businesses, and a contribution to the rich patchwork of existing flags which help preserve and promote Scotland. The rules for the design of the flag are that it is a simple and bold design, that it agrees with the heraldic laws and there is no conflict with other flag designs, personal, national or regional. The Berwickshire News have given the society their support. This means that anyone can compete either through their newspaper, online or on their social media pages. A shortlist will be made from the entries and the final decision will be made by public vote. Adrian and Brian were thanked for their IT skills.