AGM - 2007
CRAIGPARK RESIDENT’S ASSOCIATION
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
HELD ON WEDNESDAY 30TH MAY, 2007 AT CRAIGHALL PRIMARY SCHOOL
1.WELCOME
Peter Heritage, acting Chairman of the Association, welcomed the residents to the meeting and thanked them for their attendance, which reflected their interest in the issues that concerned our suburbs. He gave a warm welcome to our guest speakers, namely, Bobby Godsell, Senior Superintendent Nanda Moodley of the Parkview Police Precinct, Councillor Ian Ollis, our ex-Councillor Judy Stockhill and Kate Henry of the Rosebank Gazette.Peter Heritage then introduced himself to the meeting and explained his role of acting chairperson. It had been agreed that until a new chairperson could be found, the existing committee had decided to rotate the chair amongst themselves, on a one/two month’s duration basis. John Turpin who had been a most conscientious Chairman for 6 years had sadly tended his notice with effect end April 2007.The chair then explained the information pack handed to all attendees, containing an agenda, minutes of the previous AGM, a financial statement and a question form. Should there not be time to answer questions, anyone could write down their question, which would be dealt with by the committee at a later stage. A plea was made to ensure that everyone had registered their attendance, as contact details were vital.
2.APOLOGIES
Apologies were noted.
3.APPROVAL OF 2006 MINUTES
The Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting, held on 21st June 2006 were proposed by Bill Haslam and seconded by Mike Holgate.
4.CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
John Turpin presented his report to the meeting, which he explained would be posted on the CRA Website in the next 48 hours. He thanked Bobby Godsell, a local resident, for agreeing to speak, as well as Senior Superintendent Nanda Moodley who has been a good friend of the community. He also welcomed Councillor Ian Ollis, ex-ward Councillor Judy Stockhill, senior personnel from security companies ADT and SAS, Kate Henry of the Rosebank Gazette, Craig Pretorius from Town Planning, as well as Fran Haslam from the CPF. John Turpin went on to say that many obstacles had been overcome during the last year concerning crime but that it needed to be sustained in order to be effective.We all need to be proactive in combating crime.We had entered into an agreement with ADT & SAS but additional funding had to be found from residents who had not joined in the scheme in order to have another security vehicle in our area. He then briefly summarised the activities and progress made in the town planning; environment; traffic; communications; community affairs and membership portfolios. He gave thanks to the committee that had supported him during his tenure as chairman and was happy that he was leaving the CRA in good shape. For the full report, go to http://www.cra.org.za/chairman_report2007.htm
5.BOBBY GODSELL.CEO ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI
The Chairman introduced Bobby Godsell who gave us a most informative talk on how to deal with crime.He mentioned how New York - crime ridden in the 80s - had become a safer city due to strong leadership.We all had to get involved and become proactive. He made us aware that in our country at this time there were four working groups which had started “Business against Crime”. These groups were headed by prominent business people such as Roy Anderson, Larry Dippenaar, Mark Lamberti and Doug Band, each working with top government personnel on specific aspects of crime prevention. He discussed the causes of crime and how we should take fear, turn it around and take responsibility.
6.SUPERINTENDENT NANDA MOODLEY, SAPS PARKVIEW PRECINCT
Superintendent Moodley reported on his views of crime in the precinct.His precinct covered 57 sq kms, encompassing some 16 000 households and 198 000 people. He said that there was a lack of community involvement. Crime is the responsibility of everyone. There was a need to report incidents to the police. He had a problem with shortage of staff and cars to deal with the problems. Mention was made of the good assistance rendered by the Parkview CPF.He also stressed the need for everyone to report corruption and poor service. He concluded by paying tribute to John Turpin, who had provided professionalism and commitment to the community.7.PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Heidi Kerwan, the CRA Treasurer, gave a brief insight into the finances of the CRA. There being no queries, the financial statements were accepted by the present forum.
8.ELECTION OF COMMITTEE/OFFICE BEARERS FOR 2007/8
The Chair then introduced the current committee members.Lee Whitfield, Roly Meyer and Bianca for Town Planning, Blyth Thompson and John Turpin (until end August) for Security, Paulette Malcolm for Environment, Russ Smith on Community Affairs, Wendy McAllister in Communications, Peter Heritage for Traffic and Sarah James the CRA Secretary. These committee members had all agreed, if elected, to stand for another year. The gathered forum proposed and seconded their “en masse” re-election. At this point the Chair paid tribute to Heidi Kerwan, Treasurer and Jill Weldon, Membership who had worked tirelessly over the years, but had now resigned their portfolios.
Moving to vacancies, the Chair explained that there were a number of portfolios which had positions to be filled. He asked if there were any specific nominations from the floor or was there anyone in the audience who would volunteer their services. After due process, Richard King, Mike Wilmot and Philip Bond were elected to the committee in the Security portfolio, Chris Taylor to Environment. Harry Rosen was elected to a position yet to be decided. Several other individuals had offered off- committee assistance and names were recorded.
9.QUESTION TIME
A few questions from the floor were dealt with by the committee during the time available.
10.CLOSE MEETING
Peter Heritage said that the CRA was a strong Association, which in spite of the problem of not having a permanent Chairperson at present, would not be allowed to collapse. Thanks were extended to all those who had contributed to a successful meeting, including the guest speakers, and requested all attendees to encourage all other residents to become members of the association.
The meeting closed at 21h25.
