Minutes of KCDC AGM 14/01/2020, 19.30 @ Iona Gallery
Directors present:- IM, KD, EL, LC, AB, GS, JM
Apologies:- Bob Kinnaird, Anne Cruickshank, John Patchett, Ann Traill, John Russell and Gregor Rimmell.
IM welcomed everyone to the meeting, and appreciated the large turnout.
The minutes of the previous AGM (November 2018) were approved.
Financial Report – LC introduced Peter Graham of Goldwells
PG commented that accounts are 17 pages long! Summarized:-
Income (mainly from Hydro) £13,952, of which £11,650 from SSE & £2,300 from KGC.
Hydro costs – £2,700 for new screen & other repairs.
CFK grant income £36,600 – grants of £1,360, £10,300 & £10,000. £36,700 spent up to end Aug 2019.
Other income was from subs & donations, E-bike hire, book sales.
Depreciation £13,440 (writing off cost of hydro scheme).
Also e-bikes will depreciate to nil over 5 years.
Balance sheet – Assets = Hydro, e-bikes, electric meter reader. Liabilities = £2,271 electricity generated but not paid for yet. Creditors = accountants & HMRC.
£35,700 in bank account, of which £19,200 set aside for CFK. £16,450 unrestricted funds from hydro scheme.
Grants awarded from Hydro Fund – £2,500 to KGC, £500 to Roots & Shoots, £400 to K Dallas, £216 for ‘apple tree man’ workshop, £500 for clock tower repairs, £1,500 for tennis club.
Expenditure – printing costs, CFK, etc.
LC added that finances are divided into 3 sections. CFK (distorts the figures); hydro generates about £11k p.a.; running costs of KCDC.
December newsletter had a good response for subscriptions/donations.
PG reminded KCDC that he needs details of any new directors.
A question was raised re membership – could renewal be automatic, e.g. by standing order. This was deemed to be a good idea & will be investigated.
LC advised that that some of the hydro income is diverted to KCDC main account to cover hydro costs such as VAT, etc.
The accounts wee approved.
Goldwells re-appointed as accountants for next year.
IM thanked PG.
Election of Directors – IM
AB, GS, LC, BK, IM retire this year under directorship rules. All reappointed.
IM paid tribute to Andy Dunn, who retired as director in2019, for all his hard work & enthusiasm.
IM advised that any members may offer themselves up for election. Two people put themselves forward – Dick Webster & Eileen Stuart – and were accepted.
IM brought up the subject of subscriptions, which have been held at £2 for many years. He recommended that we retain @ £2. Agreed.
Hydro Grants – LC
Income from Hydro is £11-13k per annum. Of this, £2k is set aside as contingency funds. LC explained the concept of the hydro grants again.
Grants given in 2019:-
£1,500 to tennis club for roof. Moira explained why they requested the grnat & what it was used for. She thanked KCDC.
£216 to Sulekha Millar for lecture by ‘apple tree man’.
£500 to CFK towards purchase of e-bikes.
£2,500 to KGC to repair frontage of golf clubhouse. LC described the work required, which is still a work in progress.
£400 to K Dallas for Chatterbox after-school club.
Grant to Caberfeidh Horizons for production of paths network maps, which have been very popular with visitors. Caroline explained that CNPA had offered £500 if matched. KCDC matched & a lot of leaflets have been produced. If any B&Bs, etc., would like supplies, please come to the bookshop & collect. Caroline thanked KCDC.
£500 to Malcolm Thain for repairs to the clock tower. Malcolm explained that he took on the maintenance of the clock tower himself years ago. The roof is leaking & 2 spotlights were not working. The roof has not been repaired yet but has acquired quotes & is still waiting for the work to start. He has now spoken to another contractor who will hopefully get it sorted. 2 of the floodlights were not working, and beyond repair – these have been replaced so the clock tower is now nicely lit up again.
£2,500 to Kingussie Business Forum re initiative for Kingussie website. The site is now live but no subsections yet. Some editing & more photos are needed. KCDC section needs to be discussed. There will also be an events section & link to the Badenoch Great Place project. KCDC was thanked for the grant.
£400 to Jenny Shepherd for the kids Christmas party. Jenny reported that it went very well. They have so far spent £246, part of which was used to purchase a speaker & microphone which she advised is available for anyone in Kingussie to use.
£2,500 to Camanachd Cup fund. John Robertson gave an update, saying that they are planning a lot of events over the year, because they think the whole area should benefit from the additional visitors, etc. He advised that there will be a big announcement in February.
LC repeated the info on how to apply for grants, although he said the form on KCDC website does not seem to be working properly so prospective applicants should email him.
Hydro Report – AB
Hydro scheme has now been running for 5 years, generating electricity & money all the time. Bugs have been ironed out. There were 2 breakdowns in 2019, but scheme only stopped generating for a couple of hours. The biggest expenditure has been purchase of a spare coanda screen section. System needs to be looked after to keep working. Volunteers welcome! GS thanked AB & said we couldn’t do it without AB. AB mentioned that there still a few hydro books available to buy.
John Robertson brought up the subject of flow control at Pitmain, which isn’t working. A brief discussion ensued as to the problems. JR asked if KCDC to intervene but IM advised that this was a job for KVCC as KCDC do not represent the community.
Paths Report – IM
Most of the updates were in the newsletter. Work done includes the path below Creag Beag. The upgrade to the Jubilee Walk is a great success; excellent work by Neil Reid; KVCC are going to undertake further works. KCDC are going to put a new bench at the far end of the walk, as the old one is no longer fit for purpose. We acknowledged Cairngorms Trust who donated £10k, and Paths for All who donated £1k.
IM mentioned the Co-op fund and encouraged people o go online & register to support our entry.
Woodlands Report – GS
Some planting done at end of 2018 and hardly any have failed. Maintenance has mainly been keeping an eye out for deadwood & keeping the paths clear. A proper woodland management plan has been prepared.
GS reiterated that it would be good if people picked up any litter they see.
CFK Report – Mark Tait
Mark gave an update on the Sustrans and Places for Everyone schemes. CFK has received funding for 3 projects – one is upgrade of Newtonmore to Kingussie route, the other 2 are for parts of the Gynack Gardens project. CFK have received a grant to erect a bike storage & maintenance shelter. CFK bought some e-bikes & offer them for hire – very popular, there is a long waiting list. Rideouts continue to be popular & numbers of participants are growing – all ages welcome. CFK now has its own cycling shirts, which were modelled by a member of the audience. The 2019 Bikethon was a success & raised much-needed funds for Kingussie High School. CFK has signed up with refill.org, a scheme for local businesses to offer free refills for water bottles.
A question was asked about the proposed pump track, nut this is a school project rather than a CFK project. The project has hit some problems but the funding is still available & progress will hopefully be made.
Gynack Gardens Report – KD
No decision has yet been made on the correct name for the gardens. The idea for upgrading the gardens came about when the HC Town Centre Fund became available. We were awarded £58k which is good, although less than we hoped for. The sub-group of KCDC who have taken on the project, held public consultations at the gardens for 3 days, which were a great success. The ideas have also been discussed with key stakeholders. The basic plan is to create paths linking the main road/school/station, etc. We have just received a hard copy of the breakdown of costs; HC won’t give the money without this. Sustrans is on board with the plans & very supportive. The next step is to go to tender by end of January, then the work will be started in Spring & should take 6-8 weeks. We have received tremendous co-operation from HC departments. We are still open to suggestions for the name of the ‘plaza’ by the High Street, plus further suggestions for the gardens improvements. We intend to issue an artist’s impression of the plans, to give people a better idea of the improvements.
AOCB
None.
Meeting ended at 20.45.