4 February 2004, 7.30pm
Held at Cheadle Conservative Club
The President asked delegates to stand for few moments in silence in memory of colleagues who had passed away in the last year. These included Derek Hanley and Dennis McDonald of Heald Green, Alan Price of S Reddish Vets, Roy Lamb of Ladybridge, Frank Breegan of Royal Oak, Jack Barnett of SMBL, Graham Burt of Parkville, Malc Williamson of Stockport CC and Geoff Bowden of Grange.
Present: President, Chairman, Secretary, Vets results secretary, Treasurer and delegates
Apologies: Burnage, Debdale Pk, Didsbury, Withington.
Absences: Hazel Grove, Heaton Mersey Cons.
The minutes of the previous annual general meeting had been circulated. The secretary said that he had been unaware of the five-year plan, agreed whilst the officials were out of the room, and suggested it should be included in this year’s minutes. He also said that he believed the plan should be used as a guideline but that formally the honorariums should continue to be approved annually. With this amendment the minutes were taken as read and approved.
Proposed League fees
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | ||||||
| Fees | Total | Fees | Total | Fees | Total | Fees | Total | Fees | Total | |
| Eve | 40 @ £42 | £1680 | 40 @ £45 | 1800 | 40 @ £48 | £1920 | 40 @ £51 | £2040 | 40 @ £54 | £2160 |
| Vets | 62 @ £28 | £1736 | 62 @ £30 | £1860 | 62 @ £32 | £1984 | 62 @ £34 | £2108 | 62 @ £36 | £2232 |
| Total | £3416 | £3660 | £3904 | £4148 | £4392 | |||||
Proposed honorariums
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
| Secretary | £260 | £280 | £300 | £320 | £340 | £360 |
| Treasurer | £260 | £280 | £300 | £320 | £340 | £360 |
| Match Sec. | £160 | £170 | £180 | £190 | £200 | £210 |
| Vets Sec. | £160 | £170 | £180 | £190 | £200 | £210 |
| Vets Match Sec. | £160 | £170 | £180 | £190 | £200 | £210 |
| Totals | £1000 | £1070 | £1140 | £1210 | £1280 | £1350 |
Information distributed
The secretary had distributed a list of key dates for the year, and the fixtures applicable. These fixtures are subject to approval.
He had distributed the green rota for evening teams and asked clubs to ensure their greens were made available as required or if necessary to let him know in good time.
Evening League
There had been one more resignation since the meeting in November: Shaw Heath B. This left 36 teams, so he proposed four divisions of nine. The trend was not good, and we were facing an imminent reduction to three divisions.
We needed a lot of juggling to get evenly balanced divisions. He had tried to ensure that teams that deserve promotion get it. This tended to mean more relegation than is desirable, but it did mix teams up. It was especially bad between divisions B and C, where four teams went down. One of these was Shaw Heath, which exchanged teams in divisions B and D for one team in C.
There was some discussion on this proposal. Levenshulme Catholic (who had finished third from bottom in Division A) were aggrieved at being relegated to Division B. The secretary said that this was necessary to accommodate the return of the Bungalow A team.
The meeting agreed to reinstate Levenshulme Catholic in Division A and place Bungalow A in Division B. The secretary said that this invalidate the fixtures already distributed, and new ones would be sent out in due course.
He proposed to play the first round of the Bob Newlan on a Tuesday evening. He hoped this would reduce the number of teams that withdrew at the last minute. There would again be a Merit qualifying round on a Tuesday.
Veterans’ League
The secretary reported this was still growing. We now had 66 teams, making six divisions of 11. Since November, Cheadle Park had entered a second team. In the lower reaches there was a lot of promotion, which went some way to reversing the relegations which were needed the previous year. Five teams went up from 6 to 5.
It was noticeable that new teams often win division 6. Even if these teams were not first division material, they were starting well below their natural level. The problem was not so great when we only had three or four divisions, but it could now take several years for a team to find its level. During this time they collected prize money and deprived other teams of promotion prospects. He thought it was time to review our policy of always starting new teams in the bottom division.
Green changes
Shaw Heath had given up the battle at Shaw Heath Park and would play their matches at Alexandra Park, probably on the no 2 green.
British Airways had decided to close their social club, so the Silverwings team had been forced to look for a new home. They had an agreement with the Downs Bowling Club in Altrincham. This was rather on the fringe of our area, but he hoped the meeting would agree to this change. This affected one evening team (in division A) and two vets’ teams (in divisions 1 and 4).
Stockport Bowls Festival
This was planned for the week or so leading up to the Vernon final (or whatever it got called). We would be able to nominate players for the Gents’ (or open) final and the vets’ final, probably four to the gents’ and eight to the vets’ (since we are the major vets’ league in the area). Both Merits would finish in August to allow this to happen.
BCGBA and CCBA news
There was a new rule about jacks – passed in spite of much opposition from jack manufacturers. Existing jacks are OK as long as they keep passing the 7-year MOT. If clubs had to buy new ones after March they would have to conform to the new style and may cost more. So if new jacks were needed, it might be an idea to get them this month.
There were a few other minor changes to the laws.
There was a new levy – every club must pay £10 a year to the BCGBA via their county. The alternative was a fee of £1 per bowler per year (which bowlers would have had to pay twice if they were in two clubs).
There was also a move afoot to make clubs which affiliate to British Parks also affiliate to their county. There was an agreement that the parks were effectively a county, so it’s not clear on what basis they can change the rules.
Future meetings
Delegates’ meeting (handbooks etc) – Monday 22 March.
Mr Hall asked captains to ensure that results sheets were returned promptly, and fully filled in.
He reported that we had been challenged to a friendly match by the Alderley League. This would take place on a home and away basis on Friday 11 June.
The meeting approved the proposal for Great Moor Conservative C to play their home games at 11am.
The treasurer summarised the accounts, which showed a deficit for the year of about £240. He noted that the honorariums had increased, because last year the league had paid out an honorarium for the post of Match Secretary. He also noted the lack of expenses claimed by the Vets’ Match Secretary.
The Treasurer thanked Mike Broome of Deanprint for help in producing the handbook at favourable rates and the presentation night tickets for free.
There was a query on the figure shown for the presentation night, which showed up only under income and not expenditure. The Treasurer explained that this represented the net surplus.
The auditor noted that league fees of £40 had been charged instead of the £42 agreed. This would be corrected for future years. He also noted the low level of expenses claimed by officers.
Delete rule 1.15 (Interpretation), renumber rule 1.14 (Resignations) as rule 1.15, and add new rule 1.14:
1.14 Appeals
If there is a failure to agree on a resolution of a dispute, or either party does not accept the decision, appeal may be made to the next higher authority. The authorities are: the management sub-committee, the county association to which the league is affiliated, and the British Crown Green Bowling Association (whose ruling shall be final with no further recourse).
Proposed by Great Moor Conservative Club
The proposal was approved nem con.
All the existing officers were re-elected.
President: D Walker
Chairman: DJ McKnight
Hon Secretary and Match/Results Secretary (evenings): ER Kavanagh
Hon Treasurer: J Forrest
Hon Veterans Secretary: vacant; no nomination received
Hon Results Secretary (Vets): G Hall
A new management sub-committee was elected, as follows.
Management Sub-committee: S Alsop, J Barratt, T Bills, R Cheslett, J Pearson, A Rowlinson
The meeting approved honorariums conforming to the five-year plan. The new honorariums were as follows.
Treasurer £280
Secretary £280
Match secretary £170
Veterans’ secretary £170
Veterans’ match secretary £170
There was a request that the veterans’ fixtures should avoid the Waterloo final. The secretary pointed out that the season was quite crowded, but he would bear it in mind.
There was no further business and the meeting closed at 8.45pm