Persons Present
David Lloyd-Jones Chairman & Delegate/Macclesfield
Mike Colling FSMAE Vice Chairman / Wigan
Derek Gilbert Secretary & Treasurer/Sale MFC
Keith Barker PRO/Webmaster/ Rochdale MAC
Roy Allam Achievement Sch Co-ord/FCMFA
John O'Donnell Timperley MF
Tom Anyon Fylde Coast MFA
Gerry Ferer Timperley MF
Jim Radcliffe Timperley &DMFC
Wayne Pendleton CCMAA
Phil Owens N W Free Flight Group
M C Hargreaves Whitefield MAC
C H Hargreaves Whitefield MAC
Reg Boor Whitefield MAC
9 voting
The meeting started at 8.00pm
Apologies for absence
Frank Fletcher
Correspondence
The Chairman informed the meeting that the son of Eddie Riding, Richard, had
asked if he could donate a prize of £100 to the Eddie Riding event to
mark the 60th anniversary of his Father's death. He was pleased to hear of the
success of the "Eddie Riding Designs" competition and asked that it
be given for this class.
Minutes of the meetings held on 26th January 2010
Corrections
None
The meeting approved the minutes with one abstention.
Matters Arising
Gerry Ferer raised the point that there was still often a delay in minutes appearing
on the BMFA web site. He was also pleased to note that our own web site had
the council minutes published much more promptly.
The Chairman asked if anyone who had seen other area's minutes had any comments
and John O'Donnell replied that the main interesting point to him was the general
lack of numbers attending.
John O'Donnell asked what had happened at Council regarding the proposed indoor
"A" and "B" tests. A discussion followed and the consensus
of the meeting appeared to be that the tests were not needed or wanted by most
indoor flyers. It was agreed that if they are presented again the area should
vote against them.
Regarding the trophies that John O'Donnell had given to the area, the Secretary
read the minutes of the area meeting of 3rd February 2004 when it was recorded
that one had been taken by Steve Ogden for a class of the Top Gun event and
another was to become, and is the Shawbury Scale award. John confirmed that
the other trophies were not returned to him after the meeting and the Secretary
agreed to write to Steve, the Secretary at the time, to ask their whereabouts.
Officers' Reports
The Treasurer reviewed the draft accounts for the year ended 31 March 2010 and
informed the meeting that there was a surplus this year of £256 and the
net funds being carried forward amount to £5,489.None of the expense items
discussed were queried, but Tom Anyon asked if we could give more to the Eddie
Riding event.The Chairman informed the meeting that Richard Riding, Eddie's
son, wanted to give a prize of £100 this year for the Eddie Riding designs
class to mark the anniversary of his father's death. As we already incurred
costs of about £600 for the event it was agreed that this was enough,
but if the donation from his son was not repeated next year, then we should
consider replacing the prize ourselves.
Roy Allam, the area achievement scheme co-ordinator, informed the meeting that
again this year he was certain he had not received all the details of the club
examiners listed on the back page of the club affiliation forms. He was certain
that several clubs details had not been sent to him for well known clubs that
must have affiliated by now.
The meeting found that this was perhaps an oversight by the office and as such
would not warrant raising as a formal proposal but asked that the Chairman raise
the point at the next areas council meeting. It may be the office can run a
list from the database rather than photo copying the affiliation forms as they
come in?
Council Agendas
The minutes of the Areas Council meeting of 30 January were discussed and the
main topic was the ASRC and the consensus of the meeting was that by the success
of the achievement scheme they had made themselves almost redundant and, particularly
reviewing the indoor proposals, were now looking for things to justify their
existence. It was considered that the schemes as they stand are quite adequate
and any minor points raised in the future could easily be dealt with by Power
Tech!
The agenda for the Full Council meeting for the 8 May was reviewed.
John O'Donnell asked would it have not been easier to create two areas in the
South West. The Chairman considered that costs may be an issue and if the split
is not needed in the future then it would be easier to fold the Sub Areas and
go forward again as one area.
John O'Donnell asked if the CIAM meeting was held. Mike Colling confirmed that
it had been held, but due to travel difficulties he had not been able to attend.
John asked if when the minutes are available, could the Delegate report back
to us, particularly regarding free flight matters.
The "Jet" proposals from Power Tech were discussed and the meeting
agreed that they seemed sensible and should be supported. Several delegates
wondered what the significance of "should" being used was and were
informed that there could perhaps be insurance difficulties and may be it was
better to have recommendations rather than firm rules.
Area Fly-ins
Keith Barker confirmed that the last Rochdale indoor event of the season was
down in numbers, no doubt because of the excellent outdoor weather, but was
enjoyed by all those attending. Next season's meetings have all been booked
and dates are on the web site.
The Chairman recorded that he already had 23 entries for the Shawbury scale
fly in which would indicate this is likely to be well supported.
The Chairman confirmed that the prize money donated by Richard Riding was to
be used to pay an additional prize this year. He was concerned that the gazebos
were showing their age and had asked for two tents this year. Apparently this
was not possible, but he had been told that we could have a tent next to the
main tent, which is not used during the day, and use this for judging. Following
some discussion it was agreed that we either need to ensure others cannot enter
the main tent on the day, or we need to consider some form of a private segregated
area.
Chase MAC
The request from Chase MAC to move to the Midlands area was discussed at length.
It was considered the reference to an ACE not being able to test his own club
members was of no consequence, and could be overcome in other ways. As such
many felt there was no other valid reason offered for the change. The proposal
was put to the meeting by the Chairman and seconded by the Secretary, that on
this occasion the area would not support the transfer of the club from the North
West Area to the Midland Area. The voting was 8 for the proposal, 1 against
and no abstentions. The Secretary agreed to inform the office of the result
for the benefit of the forthcoming council meeting.
AOB
John O'Donnell raised again the topic of late rule changes which he felt was
a problem for many competitors, especially in the Free Flight camp. A discussion
followed and it became clear that those present at the meeting were in agreement
with him. Macclesfield proposed and CCMA seconded that the area submit a proposal
to full Council that:
"BMFA Rulebooks (and amendments thereto) shall apply to all BMFA competition
until superseded by an updated version of the official Rulebook which is readily
available to all members.
This will be taken to be one month after the availability of the updated Rulebook
is announced officially in the BMFA News.
Technical Committee Newsletters and the like would not be considered as official
announcements."
The meeting unanimously approved the proposal.
The meeting closed at 10.05pm.
These minutes are provisional until approved at the next area meeting.