ASHURST DRIVE AND HEADLEY HEATH APPROACH ROADS ASSOCIATION
Rules and Constitution
Originally Adopted 30 May 1974 and as Amended by AGM October 2017
1. Name of Association
The Association shall be known as The Ashurst Drive and Headley Heath Approach Roads Association ( Shortened to ADHHARA )
2. Objects of the Association
The Association is formed to provide and manage a fund to be applied to the maintenance and improvement of the road surfaces in Ashurst Drive and Headley Heath Approach but excluding the drainage and under-surface services beneath the said roads.
All written and verbal statements, considerations, actions and decisions by the Association and its Committee and Officers shall to the best of their ability be conducted within the context of English law. However, such actions or decisions taken in all good faith or upon relevant professional advice shall render the Association, its Committee and Officers of the Association free of all liability for the consequences of such actions or decisions.
The Association and Its Committee and its Officers shall not comment ex officio concerning individual property or broader Planning Proposals, except insofar as they have road surface and related services implications and then without prejudice or personal or Association liability for the impact of any such commentary.
3. Membership
Membership shall be open to property owners in Ashurst Drive and Headley Heath Approach, together with persons who use either of the said roads for the purposes of access to the properties they own or are renting.
Payment of the approved Contribution for any year shall be regarded as a Certificate of Membership for that financial year. Residents who are not Contributing Members shall not propose any AGM, EGM, or Committee resolution, vote on any resolution or be elected to the Committee.
4. Finance
4.1 Financial Year
The Association’s Financial Year shall run from 1 September to 31 August of consecutive years, to be Audited and Reported upon at the Annual General Meeting of Members.
4.2 Funds
The Funds for the Association shall be provided by contributions from the Members. AGM approved Annual Payment of Contributions shall be made during the period from 1 September to 31 July of the subsequent year, to enable full Accounts of Assets to be prepared for the following AGM, and for Contributing Members to be fully accredited for Membership for the next AGM.
Payments can only be made by cheque or Direct Debit, payable to the Association’s Bank Account.
4.3 Amount of Contribution
At each AGM, the Proposed level of Contribution for the properties in each of the said roads for the coming year will be discussed and confirmed by Majority Vote of those Members attending from each said street.
It shall be open to any Member to contribute a larger amount as may seem appropriate, having regards to the length of frontage of the property, the degree of use by the owners and other occupants of any particular property and the work needed to maintain the roads.
An Annual Contribution on behalf of each of the Park Home and other Multi Occupancy Residential sites in Ashurst Drive will be agreed with the site owners on an annual basis to reflect the car owning usage of each of the sites.
Owners of properties or tenants of properties in the roads covered by the Association will encourage their successors upon a change of ownership or tenancy of the property to maintain their Contributions to the Association in subsequent years.
5. Accounts
5.1 Custody of Funds
The Funds of the Association shall be deposited in a Bank Deposit Account opened in the name of the Association.
A Report of the status of this Account, and its relevance for each of the said streets, will be reviewed by the Committee at each of its meetings.
5.2 Withdrawal of Funds
No withdrawal of funds standing to the credit of the Account referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be made otherwise than by the authority of the Management Committee. Any action or resolution involving the disbursement of funds standing to the credit of the fund shall be deemed invalid unless such resolution be passed by not less than three members of the Committee, two of whom must be either the Chairman, Treasurer or Secretary.
All cheques and other documents relating to the withdrawal and disbursement of funds shall be signed by not less than two members of the Committee, both of whom must be either the Chairman, Treasurer or Secretary, and their existence, purpose and a record of the relevant work or service(s) obtained shall be reported to the subsequent Committee meeting and represented appropriately in the Annual Accounts .
5.3. Contribution Record
A list shall be maintained showing the name and address of each Contributor, and the amount and date of the Contribution.
A separate list of the contributions received from the Contributors in each road shall be kept, to which shall be allocated the Contributions received from the residents in the respective roads.
Any Contributions from Birchingrove Lane shall be allocated to Headley Heath Approach, and those Contributions from the various multiple occupancy sites adjacent to Ashurst Drive shall be allocated to Ashurst Drive, whilst those from any other of the adjacent properties or other sources shall be allocated fifty per cent to Headley Heath Approach and fifty per cent to Ashurst Drive unless provided in a dedicated fashion.
5.4 Expenses
An Account shall be maintained showing the amount of disbursements properly made for the purpose of Administering the Fund, including all Legal, Insurance, Banking fees and charges etc properly incurred, and any amounts successfully and legally claimed upon the Association and its Officers by any third parties. The total charged to this account shall, subject to audit, be a charge on the Maintenance Fund.
5.5 Audit
An Honorary Auditor shall be appointed to examine the Accounts provided for in this section, and report thereon to the Annual General Meeting of the Association.
6. Management
6.1 Committee
The Management of the Association and the Administration of the Funds shall be carried out by a committee consisting of five or more Members ( numbers permitting ) elected at a General Meeting of the Association. The Committee shall have the authority to make final decisions on behalf of the residents – where such decisions have not previously been approved by resolution of a General Meeting, they shall be clearly reported at the next General Meeting and the reasons for the decisions’ urgency shall be explained.
6.2 Officers
An Honorary Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer shall be elected by the Management Committee from among their number – No Committee Member shall hold more than one Office except for a limited inter-regnum until a new Officer can be appointed.
Any vacancies to the Committee shall be filled by a Member of the Association by the normal process of proposing, seconding and voting at the Annual General Meeting. The remaining Committee members may continue to serve for as long as approved by each Annual General Meeting.
Proposals for Committee membership shall be made to the Chairman or Secretary in writing beforehand or at the Annual General Meeting under “Any Other Business” – proposals shall be seconded and put to the vote at the time of the Annual General Meeting.
6.3 Road Sub-Committees
Numbers permitting, Road Sub-Committees consisting of two Members of the Committee shall be elected by that Committee to represent each of the two roads. The duty of each Sub-Committee shall be to consider the maintenance needs of their respective roads having regard to the funds available from time to time.
6.4 Co-Option
It shall be open to the Committee to co-opt any Contributing Member of the Association to serve on the Committee where in their opinion this would aid in furthering the aims of the Association.
Co-Option shall be determined or subsequently reported upon and approved by a majority vote at the Annual General Meeting. The Committee shall be entitled to draw upon visiting or written advice from third parties (including Local Authority or other Service providers) where in their opinion this would aid in furthering the aims of the Association – this consultation and any expenditure related to this consultation shall be either pre-agreed at an AGM or in special circumstances, reported upon and retrospectively approved at the next AGM.
6.5 Insurance
The Association and all Committee members and Committee Officers in office since 2016 shall be covered by appropriate Personal Liability Insurance legitimately paid for by the Funds of the Association to protect them from any claims regarding the actions or decisions of the Association or its Committee(s) or Officers.
7. Meetings
7.1 Annual General Meetings
There shall be an Annual General Meeting of the members of the Association, convened by the Committee with due public notice to the residents of each road, every autumn. These meetings shall be open to the general public and the press, but only Members who have up to date Contributions registered on or before 31 July of that year shall be entitled to propose, second and vote on the decisions raised.
7.2 Extra-ordinary General Meetings
A quorum of at least three members of the Committee, or a group representing at least a third of the Contributing Membership of both roads, can call for an Extraordinary General Meeting, giving at least one month’s notice, at a venue to be arranged and paid for by those calling the meeting. The meeting will be chaired by the Chairman of the Association and the rules relevant to an AGM will also apply to such an Extra-ordinary General Meeting
7.3 Committee Meetings
The Committee shall meet as necessary in the interests of the association, and at least once during each Annual Year. Any two members of the committee shall have the power to convene a meeting of the Committee upon giving fifteen days’ notice to the other Committee members.
At a Committee meeting, a quorum shall consist of five three Committee members (in a Committee generally consisting of six or more members) or three Committee members (in a Committee generally consisting of less than six members ) in each case one of whom shall be a non-officer of the Committee. Any decision taken in the absence of a Quorum shall be invalid.
8. Closure of Operations
8.1 Should the Association need to be wound up for any reason, this will only follow a resolution so to do approved by a majority of the Contributing Membership present at an Annual General meeting or an Extra-ordinary General Meeting. Any remaining funds shall be disposed of by a refund to each current Contributing Member relative to the amount paid by that Contributor over the past three years, subject only to the deduction of a proportionate part of any expenses incurred as provided by Section 5 v of these Rules, and to the addition of a proportionate part of any interest accrued.