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Welcome to the APRA EGM

Alexandra House20th May 2011

1Alexandra Park Residents Association

20 May 2011

22Alexandra Park Residents Association 20th May 2011 2

Agenda

1. Welcome and introduction by Chair – John Hewer2. Discussion on Constitution3. Vote on Changes to Constitution4. Landscaping – Greenfingers5. Solitaire Bills –presentation by Ben Guyatt and

Matt Hanger6. A.O.B

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1 Name and Area of Association

• The Association shall be known as the Alexandra Park Residents Association, Wroughton, Swindon, Wiltshire.

• No Change

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2a Aims of the Association

• To promote the interests of the residents of Alexandra Park and The Limes,Wroughton, Swindon, Wiltshire.

• To promote the interests of the residents of Alexandra Park,Wroughton, Swindon, Wiltshire.

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2b Aims of the Association

• To promote social activities for the residents of Alexandra Park and The Limes, Wroughton, Swindon, Wiltshire.

• To promote social activities for the residents of Alexandra Park, Wroughton, Swindon, Wiltshire.

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3a Membership• The Association shall represent more than 50% of

the residents of the estate. A membership list will be available with the name and address of all the member residents and those interested in becoming members

• All residents of Alexandra Park will automatically become members of APRA

• Residents can if they wish, opt out of Membership by writing to the Secretary.

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3b Membership

• Membership shall be limited to residents of the estate

• No Change

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4 Equal Opportunities

• Membership shall be open to all residents of Alexandra Park and The Limes, irrespective of their race, colour, ethnic or national origin, sex, appearance, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or religious belief

• No Change, other than deletion of The Limes

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5 Membership Subscription

• All members shall pay an annual subscription of £3.00 per household

• Membership to APRA is automatic for Residents and free of charge, members can if they wish make donations to APRA funds to help with printing/stationary etc

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6a Committee

• The Committee shall be elected to carry out the business of the Association. It will be made up of a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer, Social Secretary, Shared Ownership Representative, Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator, plus co-opted members as required

• No Change

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6b Committee

• The Committee members shall meet monthly and carry out the duties given to them by the General Meetings

• The Committee members shall meet regularly and carry out the duties given to them by the General Meetings

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6c Committee

• The minutes of the Committee meetings shall be available to all members of the Association.

• No Change• Vacancies on the Committee, which arise during the

year, shall be filled by elections at General Meetings.• No Change

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7a The Annual General Meeting

• There shall be an Annual General Meeting held every September at which the Committee will report on its work and present a statement of accounts.

• There shall be an Annual General Meeting held every year at which the Committee will report on its work and present a statement of accounts

• At this point half of the Committee members will resign, but will be eligible to stand for re-election.

• Delete the above line

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7b The Annual General Meeting

• To enable continuity of the Committee re-elected members can serve for 2 years before being required to resign.

• Delete the above line• The AGM shall elect a new Committee and vote on

recommendations and on any amendments to the constitution.

• No Change

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7c The Annual General Meeting

• Nominations for the Committee should be given to the Secretary not less than 14 days before the AGM.

• No Change• The AGM shall elect a new Committee and vote on

recommendations and on any amendments to the constitution.

• No Change

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8 Other General or Ordinary Meetings

• There will be a General Meeting open to all members at least twice a year.

• There will be a General Meeting open to all members as required.

• A Special General Meeting open to all members will be held if 25% of members or more submit in writing, to the Secretary, a request for such a meeting. The Secretary shall arrange for the meeting to take place within 14 days.

• No Change

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9a QuorumNo General Meeting or AGM shall be valid if less than 25% of members are presentAt any General Meeting or Annual General Meeting, issues that require a vote will be circulated by a notice to all members 14 days prior to the meeting. Decisions shall be valid if carried by a simple majority of members that are present at the meeting.

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9b Quorum

No Committee meeting shall be valid if less than one third of the Committee are present. No Change

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10 Voting

• No Change to this paragraph• Voting at Committee and Sub-Committee meetings shall be by

a show of hands, unless otherwise resolved.• Voting at General Meetings shall if required, be by secret

ballot, and proxy or absent voting arrangements will be made.• A simple majority of votes shall prevail except where

otherwise provided in these rules.• Membership of the Association is open to all residents, and

each member has an individual vote.• In the event of equality of votes, the Chairperson of a meeting

shall have a second or casting vote.

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11 Financial Records

• No Change to this paragraph• The Treasurer shall open a bank account in the name

of the Association. The account shall have 2 signatories, nominated by the Committee (one to be the Treasurer).

• The Treasurer shall keep proper financial records and produce annual accounts, which will be presented to the AGM.

• The Treasurer shall submit the accounts for audit at the end of each financial year.

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12 Changes to the Constitution

• The Constitution may be altered at an Annual General Meeting or at a Special General Meeting.

• No Change

• Any suggested changes must be handed to the Secretary at least 14 days before the AGM or Special Meeting.

• No Change

• Changes must be agreed by 75% of the members whether present or not.

• Changes must be agreed by a simple majority of the members present.

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13 Dissolution• No Change to this paragraph• The Association may only be dissolved at a Special

General Meeting called for that purpose. The meeting must be advertised 14 days before the date of the actual meeting.

• A proposal to dissolve the Association shall take effect only if agreed by 75% of the members where present or not.

• Funds and possessions will be disposed of according to the wishes of the meeting or as contained in the rules.

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Understanding Your Accounts

• A quick guide to understanding your Solitaire statementsMatt Hanger and Ben Guyatt.

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Understanding Your Accounts

• We have prepared this short guide from our own findings investigating our own property’s accounts. We are happy to share our findings with you all but we cannot be held responsible for any errors and unfortunately we cannot look at the accounts for every property on the development

• You should be aware Solitaire have not treated every property in the same way and we have based this only on our own properties

• We hope you find this useful

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Understanding the Accounts we have received - 2009

• Solitaire began managing the development on 1st May 2008 and variable charges apply from this date• Fixed charges apply from the day you completed• 2008/9 accounts have been prepared and not distributed – these can be obtained from the committee if required

• Schedule 1 % - is the portion of the actual cost in the accounts each of the original 183 houses is liable to pay• Schedule 1 Actual cost – is your share of the actual annual costs from the audited accounts.• Insurance – I don't know why this is a separate value and different for each household but it is such a small an amount I’m not really bothered.• Total – Schedule 1 actual cost plus insurance. This is your total variable charge liability for the year.• Service charge levied – the amount Solitaire believe they have invoiced you already. Don’t be alarmed if have actually paid invoices for a larger

amount as these were subsequently cancelled. This figure is believed to a prorated liability based estimated expenditure for the remainder of the year in which you moved in but as Solitaire management of the development did not begin until May 2008 this amount was carried forward.

• Adjustment Invoice / (credit) – The amount you are now being invoiced for the period ended 31st March 2009.

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Understanding the Accounts we have received - 2010

Adjustment Invoice / (credit) 2010 – This is the difference between the estimated costs and the actual costs for the period. Although refund is not the right phrase to use, the lack of service for this year is reflected in the significantly reduced actual costs giving a difference of £143.85 between the £230.78 invoiced and the actual spend per household of £86.93. Net adjustment Invoice / (credit) 2010 – the sum of the ‘Adjustment Invoice / (credit) 2009’ and ‘Adjustment Invoice / (credit) 2010’. Using the figures for 4 Parsloes Close above; Service Charges Levied 230.78 Invoiced amount based on estimated charge. Schedule 1 86.93 Share per household of actual costs Adjustment Invoice / (credit) 2010 (143.85) Actual costs minus estimated costs.

Adjustment Invoice / (credit) 2009 86.92 Total actual cost minus estimated costs carried forward from year end 2009

Net Adjustment Invoice / (Credit) 2010 (56.94 ) The sum of the adjustments for 2009 and 2010

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Understanding the Accounts we have received - 2011

• 1st April 2010 to 31 March 2011.• These accounts are not available yet but in arriving at your current statement Solitaire have

invoiced each house 2 x £105.76 totalling £211.52.• Due to lack of landscaping which took place between April and June 2010 the actual costs

will be lower. We need to push to ensure they take a lower service charge as well as just passing on the savings on landscaping

• The 2011 accounts will hopefully be available in the near future

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How to Check Your AccountSimplified Solitaire Statement Checker

Please enter the relevant figures for your property in the Yellow Boxes. The figures contained in the grey boxes are not expected to change

Dr CrFinal Variable Charge for 2008/9 168.23 From Accounts (Same for Everyone)Final Variable Charge for 2009/10 86.93 From Accounts (Same for Everyone)Estimated Variable Charge 2010/11 £211.52 Per invoices (Should be same for everyone but I wouldn't bet on it!)Fixed charge 27/7/07-31/3/2009 £67.23 This is £40 per year pro rated from the date you completed to 31/3/2009

(Everyone will have a different number depending on when they moved in)Amounts Paid

On Completion £164.36 This should be on your completion statement (Not everyone paid the same amount)Other Payments £303.68 Please enter all payments to Solitaire but you should not include the £20 fixed charges paid to

EMUK from 1/4/09 onwards533.91 468.04

a b

Balance owed at 31/3/11 65.87 a-b

Per Solitaire Statement 31/3 85.85

Difference 19.98 Solitaire have billed me for the fixed charge for 1/4/2009-30/9/2009 as did EMUK

• The Excel file can be provided to residents to check their bills if required• Don’t worry about what you have been invoiced – Solitaire hideously complicated things by issuing and then cancelling

invoices without telling us or even issuing credit notes. All you need to worry is the amounts paid to Solitaire (Not EMUK)

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How to Check Your Account Variable Charges (dependent on actual costs incurred)

These are due from 1 May 2008 onwards when the management of the development was transferred to Solitaire. (There was a minor insurance element due from the date you completed on your property but this is completely immaterial

We have been invoiced based on estimates, the amount is then trued up via the annual accounts so ultimately it is the accounts that matterInvoices are not of great importance here, all that matters is the accounts and what you actually paid in hard cash

Fixed Charges (£40 per annum)

These are due from the date you completed the purchase of your property. These were charged to our Solitaire account until 31/3/2009. After this date they were billed by Estates and Management (another Solitaire Company)I was billed twice for the charge from 1/4/2009-31/09/09 and I paid EMUK so I am demanding Solitaire credit my account for this

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Appendix - Only for those who are particularly curious!

• Solitaire Statement dated Oct 08

These invoices totalling £227.23 were subsequently cancelled

This is the amount paid on completion less the service charges levied from the 2009 accounts

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Appendix – Only for those who are particularly curious!

• Solitaire Statement dated Jan 10

Amount paid on completion less service charge levied from 2009 accountsAmount paid from pervious statement but the invoices it was paying have now been cancelled

amount 1/4/2008 - 30/9/08 was paid to online to EMUK but payment is not captured here therefore I have been overcharged for 6 months variable charge

3232Alexandra Park Residents Association 20th May 2011

Thank you for attending the meeting

We hope to have the website back up working soon!

http://www.alexandrapark.org.uk/