Summarised Report of The General Council Meeting Held on Saturday 16th April 2011
The meeting was opened by the President, Dave Herring who thanked the members of the General Council for their support during his term in office.
Matters arising from the previous meeting’s minutes
The Secretary brought the meeting up to date with the latest situation with Blue Cube and also that before drop down barriers for the car park can be installed, the electricity supply cables that are known to be in close proximity to the buildings must be located.
With regard to the blue flomatic mini drinkers used on show cages, it was agreed that a rule change will be put to the membership in 2012 that they should be the only ones allowed to be used as from 2015.
The Chairman informed the meeting that only six members had volunteered to have their names put on the Helpline list since the notice appeared in the last magazine asking for volunteers. All of the General Council members agreed to have their names added to the list.
The minutes of the Club Show Committee held on 23 January 2011 were ratified but with a note that next Club Show Committee meeting look at the mementos given to judges and also the frequency of invitations given to overseas judges.
All entry and admission fees have been maintained at the 2010 prices.
Birds will now only be accepted on the Friday and judging will commence at 9.00am on the Saturday which will allow the show to open at 2.00pm.
Tom and Andrew Luke will give a presentation at the Seminar on the Saturday morning commencing at 9.30am.
Exhibitors benching 15 or more birds, (excluding birds in the sales classes) will receive free entry into the show on Sunday.
The minutes of the Budget meeting held on 12 March 2011 were ratified but with a note that the rule regarding winding up of the Society should be looked at and also the days that the office should open in the future.
The minutes of NCA meetings held on 10th November 2010 and 23rd March 2011 were circulated for information and it was confirmed that Janice Al-Nasser and Alex Woan will be the new NCA Delegates to replace Roger Carr and Dave Whittaker.
Roger Carr gave a brief up-date of the arrangements for the Woking Event and was pleased to note that a good number of rooms have now been booked at the Holiday Inn.
The WBO Notice Board was circulated to the meeting and the main points of this can be found in the May/June issue of “The Budgerigar”.
The Chairman’s Annual Report and the Secretary’s Annual Report were circulated and the full reports can be found in the May/June issue of “The Budgerigar” and also on the Society’s website.
Correspondence
Ian Ward had submitted a request for permission to use the pictures of the Ideal to create a model of the Ideal. As the Budgerigar Society does not use the frontal picture of the Ideal, it was suggested that Ian be advised to seek the approval of the WBO.
Letters from Rodney Harris regarding the written ideal were considered and it was agreed that his comments did have some merit, but as the Society has adopted the new pictorial ideal, the written ideal will now be looked at with a view to bringing it into line with the pictorial ideal.
Ray Fox submitted a letter requesting that the General Council put forward a proposal to change the rules regarding the time scale when members are allowed to put forward proposals to the AGM and also requesting that minutes of meetings record how members of the council vote. The council could not support the suggestions and a letter will be sent to Mr R Fox advising him of this and that he can put forward a proposal to change the rule if he so wishes at the next postal ballot in 2012.
Mr Fox submitted another letter suggesting that the rule regarding how many shows members of the Judges Panel must show at each year in order to remain on the panel should be reviewed as he believed that if there were two judges in a partnership then that partnership should be made to exhibit at four shows each year and if three judges in a partnership, then they must exhibit at six shows each year. The council did not support this suggestion and Mr Fox will be advised that he can put forward a proposal to change the rule himself in 2012.
Colour Standards & Guidelines
Pictures showing the Ideal, varying degrees of flecking and opalescence were circulated and it was agreed that these would be put before the judges meeting the following day with the note that this was a consultation document and still work in progress It was also agreed that the judges at the judges meeting and also the judges and exhibitors at the meeting at the Woking Event be asked for their comments and suggestions.
Patronage
The complete Patronage List was circulated and can be found in the May/June issue of “The Budgerigar” and also on the website.
A letter had been received from Sheffield Budgerigar Society requesting an enhanced patronage for their 75th Anniversary Show in 2011. It was agreed that they be granted Gold Patronage for 2011 but their patronage level for 2012 would be awarded on the benched entry figure in 2011.
The Yorkshire BS had also asked for enhanced patronage for their 75th Anniversary and it was agreed that they will receive rosettes with appropriately printed tails.
Election of Officers
Due to a number of official positions becoming vacant the following officers were elected:
Maurice Roberts as Trustee
Grant Findlay was elected as the Office & General Management Officer
Gren Norris as Show Cage Inspector
Vice President – Nominations were received for Roy Aplin, Beverley Hutt, Donald McCallum and Alex Woan. Following voting, the name of Roy Aplin will be put to the AGM as the General Council’s nomination, but under the Society rules, nominations will also be invited from the floor at the AGM
Silver Bird – Nominations were received for Janice Al-Nasser and Ken Whiting; the successful nominee being Janice Al-Nasser.
Chairman/Secretary referrals
The Chairman informed the meeting that he had received a request from Teesside BS to become affiliated to the NBS instead of the YBS. To do this will require a rule change and Teesside BS will be informed that a joint proposal from all the societies involved in such a boundary change should be put before the next AGM.
The Chairman asked the meeting to consider awarding Honorary Life Membership to Geoff Capes and Peter Hutchinson in recognition of their outstanding and meritorious services to the Society. The meeting unanimously agreed and the names will be put before the AGM for its approval.
The next meetings of the General Council will be held on:
Wednesday 20th July and Saturday 19th November.