Chairman’s Update – 27th September 2018

Latest Info: Pop up Pub Weekend – 26-28 October

Dear All,

Further to the recent Chairman’s Update which, necessarily, focussed on the current Planning Application, I wanted to send a 2nd note to advise you all of our plans over the coming weeks.

Firstly a reminder about our ‘drop by session’ on Station Rd/Station St outside the Railway on Sunday. We thought it would be a good idea to be able to show you the plans on paper so that we can all appreciate the implications on the ground, from the street. We’ll be there between 11am and midday, with large scale drawings for you to view.

In the meantime you may be interested to read some more detailed notes concerning the application here and, for the planning buffs amongst you, we’ve highlighted areas of national planning policy that show what a successful application should consider in seeking to develop a historic building complex like the Railway Arms here.

With the planning application going through the process and matters perhaps coming to a head, it’s great to finally be able to announce the date of our next Pop up Pub event at Fairycroft House. The new premises licence means that we can return there on the weekend of 26th-28th October. For the first time we’ll open the PuP over the whole weekend from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. There’ll be all the usual fun and games and there’s talk of community cider making, so watch this space and think about storing your apples to bring along on the Sunday.

Saturday 27th October will see the PuP host SWCP’s 1st Annual General Meeting between 5.30pm and 7pm. A formal notice will be issued next week but please put the date in your diary now. There will certainly be plenty to talk about, especially with the planning application to be decided by UDC by 2nd November at the latest.

The rules require the current committee to resign at the end of the meeting and that a new committee be elected from amongst the full membership of the Community Benefit Society. No doubt some, if not all, of the current committee will stand for election but here’s your chance to stand too and to influence the direction of the society over what should be a very interesting period. There will be up to 12 places to fill and votes will count in terms of how long newly elected members serve. We’ve already had interest from potential new committee members and from people wanting to play a role in other areas of our campaigning work. Please think it over and put your name forward, either for election or to join one of our working parties, if you feel you can offer some time and expertise. Our Skills Audit of the current committee suggests we are light in the fields of Governance, Legal, IT and PR.

The PuP events will clearly involve a lot of work and we’re always on the lookout for people to help set up and tidy up, run the bar, help with food etc. As a bit of a departure this time we’re thinking about inviting one or two food vans along on Saturday evening, so suggestions would be welcome. We’ve had offers from quite a few bands to play and I’m sure there will be plenty of good music to enjoy on Saturday evening in particular. Looking forward to seeing you all there throughout the weekend.

Cheers
Dave