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1.  NAME              
 i.   The Society shall be called ‘Buckhurst Hill Residents’ Society’.

 ii.  The ‘Committee’ means the Management Committee of the Society duly appointed under the following Constitution and Rules.
 
iii.   ‘Member’ means a person who has paid the agreed subscription for the current year, or is less than six months in arrears.


 2.  AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
i.   To preserve, protect and improve the amenities of the District, particularly in relation to its rural atmosphere and privileges in association with the Green Belt;to withstand unsuitable development and redevelopment; to ensure that necessary improvements are in keeping with the atmosphere and privilege.

ii.   To maintain an attendance at Buckhurst Hill Parish and Epping Forest District Council open meetings, and be vigilant on matters relevant to and affecting, or likely to affect, the amenities of the district.

iii.  To keep an active contact with other bodies whose interests are similar. 

iv. The Society shall be non-party political.

 3.  MEMBERSHIP

i.   Full membership shall be open to all persons residing within the postal district of Buckhurst Hill. 

ii.   Associate, non-voting membership shall be open to others at the discretion of the Management Committee.

 4.  MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

i.   The Society shall be managed by a Management Committee consisting of four Officers (Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer) and eight other members, all of whom shall be elected or declared elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Society. All shall retire from office each year but shall be eligible for re-election. 

ii.   Any member of Buckhurst Hill Residents’ Society elected as a representative of the Society to a Local Authority shall sit on the Management Committee. Officers of the Society elected as above shall be deemed to have resigned their position as Officers upon election. 

iii.  Six voting members of the Management Committee, including two Officers, shall form a quorum at Committee meetings.

iv. The Management Committee shall have the power to replace any Committee member failing to attend three consecutive Committee Meetings without a reason acceptable to the Committee, and to fill any other vacancy (including Officers) that may arise during the year.

v.  The Management Committee shall have the power to co-opt for a specific purpose such other members as it considers necessary (without voting powers).
                             
vi.  The Management Committee may appoint sub-committees to deal with such matters as are deemed necessary. The Chairman of each sub-Committee so formed must be a member of the Management Committee, together with at least one other member of the Management Committee; the other members of the sub-committee need only be    members of the Society. Each sub-Committee shall submit reports of its proceedings to the Management Committee for consideration and approval.  

vii.  Resolutions arising at any meeting of the Management Committee or any sub-committee shall be decided by a majority of votes; in the case of an equality of votes the Chairman of the Meeting shall have the casting vote.

viii. The Management Committee shall regulate its meetings for the despatch of business as it thinks fit, but the intervals between meetings shall not exceed two calendar months. At least two week’s notice of a meeting shall be sent to each member of the Committee by the Secretary.

 5.   CONTRIBUTIONS AND FUNDS

i.  The Financial Year shall run from January 1st to December 31st, membership fees being due on the first day of January each year.

ii.  Any change to the individual membership fee shall be agreed at the Annual General Meeting of the Society. The Management Committee may determine different rates of subscription for other categories of members.

iii.  A membership card shall be issued to each Member immediately upon receipt of the membership fee, and no other form of receipt shall be issued. 

iv.  Any amount received from a Member in excess of the current membership fee shall be regarded as a voluntary donation to the Society.

v.   The Funds of the Society shall be devoted towards the specific and general expenses incurred in pursuing the aims and objectives of the Society.

 6.   GENERAL MEETINGS

i.     The Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held not later than the month of May each year. Any other General Meeting shall be called an ‘Extraordinary General Meeting’.

ii.    An Extraordinary General Meeting shall be convened on the written and signed request of the Committee or of not less than twenty members of the Society, stating the purpose of the meeting. The Management Committee shall convene such a meeting within twenty-one days of the receipt of this notice.

iii.   Not less than one month’s notice shall be given of the Annual General Meeting requesting nominations for the Committee Members and for each of the Officer posts, and for motions for the agenda. Any motions proposed, or notification of a contested election, shall then be forwarded to members at least ten days before the Meeting. Nominations and motions shall not be accepted at the Annual General Meeting.

iv.    No business shall be transacted at any General Meeting unless a quorum of members is present at the time when the meeting proceeds to business; the quorum necessary for the transaction of the business shall be 20 members.

v.    If within one half hour from the time appointed for any General Meeting a quorum is not present, the Meeting shall be dissolved.  All members shall be notified within fourteen days of another General Meeting to be held between three and six weeks after the date of notification, the quorum necessary for the transaction of the business shall be 15 members. 

vi.   At any General Meeting a motion put to the vote of the Meeting shall be decided on a show of hands unless a ballot of members present (before or on the declaration of the result of the show of hands) is demanded. In the case of an equality of votes the Chairman shall be entitled to a casting vote, to be used to maintain the status quo.

7.      RECORDS OF PROCEEDINGS

i.    Records of the business transacted by the Society, the Management Committee and sub-Committees shall be kept in books provided for the purpose, and when approved, shall be signed by the Chairman concerned.

8.      PRESIDENTS AND VICE PRESIDENTS                   

i.    At the Annual General Meeting the members may appoint a President and Vice- President and Life Members.

 

9.      FINANCE AND ACCOUNTS

i.     The Management Committee shall make satisfactory arrangements for the keeping of records of all monies received and expended and of the matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure take place.

ii.     All monies received shall be deposited at a Bank or Building Society in an account in the name of the Buckhurst Hill Residents’ Society. Cheques shall be signed by any two of the Officers.

iii.     The Accounts of the Society shall be subjected to the scrutiny of an independent Auditor appointed at each Annual General Meeting. The audited accounts with the Auditor’s report shall be submitted to the Committee during the six weeks following the close of the financial year.

iv.      The Management Committee shall publish and submit at each Annual General Meeting an Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended the previous December 31st, together with a Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at that date. The Income and Expenditure Account and the Statement of Liabilities and Assets shall be signed by the Auditor, the Chairman and the Treasurer.  

 10.     ALTERATION TO THE RULES OF THE CONSTITUTION

i.        These rules may be altered by motion to an Annual General Meeting upon a written and signed proposal from the Management Committee or (subject to four weeks’ notification in writing to the Committee) of not less than twenty members of the Society. 

ii.        Members must receive a notice of the meeting at least one month in advance and must receive a copy of such proposals at least ten days before the Meeting.

iii.       Any proposal to amend shall be carried by a two-thirds majority of those voting at the Annual General Meeting.

11.       COUNCIL REPRESENTATION

i.         Candidates nominated for election as representatives of Buckhurst Hill Residents’ Society on a Local Authority must be members of the Society and no person deemed by the Management Committee to hold office in, or be actively engaged in the affairs of any Political Party Organisation, shall be eligible for nomination.

ii.         Members elected as representatives of Buckhurst Hill Residents’ Society on a Local Authority shall understand and accept the need to take into very careful consideration the views of the members regarding items and policies which affect the aims and objectives of the Society.              

iii.         Selection of candidates shall take place at a General Meeting.

12.         DISSOLUTION OF THE SOCIETY

i.          Society shall remain in being until an Extraordinary General Meeting shall resolve by two-thirds majority of those voting “that it is dissolved”. All remaining assets shall be given to a registered charity decided at that meeting.                                                                                          May 1998