A community in transition to a low carbon, sustainable, resilient life.
Constitution
The current Transition Forest Row Constitution is primarily a statement of intent and was drafted to meet our needs at that time. As we go forward we need to define more clearly how we are organised in order to be able to handle different situations. This is particularly relevant with regard to application for grant funding.
In drafting this proposed new constitution we have received versions from other Transition Initiatives including Lewes, Sevenoaks, the New Forest, Brighton & Hove & Canterbury, the latter three all follow the same basic format. Some of these can be viewed here:
http://southeasttransitioninitatives.ning.com/forum/topics/group-co...
For this draft we have taken the New Forest version as a template and added other elements as felt appropriate. This is quite comprehensive and hopefully will enable TFR to continue its evolutionary growth without having the constitution becoming a hindrance or needing re-writing too often.
This Constitution covers the Aims & Principles, Membership, Definition of management structures & operation, Powers, Conduct of meetings and Dissolution of Association
The main new element relates to the defintion of membership and the suggested £1, one-off membership fee. The proposed constitution makes membership open to anyone who lives or works within the Parish boundary and is also proposes Associate Membership to others outside the boundary on application. The reasoning behind this propsed membership scheme is that it provides the basis for rapidly acquiring a significant membership base (e.g. on TT film nights and other events where attendees could agree to make the £1 membership from any fee or donation made at that time). A membership like this could be seen as important in countering objections such as the view that Transition Forest Row doesn't represent anyone other than a small self-interested minority.
Please review the draft and add your comments.
This is our proposed new constitution: TFRConstitution-v2-1.doc, 76 KB below
The current constitution is Transition Group Constitution.doc, 31 KB below
Please review and add your comments here
There will be a meeting in the Brambletye Inn next Monday 16th
November at 8pm to review the proposed Constitution.
In drafting this proposed new constitution we have received versions from other Transition Initiatives including Lewes, Sevenoaks, the New Forest, Brighton & Hove & Canterbury, the latter three all follow the same basic format. Some of these can be viewed here:
http://southeasttransitioninitatives.ning.com/forum/topics/group-co...
For this draft we have taken the New Forest version as a template and added other elements as felt appropriate. This is quite comprehensive and hopefully will enable TFR to continue its evolutionary growth without having the constitution becoming a hindrance or needing re-writing too often.
This Constitution covers the Aims & Principles, Membership, Definition of management structures & operation, Powers, Conduct of meetings and Dissolution of Association
The main new element relates to the defintion of membership and the suggested £1, one-off membership fee. The proposed constitution makes membership open to anyone who lives or works within the Parish boundary and is also proposes Associate Membership to others outside the boundary on application. The reasoning behind this propsed membership scheme is that it provides the basis for rapidly acquiring a significant membership base (e.g. on TT film nights and other events where attendees could agree to make the £1 membership from any fee or donation made at that time). A membership like this could be seen as important in countering objections such as the view that Transition Forest Row doesn't represent anyone other than a small self-interested minority.
Please review the draft and add your comments.
This is our proposed new constitution: TFRConstitution-v2-1.doc, 76 KB below
The current constitution is Transition Group Constitution.doc, 31 KB below
Please review and add your comments here
There will be a meeting in the Brambletye Inn next Monday 16th
November at 8pm to review the proposed Constitution.
- Attachments:
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TFRConstitution-v2-1.doc, 76 KB -
Transition Group Constitution.doc, 31 KB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by tony lewin on -
I've had a quick look through and it's clear you have put a lot of work into this. I'm no legal expert, so I'm assuming that all the legal stuff is what is required. What concerns me slightly, and what may worry the Whitehall folk who we have to reassure, is the sudden appearance of whimsical new-age language within what is generally a sound and dull legal document. My feeling is that section 3, especially 3.2, 3.3, 3.10 and 3.11 may sound way too free and easy for the mandarins' liking; these sections might just ring alarm bells that should really stay silent.
On a more anal note, some sections are subdivided with numbers, others with letters, others just with bullets. I'm assuming the only significance of this is that the material comes from several sources and the document hasn't yet been tidied up.
Thanks for doing this thankless task.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Grenville on -
Putting in the values and the way we work seemed important to include up front. It is there for others who want to be involved in Transition and by including these points in this we can all refer to it to know if different activities are aligned with the Transition approach or not.
If the points you mention become issues let's have the debate with them then.
You're right Tony that the material is imported from different sources and decided that rather than delay circulation I would leave the format tidy up to later.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Grenville on
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Following the draft above, this has now been reviewed and this version V2-2 is now proposed to be adopted.
Please add any comments and feedback here. - Attachments:
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TFRConstitution-v2-2.doc, 81 KB
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Permalink Reply by Rowena on -
sorry, I've just looked at v2.1 but I suspect these comments still apply. Well done on kicking this off and the work involved. What is the boundary of Forest Row Parish? I suspect I am outside it along with a number of others - then I don't get to be allowed to sign cheques etc or vote at the AGM - nor could Paul or Nir etc etc. Other than that it all looks more organised which is probably a good thing though does seem different to the spirit of transition as we have embarked on it thus far.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Grenville on
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yes you can vote at the AGM as it allows for people outside Forest Row to become members too.
© 2013 Created by Mike Grenville.
