Rules of the Association - Nork Residents' Association

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Rules of the Association

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1. NAME
The Association shall be called the Nork Residents' Association, hereinafter called the Association.
 
2.  OBJECTS
To advance and protect the interests of the residents and the amenities of the district. The Association shall be non-sectarian and non-party political.
 
3.  MEMBERSHIP
3.1   Membership of the Association shall be open to residents of that area known for Local Government purposes as Nork Ward and as from time to time constituted for Local Government purposes, or any other person over the age of 18 years at the discretion of the Committee subject to confirmation at the Annual General Meeting.
 
3.2  Subject thereto the membership of the Association shall comprise all persons of voting age resident within each household from which a subscription is collected and membership shall subsist for a period of 16 months or thereabouts from the 1st January in the financial year that the subscription is collected until the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting held following the end of that financial year in accordance with  rule 9.1 hereof. Provided that a member shall not be entitled to vote at an Annual General Meeting if he has neither paid his subscription during the financial year which ended immediately prior to that Annual General Meeting, nor paid a subscription during the further period between the close of that financial year and the date of that Annual General Meeting.
 
3.3  Individual members admitted to membership by virtue of the exercise of the discretion of the Committee shall hold membership in like manner by the payment of their subscriptions.
 
3.4 Any resident may resign his/her membership, or opt out of membership, by giving to the Hon. Membership Secretary WRITTEN notice to that effect, but in no case shall a member on resignation be entitled to a refund of his membership subscription or any part thereof.
 
3.5  Any person shall upon ceasing to be a member of the Association forfeit all rights to and claims upon the Association, its property and funds.

4.  SUBSCRIPTIONS
4.1  Subject as below, the membership subscription shall be such sum as the Annual General Meeting may from time to time decide, payable on admission and subsequently on 1st January each year.

4.2  The Committee may vary subscriptions by up to 20% in any one year, and any variation shall be reported by the Hon. Treasurer at the Annual General Meeting.

4.3  New members admitted between 30th September and 31st December in any year shall be deemed, on payment of the current year's subscription, to have paid the subscription for the financial year ending 31st December in the following year.

5.  HONORARY SECRETARY AND HONORARY TREASURER
5.1  The Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting (and may be removed by the members in General Meeting) and they shall be ex-officio members of the committee. The Hon. Secretary shall keep or cause to be kept minutes correctly recording all proceedings of the Association and the same shall be produced at every meeting of the Association or Committee. The Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer shall see that all correspondence, general and financial business of the Association are properly conducted and recorded and generally perform the duties incidental to their respective offices. Should any Office fall vacant at any time, the Committee may make what arrangements they think fit until the next Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting.

5.2  The Hon. Treasurer will maintain adequate financial records, at each year end produce an annual statement of accounts for presentation at the next Annual General Meeting and provide all relevant information as requested to the Association

6.  COMMITTEE
6.1  The management of the Association shall be deputed to a Committee. The Committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting for a period ending at the following Annual General Meeting, and shall not exceed twenty-four excluding ex-officio members. In the event of vacancies occurring the Committee shall have power to co-opt other members. The Committee shall, subject to the provision of these Rules, have power to take any action which it deems desirable to further the objects of the Association, including the power to suspend any officer or committee member with immediate effect until the first available opportunity to call an Extraordinary General Meeting.
 
6.2  The Committee shall meet on at least ten occasions in every year to examine the accounts and arrange the affairs of the Association. Minutes shall be taken of all the proceedings and shall be open to inspection by any member of the Association applying to the Hon. Secretary therefor on reasonable notice.
 
6.3  A quorum shall comprise five voting members, to include any two of the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Hon. Secretary or Hon. Treasurer. In case of an equality of votes the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote. All business shall be decided by a simple majority of those present and voting. In the absence of a quorum the Committee may conduct its business as usual, except that (a) Any decisions must be unanimous, (b) Any actions must be ratified by the Chairman, or if he cannot be contacted before such action must be taken, another Officer, and (c) any decisions shall be submitted for approval at the next meeting of the Committee at which there is a quorum.
 
7.  CHAIRMAN, VICE-CHAIRMAN AND EDITOR
7.1  A Chairman shall be elected by the Committee from among its members at the commencement of its first meeting after the Annual General Meeting and shall hold office for a period ending at the first meeting of the Committee following the next Annual General Meeting. If the office of Chairman becomes vacant during the year the Committee shall elect a new Chairman. Similarly, a Vice-Chairman shall also be elected. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the outgoing Committee shall act as Chairman and Vice-Chairman after the Annual General Meeting until a new Chairman and Vice-Chairman are elected.
 
7.2 The Committee shall elect the editor of the "Nork Quarterly" from among its members at the same meeting for a like period.
 
8.  COUNCILLORS
8.1 The Association will register itself as a political party (“the Party”) in Great Britain for local (borough and county) elections only as required by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (“the Act”).

8.2  A Party Leader and a Nominating Officer shall be elected by the Committee from among its members at the commencement of its first meeting after the Annual General Meeting and shall hold office for a period ending at the first meeting of the Committee following the next Annual General Meeting. If the office of Party Leader or Nominating Officer becomes vacant during the year the Committee shall elect a new Party Leader or Nominating Officer. The Party Leader and Nominating Officer of the outgoing Committee shall act as Party Leader and Nominating Officer after the Annual General Meeting until a new Party Leader and Nominating Officer are elected.

8.3  The Committee may from time to time nominate a member of the Association to stand for election to the borough or county council, subject to ratification of their nomination at the next Annual General Meeting. If elected, that member shall be a member of the Committee with full voting powers. Other Nork Ward Councillors and the County Councillor, not having stood for election as nominees of the Association during their term of office, may be invited to be ex-officio nonvoting members of the Committee.

8.4  The Hon. Treasurer is responsible for the Party’s compliance with the requirements of the Act.

8.5  The Party shall maintain a financial scheme approved by the Electoral Commission.

8.6  The Committee is permitted to make changes to the Rules to meet the requirements of the Electoral Commission, subject to the changes being ratified at the next Annual General Meeting.

9.  GENERAL MEETINGS
9.1  Once in every year there shall be held an Annual General Meeting of the members of the Association as soon as possible after the close of the Association's financial year (which shall run to the 31st December) but not later than the last day of April in each year. To enable members to comply with Rule 9.4 hereof the notices calling the Annual General Meeting must be delivered at least four weeks prior to the date of the meeting or posted at least four weeks and one day prior thereto, or notified to members in the two consecutive issues of Nork Quarterly immediately preceding the dates of the Annual General Meeting.
 
9.2  An Extraordinary General Meeting shall be held on the demand of 25 members. Such demand shall be in writing to the Hon. Secretary and shall state the purpose of the meeting. The Hon. Secretary shall call such a meeting within 28 days of receipt of the demand. The Committee shall also have power to call an Extraordinary General Meeting at any time and for any purpose. Notice of such a meeting shall be given in two paid-for newspapers circulating the district published not less than seven days prior to the date of the meeting. Any General Meeting (including any Annual General Meeting) shall be conclusively deemed to have been properly constituted unless objection thereto is taken at the meeting.
 
9.3  The business of the Annual General Meeting shall be

9.3.1   to receive from the Committee a report, balance sheet and statement of accounts for the preceding financial year,
9.3.2  to elect the Committee and to appoint the Hon. Treasurer, Hon. Secretary, Hon. Auditor and Hon. Solicitor for the ensuing year,
9.3.3   to decide on any resolution which may be duly submitted to the meeting as hereinafter provided or otherwise at the discretion of the Chairman.
9.3.4   to receive any reports under Rules 3.1 and 4.2 hereof, and
9.3.5   to consider any other business at the discretion of the Chairman.
 
9.4 Any member desirous of moving any resolution at the Annual General Meeting shall give notice thereof in writing to the Hon. Secretary not less than three weeks before the date of such meeting.
 
9.5  At all General Meetings of the Association the Chairman of the Committee and in his absence the Vice-Chairman or a member selected by the Committee shall take the chair. Every member present shall be entitled to one vote upon every motion and in case of an equality of votes the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote. Save as otherwise provided under these rules all business shall be decided by a simple majority of those members present and voting.
 
9.6  Subject as above the quorum at all General Meetings shall be as follows: for motions proposing any rescission, addition to or amendment of the rules and for motions relating to the expulsion of any member 40, for motions proposing the removal of any officer or committee member 40; and for all other business 15, always provided that for any resolution for the repeal, addition to, or amendment of the rules, or for the expulsion of any member, or the removal of any officer or committee member the necessary majority should be two-thirds of those present and voting.
 
9.7  Subject to the discretion of the Chairman, no amendments (other than a motion of adjournment) shall be moved to any resolution proposed at any Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting unless written notice thereof shall have been sent to the Hon. Secretary not less than seven days previous to the meeting.

10.  AUDITOR
10.1 An Honorary Auditor shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting. In the event of the position falling vacant during the year, the Committee shall have power to appoint a replacement Auditor who will hold office until the following Annual General Meeting. The Auditor shall audit the accounts of the Association before the Annual General Meeting.
 
11.  GENERAL
11.1 These rules shall only be rescinded, added to or amended by an Annual General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting concerning which notice of the proposal has been included in the notice of the meeting, and with the approval of at least two-thirds of the members present and voting.

11.2  The Committee shall be the sole authority for the interpretation of these rules and the decision of the Committee by a simple majority of those members thereof present and voting on the occasion in question upon any question of interpretation or upon any matter affecting the Association and not provided for by these rules shall be final and binding on the members.

11.3  If at any General Meeting a resolution for the dissolution of the Association shall be passed by a majority of the members present and at an Extraordinary General Meeting held not less than six weeks thereafter that resolution shall be confirmed by a resolution passed by a majority of two-thirds of the members present and voting thereon, the Committee shall thereupon, or at such future date as shall be specified in such resolution, proceed to realise the property of the Association and after the discharge of all liabilities shall divide the same equally among all the members known to the Hon. Secretary as being current members at the date of passing of the confirmatory resolution, or otherwise as a majority of those present and voting at the final Extraordinary General Meeting shall decide, and upon completion of such division the Association shall be dissolved.
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Last Edited: 23/03/2024
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