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Bluebell Railway Preservation Society
SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE MEETING
held on 29th July 2005


Information for BRPS Members - Not for publication

The Committee met from 7:30pm to 10:30pm

Volunteer sleeping accommodation: The meeting started with a presentation by Garry Boon on the state of the Green sleeping car and the proposed improvements. The Committee agreed to the proposals and to the initial charge of £1 per night to cover laundry costs, etc. New booking arrangements would also be place to prevent the current abuse of the system. The"Mince Pie" fund will be used to pay for these improvements.

The Committee also decided that the Queen of Scots vehicle would be taken out of use from 1st September so that a proper inspection of the vehicle could take place and a decision made as to its future and/or use.

ALL volunteer sleeping accommodation is to be reviewed and inspected to ensure that it complies with Fire regulations and the terms of the Offices Shops and Railway Premises Act.

Fire Dept: The Committee were pleased to note that a recent complaint to the railway about a fire engine repeatedly racing through Horsted Keynes village turned out to be a novelty fire engine hired out to a nearby village event. The complainant had been informed but no response had been received.

Direct Debits for Society Subscriptions: A meeting had been held with the bank but it would appear that there is no easy solution to overcoming the problem of two individuals (eg Chairman and Treasurer) accepting personal unlimited liability for Direct Debit overpayments. The Officers will continue to explore other options to take this forward.

Membership Matters: The number of members continues to rise steadily and is currently around 9,300.

Pullman Car Names: The Committee rejected a proposal that Car 64 should not be named and instead agreed to the vehicle being named "Christine".

Requests for Trust funding: The Committee agreed to support two applications for Trust funding. The first was to cover the costs of the new LBSC poster boards adorning the side of the shop. The second application was for the restoration of Loco No 27505 (North London Tank).

Turntable: The Committee declined the offer of a 60ft turntable which was currently stored at Fort William. This turntable was originally at Whitchurch and was at one time in the triangle at Bewdley.

Museum: The Committee approved in principle an agreement between the Society, Company and the Trust for the transfer of museum artefacts and archives to the Museum Committee. This approval was subject to sight and approval of the four schedules listing the items concerned which will form part of the agreement.

9F Club: A Director objected to the report in the May summary, claiming that it named him and was a deliberate attempt to ridicule him and his staff in public. He argued that company was nothing to do with the Society and that it was not there to provide administrative services for the Society.

The General Secretary responded that the report did not name anyone and, furthermore, referred to actions taken by the company (as a body corporate) and not by the staff themselves ("...the company had prevented its staff..."). If the matter had been discussed with the Trustee responsible before taking any action, the problems would not have occurred.

The Committee were however very disappointed to note that the 9F Club had done nothing to change the arrangements for booking 9F club events and that once again the General Office was being asked to field phone calls. This was not acceptable. Sam Bee, as Trustee for the 9F Club, would ensure that new arrangements were put in place and that an appeal would be made for volunteers to help with the administration of the Club.

Edmondson Tickets: The Committee agreed a Society policy that Edmondson tickets were part of the heritage atmosphere and should be the type of ticket provided to the vast majority of our passengers, rather than computer generated tickets. The Committee also recorded its appreciation of Brian Peacock's work in completing the restoration of the ticket printing machines.

Next Meeting: The next Committee meeting will be held on 16th September.

Gavin Bennett
General Secretary

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