CONSTITUTION OF THE BARNSBURY SQUARE RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION
1. NAME
The name of the organisation shall be Barnsbury Square Residents’ Association (abbreviated hereafter as BSRA).
2. AREA OF OPERATION
The area of operation of the BSRA covers Barnsbury Square (including Mountfort House and Mica House), Mountfort Terrace, Mountfort Crescent, Barnsbury Terrace (including The Courtyard at the end of the Terrace), part of Thornhill Road facing the Square (no. 62, 64, 66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82) and two properties on the West side of Thornhill Road with side frontages onto Barnsbury Square (no. 35 and 37).
3. OBJECTIVES
To safeguard and promote the interest of the residents on matters concerning:
In order to do this we are committed to representing the views of the residents in our area of operation. The BSRA shall work towards good relations among all members of the community, without discrimination on the grounds of age, race, religion, disability, political belief, sex or sexual orientation.
4. MEMBERSHIP
a) Membership shall be open to all residents, irrespective of tenure, and is obtained by providing a name and address to the Secretary who will enter their details in a Membership Register.
b) Each member will also provide an e-mail address or make a specific request for communications to be in hard copy if no e-mail address is available.
c) Membership shall cease immediately upon a person leaving the area defined in section 2) or upon a member giving notice of resignation to the Secretary and, in either event, the name of the member
shall be deleted from the Membership register.
d) Membership shall be free of subscription, but contributions towards running costs by way of donations to the BSRA will be welcome.
5. THE COMMITTEE
a) The Committee shall be composed of a Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and Committee members. A Co-chair may be appointed at the Chair’s discretion. Election of the Committee members shall be conducted at each AGM (see section 9).
b) The committee members shall have the power to co-opt other members on to the committee, during the course of the year. All members will have voting rights.
c) The committee and office bearers shall make and carry out decisions in accordance with the objectives of the BSRA.
d) Meetings of the committee shall be open to any member of the BSRA who wishes to attend.
e) There must be at least three of the Committee members, including an Officer, present for any decisions to be made at a Committee meeting.
f) Councillors and representatives of appropriate organizations/charities may attend committee meetings as and when invited by the Committee.
g) Voting members may be co-opted from residents to fill casual vacancies throughout the year.
h) Committee members can be voted off if they do not attend two successive important meetings without good reason and do not submit their apologies.
i) Committee members must declare any interest they may have in the topic under discussion and the Committee will decide if they need to forfeit their right to vote on this occasion.
6. CONDUCT OF BUSINESS OR STANDING ORDERS
a) Members may speak only through the Chair or a Spokesperson designated by the Committee.
b) Decisions will be approved by a simple majority in a show of hands, or through a secret ballot if appropriate.
c) Any offensive behaviour, including racist, ageist, sexist or inflammatory remarks will not be permitted.
d) Any member who brings the BSRA into disrepute or refuses to comply with the constitution shall be expelled on a majority vote of the full committee.
e) Agendas will be distributed to the membership at least 4 days before a meeting, where possible. Items for the agenda should be forwarded to the Chair, Secretary and Committee members 7 days before the meeting, where possible.
f) Minutes will be distributed to the membership 7 days after a meeting, where possible.
7. FINANCES
a) The BSRA may raise funds by obtaining grants from other bodies or by fundraising schemes. All money raised by or on behalf of the BSRA shall be applied to further its objectives.
b) Accounts shall be kept by the Treasurer.
c) Once a year, the accounts will be reviewed or audited and presented to the BSRA’s AGM.
d) Any member of the BSRA may request sight of the accounts and bank statements at any meeting of the BSRA, and at any other time on 14 days’ notice.
e) All expenditure shall be agreed and controlled by the Committee. Receipts should be acquired for all expenditure over 1 pound.
f) If a bank account is opened in the name of the BSRA, one or more of the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer should have access to the account statements, whether in paper form or online.
8. PUBLIC MEETINGS
a) Public meetings of the members shall be held as appropriate to discuss matters of importance and to keep the members fully informed of the BSRA’s activities.
b) Members shall be given 14 days notice of a public meeting.
c) All votes shall be decided by a simple majority of the members present. This applies to all meetings of the BSRA.
d) Any member, having the written support of 5 other members, may request the Committee to call a Special Public Meeting of the BSRA. The Committee shall call the meeting within 21 days of this written request.
9. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)
a) An AGM shall be held every year to elect the Committee, to discuss the activities of the BSRA and to receive the audited accounts.
b) The AGM shall be held at a suitable venue to accommodate as many members as possible.
c) The quorum shall be 5 members of the Committee.
d) At least 14 days’ notice of the AGM needs to be given to members.
e) At the AGM, the composition of the Committee will be reviewed.
f) Resignation from Committee members who wish to do so will be accepted.
10. CHANGES TO CONSTITUTION
a) This constitution shall only be changed at a Special Public Meeting of the BSRA, or at the AGM.
b) For decisions to be taken there must be a quorum of 5 Committee members. The voting shall be by simple majority of those present.
c) All members shall be given 14 days’ notice of the meeting and proposed changes.
d) Proposed changes must be submitted to the Secretary in writing not less than 28 days before the AGM. The Secretary must notify members of any proposed changes within 21days of the meeting.
e) Any changes adopted shall be incorporated in the revised Constitution, which shall be signed on behalf of the BSRA by the Chair.
11. DISSOLUTION OF THE BSRA
a) The BSRA may only be dissolved by a special meeting called for that purpose. Such a meeting shall come about following a proposal in writing signed by a simple majority of those remaining on the Committee being submitted to the Chair (Co-Chair, if applicable) and Secretary.
b) All members shall be informed of such a meeting at least 21 days before the date of the meeting.
c) Dissolution of the BSRA shall only take effect if agreed by two-thirds of the members present and voting at that meeting.
d) Any assets remaining after meeting liabilities must be distributed among local charities or other community BSRA with similar aims of the BSRA nominated by that meeting.
e) Any money received via funding bodies should be returned to the funders in relation to the funding criteria.
f) On dissolution, any documents belonging to the BSRA shall be disposed of in a manner agreed at that meeting.
This constitution was adopted at the AGM of the Barnsbury Square Residents’ Association on 30 July 2012.