AGM Report
The meeting was attended by members of the RACA Steering Group, about 30 members of the public and guests invited to receive donations from the Kop Hill Climb.
The meeting was opened by Tony Maisey, who chaired the meeting.
The accounts for RACA and also the Kop Hill Climb were presented by John Hughes in the Treasurer's absence.
Tony Maisey thanked John Hughes for his excellent charimanship over the last 4 years and Peter Keen was elected to take over as Chairman. Reg Osler was elected to continue as Treasurer and Maureen Judd will continue as secretary until July 2010 , when she wishes ro stand down.
Francis Gomme spoke about the success of the second walking festival and how people had come from all around the country to participate. The idea of the festival had been to promote Princes Risborough and get it back on the map. The dates for next year are 12th and 13th June
Malcolm Maultby updated the meeting on the community bus project which has just been successful in acquiring a substantial amount of Leader Money from the European Union managed by DEFRA and SEEDA. It is hoped to purchase a bus next March but the project group need a treasurer and someone who can offer legal advice. Also required are a significant number of volunteer drivers which, if sufficient numbers are forthcoming, would only be required to drive once a month. Malcolm acknowledged the substantial amount of ground work done for this project by Chris Blanchard before his death earlier this year.
Geoff Blease bought us up-to-date on the activities of Risborough Area Youth Matters (RAYM). This is a multi-agency group engaging and getting involved with groups of young people in the town. A new Youth Worker has been appointed and it is hoped that this will re-invigorate the group which works with the school as well as other agencies to promote the well-being of the young people. Geoff asked the meeting to talk to and engage with younger people to break down barriers and narrow the generation gap.
The chairman invited Tony Davies to present the Kop Hill Climb presentation but first paid tribute to his hard work over two years which had led to such a successful weekend. Tony gave a brief history of the Kop Hill Climb which had started in 1910 when few cars were on the roads and said this year they had received 250 entries from all over the country which had resulted in 5,000 spectators attending over the weekend. Tony thanked the many people and organisations that had been involved in making this such a successful event. We were able to give a total of £18,000.00 to various charities, all of whom were represented to accept the cheques.
Bill Bendyshe-Brown then spoke about Risborough 2035 and the vision for a vibrant and exciting place in which to live which we can hand down to our youth. Again it was emphasized that there are representatives from many local agencies working together on this project which will cover the regeneration of the Station area and upgrading of the station by Network Rail in 2010; a sustainable transport study for the A4010 including congestion in Bell Street/Wycombe Road; a full assessment of housing needs; a review of school requirements; provision of sports and leisure facilities including the compulsory purchase of Molins Sports ground; a strategy to encourage local entrepreneurship; a quality range of shops in the High Street and a hotel for the town. Bill said that we needed to have a programme of co-ordinated events throughout the year and must work harder at keeping the public informed as to future plans.
