PURPLE POETS
MAPPING DEMOCRACY

2009 MAPPING DEMOCRACY PROPOSAL (APPROVAL AND CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS)

Access to Democracy -
MAPPING DEMOCRACY
Proposal:
Residents' Meetings in Suitable Spaces
Kim Morrissey, tutor, speaking on behalf of the Purple Poets
(and volunteers from  the Third Age Project, West Euston Time Bank, Camden Federation of Private Tenants)

PROJECT PROPOSAL APPROVED BY
THE CAMDEN Physical Disabilities and Sensory Impairment Liaison Group,
Wednesday 4 February 2009
The Charlie Ratchford Resource Centre

We believe that democracy is a right, not a privilege. Every resident has a right to attend residents' meetings without unnecessary inconvenience. We also believe it is preferable, whenever possible, to hold meetings concerning residents within their own buildings, rather than at an outside venue.

We want buildings to be evaluated so that the residents can be aware of suitable (and unsuitable) spaces in the building to hold communal meetings as well as the location of other suitable venues within close proximity. All such buildings' meeting spaces should be fully accessible.

We are happy to work towards a checklist of guidelines, so people can evaluate their own spaces (it is easier to see what is NOT suitable than what is suitable) and, using volunteers, map communal residential meeting spaces in Camden, adding private buildings and other Council-owned buildings to the admirable work that Camden has already done under Yenok Hatamian, mapping Camden Council-owned properties.

The questionnaire will also include a question about the present Constitution for the volunteer's residents' association, and suggest the following constitution for a residents' association, where there is none:

A Model Constitution for a Residents' Association (the Purple Poets' Model)

This study will assess the suitability of a meeting space in relation to a resident's flat, starting from the resident's flat within the building (rather than assume the resident is outside the building).

REFERENCE MATERIAL:
The Private Sector: its contribution and potential
Julia Rugg and David Rhodes
Centre for Housing Policy
University of York
ISBN 1 874797 49 8
http://www.york.ac.uk/chp

OTHER SOURCES
(Chartered Institute of Environmental Health)
(Residential Landlords Association)

RESOURCE PEOPLE AND SOURCES:
Robert Taylor (Camden Federation of Private Tenants)
Tony Bloor, Karen Given, Urmi Alim (Third Age Project)
Shahanara Begum (time broker, West Euston Time Bank)
Josie Nakos (Greenlight Pharmacy, West Euston Time Bank)
Dr. Paul Nandi (Pain Management Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery)
Dave Coleman, Camden Pest Control Office (cockroaches, pigeons, rats, mice)
Eric Cline (former Minister of Health, Saskatchewan)
Mike Shaw (Westminster, NHS meeting spaces, disabled access)

WORKING NOTES
reference material and resources:
The Rugg and Rhodes Review
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health

Last year in the UK 30,000 people died because they could not heat their homes.
Illness  (including stress) is also affected by housing conditions
(damp, mould, vermin, pollutants, inadequate fire alarms, noise pollution).
The issue of Disability Access to meetings becomes increasingly important in an aging population.

DRAFT QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION      
08.06.2009


STAGE ONE OF THE PROJECT:  THE PERCEPTION OF FAIRNESS
volunteers will fill in a questionnaire about a building
(preferably their own, though they will be encouraged to also interview others)

All types of multi-residential housing will be included,
(including buildings where the leaseholders own the freehold or right to manage)
Co-operatives, Council-owned Buildings, Housing Associations, Privately-Owned Buildings,

FOLLOWING ON:
FIVE QUESTIONS (AND TWENTY OTHERS)

1. Do you like living in your building?

2. Does your building have a public notice board?
(and if you put up notices, do important notices stay up until you take them down?)

3. Is there a 'MAINTENANCE CONCERNS' list or book where people can write down problems/suggestions?

4. Are there any problems with the building?

(for example, Dampness, Noise, Vermin, Problems with Lift, Steps up to Main Entrance, or down to garden,
Other Maintenance Problems, Fire Concerns,  Rough Sleepers, etc.)

5. Do you think your Residents' Association/managing agent/landlord is 'fair'?



RESIDENTS' MEETINGS AND ACCESS FOR ALL

6. Is it easy to call a meeting if there is a problem?

7. Are meetings held inside or outside the building?

9. Does everyone know about the meetings?

8. How often do Residents have open meetings?
(how many times a year?)
(how many days notice of the meeting is given?)
(are you happy with how often they are held?)

10. Is it easy for everyone to attend meetings?
(please explain )
for instance:
-- are they held in places you feel are (or aren't) accessible to everyone?
-- are meetings held up or down a flight of stairs?
--- can you use the lift to get to the meetings?
-- is it easy to hear what is being said?
-- are meetings held at too short notice?
-- does everyone know about the meeting?
--- does everyone feel welcome?


RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION

11. Does your building have a Residents' Association?

12. If yes, does the Residents' Association provide the constitution upon request?

13. Please request a copy of the constitution
Date of asking for the constitution  ______
Date the constitution was supplied  ______

14. Does the Residents' Association have an Annual General Meeting (AGM)
--does it happen once every year?
-does everyone know about the AGM meeting?

15. Are you on your Residents' Assciation's executive or committee?


NEIGHBOURS HELPING NEIGHBOURS 

16. Does your building have a book exchange box?
(and would you like one?)

17. Does your building have a communal garden?
(and would you like one?)

18. If there is available garden space in your building
is it easy to help with the garden, or grow your own plants, if you wish?

19. Is it easy to recycle things in or near your building?
(glass bottles, tins, newspapers, etc.)

20. Does your building have a space for bikes? (or mobility scooters?)


AND 5 OTHERS:

21. What happens if there is a fire?
(Do you have a smoke alarm in your flat?)
(Do you have a fire alarm in your building?)
(Do you have a fire alarm in each communal corridor?)

22. Are there safe, pleasant places for people to go (including children)?

23. Is this building getting better or worse?

24. What do you like about your building?

25. Do you have any other comments or suggestions
about what you have been asked about in the questionnaire?

STAGE TWO: PERCEPTION VERSUS REALITY
Following-on from the questions, volunteers will examine the difference between perception of accessibility by a resident and the legal requirement for DDA Compliancy. Volunteers will examine the  various meeting spaces, to see if the residents' perception of fairness and accessibility are accurate (including in the report the measurements to see if the meeting space is DDA compliant).  This accessibility will be judged from a starting point within the building, rather than outside the building, to measure how difficult it is to attend the meeting.

Following up on perceptions of fairness and regularity of meetings, volunteers will compile and assess the constitutions and try to determine the dates of meetings held  (general, AGM, informal meetings such as gardening meetings, etc - and were minutes taken, were the minutes accurate, where they circulated, were residents given adequate notice of the meeting, were residents' wishes carried out after the meetings). Where meeting places are not suitable, other suggestions for suitable meeting spaces will be made. Where there is no constitution, our PurplePoets' Model constitution will be suggested (this constitution is approved by Time Banking UK, the Camden Federation of Private Tenants, Third Age Project).
Where there are fire concerns, we will look at solutions; where there is a suitable space for a book exchange box, bicycle racks, recycling schemes, communal and shared gardens, these will be suggested as we believe they help  neighbours to engage with neighbours, to bring a community together.

STAGE THREE: TALKING TO MANAGING AGENTS/LANDLORDS
(which will include a walk around inspection of the building,
where-ever possible, with the landlord by volunteers)

1. Are there are methods for formal complaints?
2. Is there is something set up where people can make informal complaints?
3. Do the agents/landlords think there is something better they could do to manage complaints.
4. Is there a regular walk around inspection with residents?
5. Is the managing agent happy with the building?

6. Do the managing agents have any other comments
about what they had been asked about in the questionnaire.

STAGE FOUR: FOR BETTER OR WORSE: THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT

A working Maintenance Concerns list will be compiled for each building.
As well as the comparison between what the landlord thinks is acceptable and the resident thinks is acceptable, there will be a comparison between the state of the building today, and the state of the building in the past (government records, photographs, personal archives, etc.) with a follow-up, in a year's time, to see if conditions have changed in the building.
Residents will also be encouraged to donate copies of photographs to local history archives and also to incorporate things such as book exchange boxes, historical projects, recycling projects, inter-generational projects and communal organic gardens in their buildings.

Where there is no constitution for their residents' association, it will be suggested they adopt the Purple Poets'
Morrissey Miller Model Constitution.


A Model Constitution for a Residents' Association



THE MORRISSEY MILLER MODEL CONSTITUTION
FOR A RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION
(created by Kim Morrissey and Bernard Miller, based on discussions with the Purple Poets
and on  the discussion and approval at the Open Meeting
of Clare Court Concerned Residents, 08.05.2008,
Camden Town Hall, 7 p.m.- 10 p.m.)
This meeting to draft a constitution came about because
the 2007 Clare Court Residents' Association Executive said they'd lost their constitution.
This draft constitution is now a suggested template for other buildings:
--approved and suggested by the Camden Federation
of Private Tenants Association, (CFPTA) August 2008
-- recommended by the Third Age Project, Time Banking UK March 2009
(with the addition of clause 6.g  - the accessibility to meetings clause)

1. NAME

The name of the Association shall be The [__name of building__]  Residents Association hereinafter called “the Association”).

2. OBJECTS

a) To represent all residents of [__name of building__]   [___address___] .

b) To promote the exercise of tenants’ and leaseholders’ rights and the maintenance and improvement of their housing conditions, amenities and environment.

c) To further the community interests of the Members in relation to   [__name of building__]  and to uphold equal opportunities and work for good relations amongst all members of the community.

To this end the Association shall at all times respect the principles of democracy and act in a spirit of transparency, accountability and responsiveness towards its members. In addition, the Association shall work towards ensuring that all parts of   [__name of building__]  are brought into compliance with the Disability Discrimination Acts and that no discrimination is allowed to occur on the basis of disability, race, gender or orientation.

3. MEMBERSHIP

a) Eligibility: Membership of the Association shall automatically be open to all the tenants or leaseholders of each flat, apartment or other residential domestic unit in [__name of building__] ,  [___address___] (hereinafter called “a Flat”) other than the landlord, the landlord’s agent or any of their employees.

Resident employees of Freshwater [replace  "Freshwater" with the Management Agent/Freeholder/Landlord of your building], its associated or subsidiary companies or any firm contracted to work for it may be members of the Association but may not stand for the Committee and may not vote on any matters on which they have a direct interest by virtue of their status as an employee.

b) Entitlement to vote: There shall be 1 vote per flat.

4. MANAGEMENT

a) Management Committee: The Association shall be managed by a Committee to be elected at the Annual General Meeting.

b) Actions and Accountability: The members of the Committee shall act generally in accordance with the decisions of the Association taken at General Meetings, and shall be accountable to the members in General Meetings for their management of the Association.

c) Meetings: The Committee shall meet when it considers necessary, but shall meet not less than once every quarter in addition to General Meetings and all members of the Committee shall be summoned to meetings in writing.

d) Filling vacancies: If vacancies occur among the Officers or in the Committee, the Committee shall notify all members of the vacancy as soon as it is known and shall have the power to fill them from among their members until the next General meeting of the Association when elections for vacancies should take place.

e) Display of documentation: A copy of the Constitution and a copy of the list of the current members of the Committee shall be on permanent display in a public place. To ensure this, a lockable notice board should be provided close to each entrance. Copies of both may be requested in writing by any resident and following such request, must be provided by the Committee.

f) Chairing: If the Chair is not present at a Committee meeting then those members of the Committee present shall appoint one of their number to act as Chair.

g) Voting procedures: Voting on the Committee shall be by a simple majority, normally by a show of hands.

h) Record of votes: All votes shall be recorded and the records retained for seven years.

i) Committee’s power of approval: The committee shall be empowered to approve expenditure by Freshwater [replace "Freshwater" with the Management/Freeholder/Landlord of your building] on [__name of building__] projects with a value up to £1,000 without the need to consult members of the Association at a General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting.

k) Minutes: Brief minutes shall be taken of each meeting of the Association and shall be kept by the Secretary. They shall include agreed records of any decisions taken. The minutes shall be presented to the subsequent meeting for its approval by a simple majority of members present. The minutes shall be archived and shown on request of any member of the Association within two weeks of receipt of the request. The minutes shall be retained for a minimum of seven years and shall be passed from one Secretary to their Successor.

The minutes shall be displayed between meetings on the locked notice board maintained for the Association’s work and a further copy shall be held by the porter for consultation on request.

l) Website: In the event of the Association deciding to establish and maintain a website, this shall include the names of current members of the Committee and of Officers, the most recent minutes and possibly archived versions of previous minutes, notices of forthcoming meetings and any other matter considered appropriate by the Committee and members. To protect individual privacy, individuals’ e-mail addresses will not be made available on the website unless individuals have so requested. It shall be possible to contact individual members of the Committee by e-mail links through the website.

5. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS

a) An Annual General Meeting of the Association shall be held not later than 1 April in each year at such date, place and time as the Committee may determine. The ordinary Business at such meeting shall be:

1. To elect Officers comprising:

i) a Chair or Co-chairs of the Association;

ii) a Treasurer or Co-treasurers of the Association;

iii) a Secretary or Co-secretaries of the Association.

2. To elect:

iv) a General Committee of not more than eight members which includes a floor representative from each domestic residential floor;

v) to receive and consider a report from the Chair or any other body or person so requested on the activities of the Association during the preceding year;

vi) to receive and approve an Annual Report of the activities of the association and the Statement of Account and Balance Sheet of the Association as at 31 December of the preceding year, together with a report on the financial position of the Association from the Treasurer;

vii) to consider any other business duly proposed and seconded.

b) Not less than 21 days notice of the Annual General meeting shall be given in writing to every flat.

c) Any Association member elected to the Committee or selected to represent the Association in any other matter shall report back at least four times a year, preferably at each General Meeting.

d) With the approval of the Committee, non-members can attend Committee meetings, General Meetings and the Annual General Meeting as non-voting observers and may be invited to speak.

e) In order to comply with the registration process an independent observer shall be present at each Annual General Meeting to confirm if necessary that the meeting was arranged and conducted in accordance with the Association's Constitution. The independent observer must be a non-member of the association and someone seen as acceptable such as Member of Parliament, Councillor, Vicar, Magistrate.

f) Nominations for election to any of the offices of the Association may be taken at the meeting from the floor. For positions of Officers referred to in paragraph (a) of this Rule or of the Committee, nominations may also be made by any two members of the Association. This shall be done by written notice to the Secretary, served not less than seven days before the Annual General Meeting or any general meeting at which a vacancy is to be filled. This shall be accompanied by the written consent of the person so nominated who must be a member of the association. If more than one candidate has been nominated for a vacancy, the list of candidates shall be distributed at the meeting.

g) A notice containing all resolutions proposed and the names of all persons nominated under the terms of paragraph (f) of this Rule shall be kept by the Secretary, displayed on a notice board where possible, and shall be available for inspection during the period of seven days before the meeting.

h) In the event that there is more than one nomination for any of the offices referred to in paragraph (a) of this Rule, then the General Meeting shall first vote on those nominations. Voting shall normally be by show of hands. However, if so requested voting may be by secret ballot in which case collection and counting of ballot papers shall be done by a person or persons not voting.

i) All officers and members of the Committee elected under paragraph (a) of this Rule shall hold office until the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting in the following year. No person shall hold any office for more than three consecutive years except when that person is elected during or on the conclusion of that term to one of the offices referred to in paragraph (a) of this Rule, in which event the period of three years starts to run again.? If no new candidates can be found to stand for office and a serving member is willing to stand again past the three-year limit, a preliminary vote shall be held to approve that person’s re-election. Since this vote marks an exception to the general terms of this constitution, it shall require a vote of at least 66% of those members present and voting for approval.

j) If the Committee does not set the date, time and place for the Annual General Meeting before 1 April in each year, then 1 April at 8 p.m. [__name of building__] , [___address___], shall be the date, time and place of the Annual General Meeting and an independent observer shall chair the meeting.

6. GENERAL MEETINGS

a) Decisions of General meetings of the Association shall be binding on the Committee.

b) Not less than 21 days notice of General meetings shall be given to all members, stating the time and place it will be held and the business to be placed before it.

c) There shall be at least 4 General Meetings a year, one of which will be the Annual General Meeting.

d) The Chair shall take the chair at every General Meeting. In her/his absence the members of the Committee shall appoint one of their number to take the chair.

e) At every General Meeting only one vote may be cast on any motion in respect of each Flat, and on motions relating to service charges, only Flats in respect of which the variable service charge is payable may cast a vote (in terms of Section 18 – 30 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 relating to service charges).

f) There shall be one exception to the general rule limiting voting to one vote per flat. In relation to article 6e) above, resident tenants who are not leaseholders shall be entitled to vote on all matters decided upon by the Association except those relating to the variable service charge. The non-resident Leaseholder for a flat shall be permitted to attend meetings of the Association and vote on matters relating to the variable service charge.

g) To meet the access needs of people with disabilities, all meetings including General and Annual General Meetings shall be organised in such a way as to ensure access to people with disabilities. To this end, display notices for meetings shall use fonts of at least 20 points, printed in a dark colour on a light, high-contrast background. Every effort shall be made to provide large print copies of agendas and other meeting documents to those members who request them in advance and to meet the needs at meetings of members with mobility, sight, hearing or communication impairments. Meetings shall be held in spaces which can been shown to comply with the access provisions of all current disability discrimination legislation (if necessary by conducting an access audit).

7. EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETINGS AND EMERGENCY MEETINGS

a) The Committee may at any time and shall, on the written requisition of not less than twelve members of the Association stating the business for which they require the meeting, convene an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Association.

b) Notice shall be given to all members of the Association at their [__name of building__]  address not less than fourteen days before the date of the meeting.

c) This notice shall include the date, time and place of the meeting, and notice of the business to be transacted.

d) Where an Extraordinary General Meeting is requisitioned by twelve members of the Association, the meeting shall be held within twenty-one days of such a requisition being received by a member of the Committee. Where public holidays fall within the twenty-one day period this shall be extended by the number of days of the public holiday.

e) Where an emergency arises requiring emergency action and/or approval of emergency expenditure exceeding the £1,000 limit referred to in article 4 (j), an emergency meeting shall be called by written notice with only 24 hours’ notice. The notice of the meeting shall describe briefly the emergency, the decisions which need to be taken and any special measures necessary. Full details shall be given at the emergency meeting itself.

8. QUORUMS

a) The quorum for any General Meetings or Extraordinary or Emergency Meetings shall be fifteen [change this  number to 15 - 20% or your inhabited flats] people. If there should be no quorum at the start of a General Meeting, it shall stand adjourned. If the General Meeting fails due to lack of proper quorum and the members attending an adjourned General Meeting so wish, the Committee has the right to reconvene it within 7-10 days with the same agenda and papers already distributed. The Secretary shall give all members written notice of the reconvened meeting.

b) The quorum for any Annual General Meeting shall be twenty-five percent of the Members of the Association eligible to vote or twenty [change this  number to an agreed number] people. If the Annual General Meeting fails due to lack of proper quorum the Committee has the right to reconvene it within 7-10 days with the same agenda and papers already distributed. The Secretary shall give all members written notice of the reconvened meeting.

c) The quorum for a meeting of the Committee shall be not less than five [change this  number to an agreed number of at least half the committee members] members of whom at least one shall be an Officer appointed under paragraph (a) of Rule 5.

9. FINANCE

a) The property and funds of the Association shall be held and administered by the Committee. A resolution of the Committee passed in due form shall be sufficient authority for any movement of such property or funds.

b) A bank account shall be held in the name of the Association, and shall be operated by the Officers on behalf of the Association. Signatures of any two members of the Officers shall be required for any financial transaction to be valid.

c) The Financial Year of the Association shall run until 31 December, at which date the Treasurer shall prepare an Annual Statement of Account and Balance Sheet and present to each Annual General Meeting a written account of the finances of the Association showing its income, expenditure and balances.

d) The Annual General Meeting of the Association may appoint a financial assessor or auditor if it so decides, provided that such financial assessor or auditor shall not be a member of the Association or have any relationship to Freshwater [replace  "Freshwater" with the Management/Freeholder/Landlord of your building] its associates or subsidiaries.

e) All monies raised by or on behalf of the Association shall be applied to further the aims of the Association and for no other purpose.

10. RECALL PROCEDURES

In the event of dissatisfaction being expressed about the work of the Committee or of any Officer either for actions taken which are not in line with the Association’s objectives or for failing to comply with particular requirements of Committee membership or specific office, the possibility shall exist for the whole Committee, a specific officer or the individual member of the Committee to be recalled. This shall be done by serving notice in writing to every flat, stating the reasons for believing that a recall is justified and calling for an Extraordinary Meeting to consider the allegations and, if necessary, vote for new Committee members or officers. The meeting shall be governed by the terms of Article (7) of this constitution.

11. SUB-COMMITTEES

The establishment of sub-committees or working groups for specific purposes (such as gardens or cleaning or organizing specific social events) or to address specific tasks (such as viewing, interpreting and reporting on plans) shall be encouraged. Membership of such sub-committees shall be open to any member of the Association. Written notice of an intention to set up a sub-committee shall be distributed to all flats and displayed on the Association’s notice board. Sub-committees shall report briefly on their activities to each General and Annual General Meeting

12. CONSTITUTION

a) On the adoption of the Constitution of the Association held on __[details to be inserted] __ it shall be deemed to be the Constitution of the Association with effect from the close of that Meeting, and the Committee and Officers of the Association elected at that Meeting shall be deemed to have been elected under the terms of this Constitution, and shall be subject to it.

b) This constitution may only be altered or amended by a resolution duly proposed and passed at an Annual General Meeting of which due notice has been given. The votes required for an alteration or amendment shall be three-quarters of those present and voting at the General Meeting.

13. DISSOLUTION

a) If the Committee, by a simple majority decide at any time to dissolve the Association, they shall give at least 21 days notice of a meeting to all those eligible for membership. If such a decision shall be confirmed by a simple majority of those present and voting at the meeting, the Committee shall have the power to dispose of any assets held by, or in the name of, the Association for purposes consistent with the aims of the Association.

Signed ............................................................................. (Chair or interim Chair)

Signed ............................................................................. (Secretary or interim Secretary)

Signed…………………………………………………………(independent observer)

Date..................................................................................................................................

constitution© Morrissey and Miller  2009. Please feel free to use this model for your association free of charge.

Time Banks and Time Banking The Four Core Values

1. We treat people as assets. We support the positive actions people can and want to do for their community. 2. We are re-defining work Regardless of the task,   everyone's time is valued equally we value whatever it takes to make neighbourhoods safe and vibrant. 3.We reciprocate. We require that everyone gives something back ensuring all in our society have the opportunity to be involved in their community. 4. We support the development of social networks. These require ongoing investments of social capital generated by trust, reciprocity and civic engagement.

TBUK
Time Banking UK,
The Exchange,
Brick Row,
Stroud GL5 1DF
Tel: 01453 750952
info@timebanks.co.uk

think purple! think poets!
Bloomsbury Time Bank
The Purple Poets
contact Ferdous Rahman
rahmanferdous AT hotmail.co.uk
mailing address: The Purple Poets
c/o Flat 18 Chenies Street Chambers
Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7ET

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