IWA Oxfordshire Branch AGM

Held The Boat Inn Thrupp

Chairman Ian Lindsay taking the chair, welcomed everyone to the meeting.

1. Present & Apologies – The following members and guests were present

Ian Lindsay, Mark Rowan, Dave Wedd, Verna Smith, Nick Powell, Peter and Fran Braybrook

Apologies from Bill Mandeville Mike and Maria Rosa Foulton Mark Davies Peter Trowels Stella Wentworth

2. The minutes of the Branch AGM on 26^th March 20234were available to all attendees. and were agreed by members present
3. No matters were raised from the 2024 minutes.
4. Branch Chairman’s Report.

Ian Lindsay read the chairman’s report to the meeting as follows.

At last year’s AGM I proposed that the branch need to be folded unless more people stepped forward to help run it. Mark Rowan kindly took on the role of treasurer and organised a successful social event too. Other people offered to help so we staggered on.

We managed to man a stand at the Oxford and Banbury canal Festivals I must thank Paul Rogers Peter Lister Maralyn and Jim Nott and Verna Smith who helped put the IWA stand up and man it.

I have attended CRT southeast region and Thames Waterways forum meetings, the latter not with my IWA hat on but I do try and represent our interests. The navigation team within the EA has moved departments again so new people are responsible at a high level and contacts with those people need to be established.

But the issue of enough people to help run the branch so that it undertakes meaningful stuff hasn’t gone away. Unless between 3 and 5 people are willing to put themselves forward at this AGM meeting to take on official branch committee roles then the membership has only 1 choice which is to vote to close down the branch and furthermore to agree that the balance of Branch funds be put into central IWA funds for general IWA purposes.

If the branch members decide to put themselves forward, stand for committee positions and to continue the IWA campaigning fight I remain very happy to continue with a branch committee role to support this and we can agree an ambition of monitoring and responding to planning applications affecting the waterways in the branch area and manning stands at Banbury Canal Festival 4&5 October 2025.

I really don’t want to be the chair in post when the region ceases to exist, but I don’t see an alternative.

Who will step forward to help out.

5. Branch Treasurer’s Report

Copies were available to all those present and were agreed by members present. Thanks again to Mark Rowan for taking on this role.

6. Election of committee members

Ian Lindsay agreed that he was willing to continue as chairman and Mark Rowan Treasurer and the members present duly agreed to elect them, in light of the discussion about the future of the branch which took place before the election and is reported at item 7

7. Future of the branch

There was a broad discussion involving everyone present at the meeting following Ian’s opening statement that he had had discussions with a couple of people including Verna in the days before the meeting and the clear advice was that it was better for the branch to continue even if it wasn’t achieving all the things a branch ought to, rather than fold.

During the discussions first time AGM attendee Nick Powell expressed a willingness to consider taking on the planning monitoring role especially as he has access through work to a computer software system that can automate local authority planning list monitoring which he may be able to utilise for this role.

Peter and Fran Braybrook expressed a willingness to arrange a social meeting or 2 in the coming year.

If the Oxfordshire branch manages to monitor planning application and can therefore demonstrate some value and purpose and if a social meeting or 2 can be arranged to give members something for their membership and also to hopefully persuade another member or 2 to become involved in running the branch Ian therefore concluded that he was willing to continue the branch and be Chair and Mark Rowan agreed to support that and remain as Treasurer

Hopefully Jim Nott, a member who transferred to the Oxfordshire branch area last year and , kindly offered to undertake a little bit of mentoring of a new person in the planning role given his experience in another region in the role can be persuaded to help out too.

8. Any Other Business

Ian reported on the Fund Britain’s Waterways Westminster Protest cruise 7^th May and the proposed flotilla journey to Boston, one route of which is via the Thames and Oxford Canal. FBW hope local waterways clubs and businesses will get involved as the flotilla passes to raise the profile of the issues. Peter and Fran Braybrook to see if its possible to arrange a social meeting to coincide with this.