NQRA Rules and Constitution

Rules and Constitution of the

Newlands Quay Residents Association

1. General

1.1 The Association shall be known as the Newlands quay Residents Association.

1.2 The Association shall be non-political and non-sectarian.

1.3 The objects of the Association shall be:

1.3.1 To promote the exercise of the residents' rights and the maintenance of their amenities and environment.

1.3.2 To ascertain the opinions of the residents of Newlands Quay and to represent the interests of the residents within the local community and with the local authorities, the builders, management and freeholders.

1.3.3 To keep the residents of Newlands Quay informed of developments affecting them.

1.4 The Founder Members of the Association are Michael Boutall, Liz Capper, Richard Crichton-Brauen , Dr Matai (24 Newlands Quay) , Janet Pollard and Annette Williams (All of Newlands Quay, London, E1W 3QZ)

2. Membership

2.1 Membership will be open to all leaseholders, or their representatives, of properties at Newlands Quay , London E1W 3QZ

2.2 Each individual property shall only be entitled to one membership.

2.3 It shall be a condition of membership that all members, at all times, conduct themselves in a reasonable manner at all meetings or in premises used by the Association.

2.4 Any member may be excluded for breach of condition 2.3 or for any other conduct contravening the objectives of the Association, by a majority of those present and voting at any Committee or General Meeting.

2.5 If a decision is made to exclude a member at a Committee Meeting, they shall have the right of appeal against the decision to be heard at the next General Meeting of the Members~ to be held.

3. ..........Subscriptions

3.1 Only if agreed by a majority of the members, will the Association have the right to raise money by subscription from members of the Association. Until such time as a decision is made to raise money the association will conduct no financial transactions. If a decision is made to raise funds the office of Treasurer will be incorporated into that of Secretary and an appropriate auditor will be appointed by the Executive Committee.

3.2 Any subscription or other monies raised by or on behalf of the Association shall only be applied in furtherance of the objectives of the Association provided that nothing shall prevent the payment of remuneration or reasonable expenses as set out in Rule 11.5.

4. Conduct of Business

4.1 The business of the Association shall be conducted by an Executive Committee ("the

Committee") elected at the Annual General Meeting ("AGM"), which shall consist of a

Chairperson, Secretary ("the Officers") and up to a further five members.

4.2 Subject to Rule 4.8, the election or removal of Officers or Committee members may only be carried out by a General Meeting of the Association.

4.3 The members of the Committee shall serve the Committee from the end of one Annual General Meeting until the end of the next following Annual General Meeting.

4.4 The Committee may temporarily fill any vacancy arising amongst the Officers from its other members until the next General Meeting of Members.

4.5 The Committee may co-opt up to five additional members onto the Committee who shall serve until the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting provided that the number of co-opted members shall not exceed one third of the members of the Committee elected in accordance with 4.1 above.

4.6 The Committee shall meet as necessary but not less than twice per year.

4.7 The quorum for a Committee meeting shall be four members.

4.8 Prior to the first AGM, the Committee shall be made up of members willing to serve and appointed by the Founder Members and the Officers shall be elected by the members of that Committee.

5. Annual General Meeting

5.1 The Committee shall call an Annual General Meeting ("AGM") of the Association each year no later than 15 months from the preceding Annual General Meeting, the first such AGM to be held in 2003. Not less than 28 days notice shall be given to all members and all those eligible for membership.

5.2 At the Annual General Meeting,

5.2.1 The Committee shall present an Annual Report of the Association.

5.2.2 Any Sub Committees shall present an Annual Report of their activities.

5.2.4 The Officers and Committee for the ensuing year shall be elected.

5.2.5 Any proposals submitted to the Association Secretary, in writing, not less than seven days in advance of the meeting shall be discussed:

5.3 Subject to Rule 10, all decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of members present (or their proxy) and voting (but only one vote will be allowed per household). The Chairperson shall have a casting vote, if required.

5.4 Voting shall be by a show of hands unless a ballot is demanded by at least one third of members present.

5.5 The quorum for all General Meetings, whether Annual or Special, shall be one quarter of the membership or seven members, whichever is the less.

5.6 Residents who are not members of the Association shall be entitled to attend the AGM and any Special General Meeting as an observer but shall not be entitled to speak at the meeting or vote on any resolution.

6. Special General Meeting

6.1 The Secretary shall call a Special General Meeting at the request of a majority of the Committee or on receipt of a written petition giving reasons for their request, signed by not less than ten members of the Association, each from a different household.

6.2 The Secretary shall give no less than fourteen days notice of the holding of a Special General Meeting setting out the reasons for its call, which shall take place within twenty eight days of the receipt of the request or petition.

6.3 Decisions will be taken on the same basis as at the Annual General Meeting.

7. Notices of Meetings

7.1 Notices of all General Meetings shall be sent to each member by email where possible (or by mail or other means where no email is available) and shall include the date, time and place of the meeting and an Agenda of matters to be discussed and shall be displayed on the Association's website.

7.2 Details of the dates of Committee meetings shall be displayed on the Association website and distributed to each 'turret' representative throughout the development.

7.3 Minutes of all Committee Meetings shall be available to all members via posting onto the Association's website or on request to the Secretary.

7.4 Minutes of all General Meetings shall be available to all residents either via posting onto the Association's website, or on request to the Secretary.

7.5 Where a household has advised the Association of an email address, such notices as are required to be given may be given by email to the email address so notified.

8. Sub Committees

8.1 The Committee may appoint such sub-committees as may be required to carry out the activities of the Association. Such sub-committees shall be directly accountable to the Committee .

8.2 The Committee shall in advance agree the terms of reference of any sub-committee which may then act and apply any finance raised by itself, or on its behalf, only within those terms.

8.3 The Chairperson, and Secretary of the Association shall be ex officio members of any sub-committee.

8.4 All sub-committees shall keep a proper record of all meetings and shall report on them or deliver them up as required by the Committee or at any General Meeting.

8.5 The Committee or any General Meeting may dissolve any sub-committee, whereupon, records of the sub-committee shall pass into the hands of the Committee.

9. Duties of Officers

9.1 The Chairperson (or in his/her absence any other Committee member) of the Committee shall conduct the meetings of the Association. The Chairperson may exclude a member from a meeting whose language or conduct is offensive.

9.3 The Secretary shall be responsible for the convening of all Committee and General meetings and the giving of the prescribed notice to members. He/she shall ensure that a proper record is kept of all Committee and General meetings of the Association in the form of minutes or notes and shall distribute or display such records as appropriate. He/she shall maintain a register of the members of the Association.

9.4 Any member(s) or Officer(s) delegated to represent the Association in consultation with any other body shall act on the instructions of the Association and shall report back to the following Committee or General Meeting, whichever is the sooner. Only a member of the Committee shall be delegated to consult with the local authority.

9.5 Officers or other members of the Committee shall not be liable for any claims or debts against the Association unless it can be shown that the, Officer or member acted in a fraudulent manner with the tacit or explicit consent of the Committee.

10. Alteration to the Constitution

10.1 Any proposal to alter the constitution must be submitted to the Secretary not less than 28 days before the General Meeting at which it is to be discussed. Not less than fourteen days notice shall be given of such meeting, together with the wording of the proposed alterations) .

10.2 Any alteration shall require the approval of two thirds of those members voting and present (or by proxy) at the General Meeting (only one vote per household).

10.3 If the Committee no longer exists, any ten members of the Association shall decide that the Association should be dissolved. They shall give at least fourteen days notice to all those eligible for membership of a meeting at which the matter shall be discussed. For the sole purposes of dissolution the quorum need not apply and the Association may be dissolved by a two thirds majority of those present. The assets, financial and otherwise, remaining when the Association has satisfied its liabilities shall be applied for such purposes of benefit to the community as the meeting shall decide.

11. Administrative Matters

II. I Where a member of the Association, or their household, has a connection, whether financial or otherwise, with any matter being discussed, they shall be required to inform the meeting of their connection and shall not be entitled to vote on that particular matter.

11.2 The Officers shall ensure that the Association is registered, as appropriate, under the Data Protection Act 1998

11.3 Officers and other Committee members shall not be remunerated unless such remuneration is agreed to at a General Meeting but all members shall be entitled to reimbursement of all reasonable expenses incurred on behalf of the Association which have been authorised by either a General Meeting, the Committee or a sub-committee.

11 .4 The Association may become affiliated to any organisation representing residents associations in general or any other non-political or non-sectarian organisation that the Committee deems appropriate to further the objectives of the Association.

11.5 This constitution shall be governed by English Law.