Annual General Meeting

Held at Hastings on Wednesday, 4th April, 1973 at 2-30 p m.

The meeting was opened by Mr. R. P. Holdaway, Chairman, who welcomed the 72 members present. Apologies Apologies were received from 24 members. Minutes The minutes of the 1972 Annual General Meeting were put to the meeting and accepted as a correct record. Matters Arising There were no matters arising. Chairman's Report Mr. Holdaway, in his address, stated that he had -thoroughly enjoyed his year of office as Chairman of the Association, and his thanks were due -to the membership for eleoting him to this position. He had visited a number of Branches during the year 'and ·found great pleasure in meeting many colleagues, particularly those who were names only to him in -the days of his Editorship, but whose enthusiasm and interest in the affairs of the Association had helped ,to build up such thriving 'and enthusiastic Branches, which, as with all similar organisations, were the backbone of the Association.

Mr. Holdaway continued by saying that when he took office 'twelve months 'ago, he thought that sometime during the year the position of the Association in Ithe light of Local Government 're-organisation would be resolved. That position, however, has not come to pass and his successor would have the responsibility of steering the Association into the unknown future. It was clear, however, that the responsibility for ,administration of Petroleum legistIation would be in ,the hands of Ithe new County Councils. It was highly likely that the enforcement duties would rest either between the Fire Service or the Trading Standards Service, perhaps a combination of both. Mr. Holdaway said ,that he from a personal point of view, the loss of expertIse from officers in the Public Health and Surveyors departments of district councils which seemed inevitable in the s:t-up. He thanked .thes'e officers and those of other for their SUpport over the past fifiteen years and felt ,tha,t m many ways th e A .. SSoclatlOn was .' th unique In· e local government field in bringing together under common ground four or five diSCiplines of f . I pro eSSlOna ffi 0 cers, all of whom had so much to offer.

. This. sharing of knowledge with no inter-departmental JealOUSies led to the 'successful emergence of the ASSOCiatIOn 'as a force in the petroleum world. It was he continued, because of emergence, and the links that had been With the Home Office-F.xplosives Branch, and the of Petroleum, that it was imperative the Assocla'tlOn should continue in being. He appealed to ,those Chief Officers present who may be responsible for petroleum administration to work .to this end, and he stated that 'as soon as the new counties had decided upon their structure and establishment ·and into which department this function would be placed, the Secretary in conjunction with the Association's Honorary Legal Adviser, would be in contaot with Chief Executive Officers.

Mr. Holdaway concluded by thanking the officers and members of the Council of ,the Association for their support during ,the year, his Local Authority for allowing him leave of absence to undertake the many duties of his office, and his own staff for their undoubted help and assistance. Honorary Secretary's Report The Honorary Secretary reported upon membership of the Association and gave the following figures as the total membership at the date of the AG.M. Local Authority members and officers 606; Associate members 129; Bulletin subscribers 46; Honorary members 13. . The Honorary Secretary expressed his pleasure at ,the high level of membership during ,this period when ther,: so much anxiety as ,to the future of petroleum admInlstration.He went on to inform members that the Council of the Associa'tion had prepared the ground for a series of meetings to take place between the Association, London Council, ,the Institute of Petroleum and, the Home Office in order to discuss and prepare a reVISIon of the Association's Code of Practice. Members will be kept informed as to the progress of these meetings and the Honorary Secretary 'requested any member present who had queries or amendments regarding .the present Model CO.des 1to contact him as soon as possible in order th·at poss1ble amendments could he considered by the committee.

The Honora·ry Secretary further repoI1ted Ithat the year ,there had been a continued volume of enqu'Ir1es from members concerning various problems which had arisen and these had been passed on to the Chairman of the Reference and Legal Committee for his committee's considered replies. He reported that this service to members appeared to be working satisfactorily. The Honorary Secretary concluded by making reference to the wide scope of correspondence received by him during the year which ,indicated quite clearly that the Associll1tion had an important role to fill in the many considerations which are undertaken in ,the field of petroleum safety. The Honorary 'Secretary thanked the other officers and members for their assistance and coopera'tion during 'the year and finally he ·repOl'ted the resignation of the Associoation's Auditor, Mr. A Senior.

Honorary Treasurer's Report The Honorary Treasurer reported in the following words :"I have pleasure in presenting my Annual Report for the

year 1972. The uncertainty of the future destina'tion of the responsibility for the ,administration of the Petroleum Acts and of the continuation of the Association necessitated more meetings >than usual. That, together with the general riSe in prices without any increase in 'Subscription fees, was the principal cause of the unsatisfactory financial position at the end of theyear.

As any change in the amount of the subscription fee cannot be implemented until next year it is not recommended that 'any change be made.

S'ome Branches were enough to dispense with capitation fees and so helped the Association's financial position.

It has been a pleasure ,to be of service to the Association."

Honorary Editor's Report .. The report from the Editor cannot be ·of any great length as his 'activities are reflected throughout the year in the quarterly edition of The Bulletin and all the fauHsand failings ·are open in its pages for all to see. The costs of publica>tion including the postal charges are gradually rising, but we have kept within the expenses laid down by your Council.

My <thanks are due :to all officers and members of the Council for :their support during the pa·st year and in particular I must mention your Secretary, Treasurer, immediate paS't Chairman (Bob Holdaway) ·and WaIter Hetherington, also B:ranch Secretaries ·and contributors over the past few years.

We ,try 'to cover a wide field and to strike a balanced view, but this becomes quite difficult if information in the shape of 'articles, letters, items of news, etc. do not come to hand.

I would once more appeal .to all members to put pen .to paper and let us know of your problems, and of your experiences so that we may help or profit by this wider knowledge. Use ·the pages of The Bulletin. We are ready publish any view or ·any comment, no matter how different ours-so please be ·ready to play your part in the productIOn of your own journal.

Dur!ng .the past year as well 'as ,the publication of The Bulletm, we have 'also published electrical certificates, brochures and supplements.

Election of Officers for the Ensuing Year The Honorary Secretary advised the Chairman that there had been one nomination for Ithe office of Chairman that of J. W. Hewison (Havant 'and Waterloo U.D.C.). The ChaIrman addressed the meeting and asked the members present to endorse this choice. This the members did, and Mr. Hewison was duly installed ,as Chairman of ,the Association for the coming year. The new Chai.rman then .addressed the meeting:-

"lam honoured and indeed very conscious of the compliment paid me by the Association in electing me as its Chairman for ,the ensuing year, ayear which in my opinion may be ,the most crucial inHs history.

Being new to the office I will no doubt make mis,takes but it will be my earnest endeavour to do everything within my power to further the aims ·and aspirations of the Association.

I am sure there will be difficult days ahead ·and it will not be an easy task ;to maintain, particularly in the stages, ,the harmonious a<tUtude shown by the disciplines in the past, but with common sense and goodWill on ,all sides it can be done.

The Association has over the years gained great respect in many fields and has an effective voice throughout the country and it will be my duty to see that these assets are not eroded or wasted through either neglect or apathy.

I am also conscious of the very hard work put in over the past few years by a small band of dedicated men, building from nothing, the Association as we know it today, and I feel we all owe them a deep debt of gratitude .

I cannot say .tha-t I have been particularly well groomed for the task ahead for as Vice-Chairman I was never called on to perform 'any of the Chairman's dU'ties, but this I am sure can only reflect on the quiet, efficient enthusiasm of Bob Holdaway, who during his year got through a tremendous amount of work with the minimum of fu'Ss and bother and I would Iike to thank him most sincerely, on behalf of us all, for all the sterling work he did during his year of office, and we are indeed deeply indebted to him.

I would also like at this stage to thank Mr. Senior for his services as Honorary Auditor during the past years.

Auditing is one of those back room jobs one hears little aboU't unless something has gone seriously wrong with the finances, fortunately we heard very Uttle from Mr. Senior for which we are yery thankful, but nevertheless all his efforts on our behalf have been most sincerely appreciated".

Having been nominated, the following officers were installed in office for the coming year: J. Beer (Worces'ter City) Vice-Chairman; J. W. Frid (City of Cambridge) Hon, orary Secretary; C. T. Peacock (Brierley, Y·orks.) Honorary Treasurer; B. W. C. Thacker (Teesside) Honorary Editor; P. D. Wadsworth (Town Clerk, Dudley, Worcs.) Honorary Legal Adviser; H. Seal (Hemsworth U.D.C.) Honorary Auditor.

There were seven nominations for membership to Council and the following were elected by ,the meeting: E. V. Beeby, Rugby R.D.C., G. Beresford, Hastings C.B., D. Hall, Newcastle-under-Lyme M.B., K. C. Hughes, Stafford M.B., T. Kerr, Glanford Brigg R.D.C., K. MacLeod, Dunbarton C.C., R. E. J. Roden, Birmingham C.B.

Appointment of Scrutineers Two Scrutineers, Mr. H. Martin and Mr. L. B. Wilson (City of Cambridge) were appointed. Notice of Motion There were no notices of motion.

Any Other Busines There being no other business the meeting was closed at 4.20 p.m.