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Welton Owners Club Constitution amended September 2018
1.The Title; The name of the club shall be the Welton Owners Club, hereinafter referred to as the Club.
2.Objects;
a)To unite caravan owners in a common membership of the Club for the purpose of recreation, i.e. caravan rallies.
b)To promote a bond of friendship between members that will ensure help to one another in all circumstances
c)To promote safety at all times by full observance of the Welton Owners Club Rally Code of Conduct, rules laid down by the Caravan Club and the Caravan, Country and Coastal Codes.
3.Membership; Membership of the Club is open to applicants who qualify under one of the following categories;
a)All persons and their families who are considered suitable by the Committee, who may refuse applications without giving reasons. Each family is subject to an entrance fee as agreed at the Annual General Meeting.
b)Existing members of the Club having retired from caravanning and wishing to continue their membership.
Only full members of the Club may attend paragraph 6 rallies. Membership must have been granted in advance of attendance of any event, and must also be for a longer period than that associated with only one event.
A non-member may attend as a temporary member, one Paragraph 4 rally or licensed site rally by invitation from a full member. The full member is responsible for the temporary member’s wellbeing and observance of the Club’s Code of Conduct. This does not apply to Paragraph 6 rallies.
Accepted applications for membership of the Welton Owners Club will be granted for a full year.
4.Subscription; A subscription as fixed at the Annual General Meeting of the Club, per family is due on application for membership and is renewable on 1st January annually. Any member of the Club who has not paid his/her subscription by 31st March shall have been deemed to have resigned from the Club.
5.Withdrawal of Membership; If at any time the Committee is of the opinion that a member should be asked to withdraw from the Club, it shall be their duty to invite, by letter, such a member, whose expulsion is under consideration, to offer an explanation of his/her conduct in writing.
6.Finance; All monies of the Club shall be banked, by the Treasurer, in the name of the Club, at a ba.nk convenient to the Treasurer, and as agreed by the Management Committee.
7.Management; The Club shall be administered by the Management Committee, which shall consist of the following Officers: Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and Rally Secretary and a Committee of not more than six members
A quorum for a Committee meeting shall be five, one of whom shall be the Chairman or Vice-Chairman. The management Committee shall exercise the powers given to it by this Constitution, and shall have the powers of co-option to fill any vacancy on the Committee, and to appoint any constitutionally elected member to be an Officer should the necessity arise. The Management Committee shall have the power to appoint a sub-committee to deal with specific matters, as and when deemed necessary.
8.Election of Officers; The Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Rally Secretary and Committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and subject to normal termination of office by resignation, shall remain in office until their successors are appointed at the next General Meeting following their election. The retiring Officers and Committee shall be eligible for re-election, except where the Chairman or Vice-Chairman has already held office for three years, in which case they shall not be eligible for re-election until a further year has passed.
9.Officers and Committee; Nominations for election must be received in writing, by the Secretary, not less than 28 days prior to the Annual General meeting with an intimation in writing, signed by the nominated member that he/she is willing to serve. A proposer and seconder shall sign candidate’s nominations.
10 Annual General Meeting; The members attending the Annual General Meeting will agree the date of the following AGM. The AGM shall: -
a)Receive from the Treasurer a full statement of accounts at the rally. The accounts shall be duly audited and show details of receipts and expenditure, for the year ended 31st December prior to the meeting.
b)Receive from the Chairman a report on the Club’s activities during the year.
c)Consider any proposals made by members, in writing, and received by the Secretary, not less than 28 days prior to the meeting. Such proposals to be duly seconded.
11.Voting; Two senior members from each family present may exercise one vote each on production of their membership card. The Chairman shall not vote, except in the exercise of the casting vote.
12.Extra-Ordinary General meeting; Not less than 20 members, giving 21 clear days notice to the Secretary, shall call such a meeting. The applications, in writing, for such a meeting shall bear not less than 20 signatures, and give full particulars of their business, for which the meeting has been convened. The completed application shall be accompanied by a deposit of £40, returnable after the deduction of all costs incurred by the said meeting. The Secretary shall serve notice of the meeting, and Agenda, to all members at least 10 days prior to the meeting.
13.Rallies; The Officers and Committee, as a quorum, are the only people empowered to convene any event whatsoever, under the name of the
Club.Club Caravan Rallies are held under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960.
Interest in land may be acquired by purchase, lease or licence for the purpose of holding rallies or meetings as permitted by legislation or by Local Planning Authorities or for any other Club activities.
For the purpose of taking an interest in land, the Officers of the Club, namely the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Rally Secretary will be the trustees.
The Officers and Committee and the Trustees of the Welton Owners Club shall not be liable for any loss suffered by the Welton Owners Club as a result of the discharge of duties and/or activities authorised by the Officers and Committee except insofar as such loss arises from their wilful default and they shall be entitled to be indemnified by the Welton Owners Club for authorised expenditure and financial liabilities necessarily incurred in the discharge of these duties and activities.
The trustees undertake that when rallying under the paragraph 4 exemption certificate they will consult the relevant local authority regarding any site which the Club proposes to use and not to use any site to which the local authority objects.
The trustees undertake to limit the duration of any paragraph 4 rally to a maximum of 28 days on site and any paragraph 6 rally to 5 days.
Any rally, which is limited to five days or less but does not meet the membership requirements of a paragraph 6 rally will be held under paragraph 4. In such cases the local authority will be consulted and the trustees will undertake not to rally on the site if the local authority objects.
A rally organized under paragraph 4 or paragraph 6 must be supervised by a member. This member, the Rally Marshal, shall be given a copy of the certificate and be responsible for making it available for inspection at rallies.
The Rally Marshal should ensure that the Welton Owners Club flag is displayed when a site is in use. Rally Marshals will be issued with the Club Rally Code of Conduct and Rally Marshal Information sheet.
14.Observation and Interpretation of the Constitution; Members, bind themselves to abide by the Constitution, and also to accept as final and binding, the decision of the Committee in all cases of dispute or disagreement as the interpretation of the Constitution.
15.Copies of the Club Constitution and Code of Conduct
Every member shall be furnished with a copy of the Club Constitution and Rally Code of Conduct on election to the Club.
16.Reservation of Pitches; Pitches should not be reserved on Welton Owners Club rallies.
17.Honorary Members; Any member of the Welton Owners Club having reached the age of retirement, and through the death of their partner, being left without means of attending rallies, such members shall have the status of
Honorary Life Member and shall not any longer need to pay the Club’s annual
subscription. They will retain all the rights and privileges of any other member and shall be listed as a full member on all Club lists of current membership, which might or might not be supplied to any person or having authority to ask for the Club’s membership list, whether names or numbers.
18. Election of Secretary and Treasurer; That in order to prevent the chaos that might occur in the event of a completely new committee being elected at an AGM and to maintain continuity, the office of Hon. Secretary and the office of Hon. Treasurer being elected on alternate years. The position of Hon. Secretary being elected for the first 2 year period in 1987, and that of Hon. Treasurer for the 2 year period in 1988. Both offices biennially thereafter. Candidates for either office notifying their agreement to serve the Welton Owners Club for 2 years, at the time of nomination.
Rally Code of Conduct adopted AGM 2003 Revised 2008 Exemption Certificate Rules One named member of the Welton Owners Club, from now on called the Rally Marshal, is to be responsible for the conduct of any exempted rally and for ensuring that members attending comply with the code.The Rally Marshal will be issued with a copy of the exemption certificate and is responsible for making that certificate available for inspection at the rally.The Welton Owners Club flag should be displayed when the site is in use.All members should be aware of the terms of the Caravan Code, the Country Code and the Coastal Code.The maximum duration of a rally held under a paragraph 6 exemption certificate is 5 days. The maximum duration of a rally held under a paragraph 4 exemption certificate is 28 days.
Venue The Rally Secretary and Rally Marshal will take reasonable steps to satisfy themselves that the site proposed for an exempted rally is not subject to an order under paragraph 13 of Schedule 1, or an Article 4 direction, or one for which planning permission has been refused or where enforcement action has been taken.
A member of the Club or the Rally Marshal should ascertain prior to the rally that the site is suitable for caravans, and is not affected by flood or any restrictive orders due to Foot & Mouth disease etc. If it is necessary to cancel a rally for any reason every endeavour should be made to notify all those members who have booked in. Any expense incurred should be sent to the Treasurer on the Rally Account Sheet.
The Rally Secretary or Rally Marshal will seek the agreement of the local authority before organising a rally on land adjacent to sites for which planning permission has been granted.
The Rally Secretary or Rally Marshal will agree to move from and avoid any site to which the local authority objects.
Rallies may only take place adjacent to certificated locations/sites if the proposed site is clearly differentiated and the risk of interference with local people and other users is minimal.
The Rally Marshal should contact the landowner a few weeks before the proposed rally to make final arrangements. Try to give the landowner an idea of the number of caravans expected and their time of arrival.
The Rally Marshal should take care that the siting of caravans does not unduly interfere with the activities of local people, their privacy or their enjoyment of their property.
Care should also be taken that the siting of caravans does not interfere with the enjoyment by others of the landscape, natural beauty or nature conservation value of the area and particularly in areas designated for their landscape or wildlife qualities.
The Rally Secretary will ensure that no venue is over-used, and will consider carefully before holding successive meetings at the same place.
Any damage occurring during the duration of the rally, to the property of a third party, should be notified in writing giving full details to the Rally Secretary.
Emergency Information The name & address of the nearest doctor & hospital must either be shown on the rally programme or available from the Rally Marshal.
Nuisance Local people should be able to carry on their normal activities when rallies are in progress, and disturbance should be minimal. Complaints should be treated seriously and steps taken to investigate and deal with the causes of complaints.
Care should be taken not to damage any site or surrounding locality. Trees, fences, buildings, equipment and stock should be respected.
Domestic animals belonging to members should be kept under control and exercised away from caravans.
The Rally Marshal should identify open space suitable for games, which might otherwise intrude on or constitute a danger or annoyance to caravanners or others on or around the site.
Noise should be kept to a minimum.
Road Safety and Access The Rally Marshal should take steps to ensure that travel from major roads to a proposed rally site is not likely to cause undue disruption or difficulties for other road users.
Access to the rally site must be suitable for the number and likely size of units attending the meeting. The arrival and departure of caravans should be arranged to minimise disruption to other road users.
Rally signs should be placed to give the maximum assistance to those attending the rally. Rally signs can be obtained from any committee member
The speed of vehicles on site should be restricted to 5mph.
Spacing and Density (see diagram) Units should be well spaced, and sited so that they do not restrict access to, or exit from, any unit or the area in case of emergencies. A Unit consists of the caravan/motorhome, any awning and vehicle. Three metres is the minimum distance between units recommended by ACCEO.
Fire Precautions Open fires and barbecues should not be held except with the permission of the Rally Marshal. Where permission is granted they must be sited away from awnings, caravans, vehicles and any other structures.
Caravans should carry a fire extinguisher approved to British Standards Institute and/or Fire Officers Certificate standard. A fire bucket filled with water placed by the A frame is a good precautionary measure.
Chemical Toilets, Waste Water Disposal
Toilets must not be filled or washed under the drinking water tap.
Members must act responsibly when disposing of the contents of chemical toilets and waste- water and take full account of the need to safeguard water supplies and prevent the pollution of rivers and streams.
On-site disposal of the contents of chemical toilets and waste-water should be in accordance with arrangements agreed with the site owner/occupier. Neither should be allowed to foul the ground except at designated disposal points. If in any doubt about the disposal of waste, the relevant Local Authority can be contacted for clarification.
Refuse Disposal Members should ensure that refuse is either taken home or disposed of in accordance with on-site arrangements. The Rally Marshal should be satisfied that appropriate arrangements are in place.
The Rally Marshal should ensure that the site is clear of litter after the rally.
The Code of Conduct requires you to observe the Caravan Code, the Country Code and the Coastal Code. They are summarized here.
Country Guard against all risk of fire. Fasten all gates. Keep your dogs under close control when there is livestock about. Keep to public paths across farmland. Use gates and stiles to cross fences, hedges and walls. Leave livestock, crops and machinery alone – view from a distance. Take your litter home, it is unsightly and harmful to wildlife. Protect wildlife, plants and trees. Help to keep all water clean. Take special care on country roads. Make no unnecessary noise – most animals are timid; noises can disturb them. To get the best of the country, go quietly.
Coastal Show respect for creatures – leave animals where you find them. Turn back any rocks you may have moved. Leave seaweed in place. Take photos, not living animals. If collecting, make sure shells are empty. Don’t buy coral, starfish or urchins as souvenirs – these would have been alive when collected. Drive on roads not beaches. Beaches and sand dunes are easily damaged by cars, bikes and too many people. Use designated car parks and 26
footpaths. Be careful near cliffs. Don’t throw or push things over cliff edges. Not only is it dangerous it can drastically increase the rate of cliff erosion and kill or disturb wildlife. Avoid disturbing wildlife, keep your distance, watch through binoculars. Keep dogs well clear of birds and other animals. It is now illegal to disturb or harass any species of birds and animals. Observe bye laws and be considerate.
Caravan The caravan or motor caravan must be specifically designed for caravanning. Its appearance and colour are appropriate and do not offend public opinion. It is regularly serviced so that it is safe in all respects when touring on the road and on site. On the road – the actual laden weight of the caravan should be kept as low as possible and should never normally exceed the kerb weight of the towing vehicle. The engine is powerful enough to keep the outfit at a speed, particularly on hills, that does not baulk other traffic. The caravan is carefully loaded to provide good balance and avoid instability. The caravan complies with Road Traffic Acts and other relevant Regulations, in particular that there should be an adequate view to the rear of the caravan. A towed trailer must be insured against third party risks when both towed and detached from the vehicle. Pay attention to the relevant sections of the Highway Code, an awareness of traffic to the rear, allowing other vehicles to overtake, leaving space in front of the vehicle for traffic to pull in, taking increased care for the length of outfit, awareness of longer stopping distances when braking, early signalling, greater anticipation, and a careful watch of overtaken traffic in particular cyclists, before pulling in. On site, pitch only on private land with permission of the owner. Place the caravan where it will not interfere with the convenience and enjoyment of others. Avoid damage to turf by considerate use of the vehicle. Allow no waste water to foul the land. Ensure that any laundry outside the caravan is displayed as discreetly as possible. Keep your pitch neat and tidy, with no loose equipment outside the caravan beyond what is necessary or appropriate, and on departure leave it as clean as, or cleaner than, it was on arrival.