Transition Montpelier

AKA: the last ‘core’ team meeting as the group dissolves and moves to different group elements

Core team meeting minutes: Transition Montpelier
AKA: ‘The last core team meeting’
21 April 2010
Radford mill farm shop

Attended:

• Ed
• Ciaran
• Caroline
• Shiona
• Ralph
• Jess
• Richard
• Dan
• Claire Milne (guest)

Apologies:

• Sally
• John
• Jane
• Bronwen

ACTIONS:

• CM get in touch with Simon Lewis and Steve Meek and Chris Chalkley about streets
• ClaireM send short update on Tesco campaign action to EM and Ralph
• EM: pubish Tesco update on site
• Ralph: print Tesco update on A3 for Art Trail
• CM and JL: finished work on constitution and print for specific ‘constitution-signing’ meeting
• CM and JL: co-ordinate ‘constituion-signing’ meeting
• CM: introduce Caroline to Jane Berrys (?) Bristol Credit Union manager
• Caroline: investigate bank accounts for CIC
• EM: write up a TT Mont organisation design with words and a picture
• DW: email SJ about using marquee for Art Trail
• EM: contact bert for projector, transition bristol for film, CM for peak oil display

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Political question time on friday

CM part of Transition Bristol, FoE and other groups organising a political Q time in Watershed, 19:30, Friday. All invited.

2. Streets as safe spaces

• CM and Mark Simmons discussing a group for using streets as social spaces.
• Suggested they speak to Simon Lewis and Steve Meek who are both very into this too.
• Also to discuss with Chris Chalkley and the Stokes Croft Action Plan.

3. Heart and Soul?

Some discussion before, possibility of H&S group in Montpelier. Now one for Bristol from Transition Bristol. Also Claire Milne said YogaSara (Chris) is interested in working together on this in some way.

4.  Tescos – campaign update and proposed alternatives announcement (Claire Milne)

• Claire outlined the campaign’s excellent work (including Miss Bristol getting involved and Barbara Janke to send a letter to Tesco)
• Last chance to fight it comes this week as Tesco apply for planning permission for the shop front
• Campaign also about finding new alternatives to the Tesco – local, co-operative, bottom-up food model
• Dan suggested putting and update on the board at the art trail as it’s hard to hear what’s been going on
• Dan also proposed using the Banksy artwork kids session at Art Trail to use a tesco-esque picture
• Direct relationship with the Growing group – so here’s a brief growing group upate:

5. Growing group update (informal)

• a. group mapped montpelier and identified 3 key ‘growing hotspots’  (Picton Square, Rainbow Bridge, Station Road area)
• b. group now negotiating with land owners
• c. group seeking discussions  and collaborations between producers and sellers of food (Claire’s Tesco work is a good overlap)

6. Constitution, CIC and membership

• Following last month’s meeting and request for a ‘membership’ model, everyone has been thinking about it
• Good discussion about a change in the transition montpelier group model (currently – core and groups) to something with a lighter, facilitation, open access, hub-style approach, rather than installing a membership model with voting, AGMs, etc. etc.

Agreed:

• membership model offers the appearance of inclusivity, but imposes extra layers of bureaucracy and another layer of hierachy (which Transition is trying to avoid) which isn’t really neccesary
• membership does provide a sense of control though and reduces people’s anxieties about shadowy cabals, so need to ensure that all comms are open with clear outline of what is going on, a policy on changing directors, regular open meetings, etc. (which we’re pretty good at already)
• purpose of consitution is to get a bank account to raise funds for projects – not to have a committee who ‘decide’ things
• most of the key decision-making is at group level, not ‘core’ level, so ‘membership’ is best rooted in there
• move away from the idea of a ‘core’ team to an ‘admin’ group who keep an eye on the bank account, website, comms etc. and an ‘ideas’ group to facilitate intra-group sharing (e.g. growing – energy updating eachother)
• set up a ‘Community Interest Company’ (CIC) to handle a bank account with a few voluntary directors (5 agreed at meeting)
• bank account to be set with ‘zero overdraft’
• arrange a specific ‘constiution-signing’ meeting for the directors to sign the constitution
• preferred bank option: Bristol Credit Union – local and collaborating on the Bristol Pound

7. Art trail

• All looking good
• Everyone volunteered to man the TT Mont stand
• Important to remember that it is not a party, we’re not a disco, so behave accordingly!

8. Film:

• Date agreed: 03/06
• Film tbc
• Bert to be contacted
• Suggested donation £2
• Could use Peak Oil display from Create Centre- then maybe have it in the Radford Mill Shop (?)