MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE HELD ON
TUESDAY 20 MARCH 2007 AT MOTOR SPORTS HOUSE, COLNBROOK
(by kind permission of the Motor Sports Association)Present:
Andrew Burt (chairman) David Davies Colin Francis
Sandy Hamilton David Hurley Henry Lawson
Rosy Pugh Mike Young
In attendance:
Derek Grossmark (vice president) Geoff Smith (vice president) Ian Edmunds (CBQC))
Jim Whyman (secretary)Those present stood in silence as a mark of respect for Arthur Jeddere-Fisher, one-time legal adviser to FBHVC, who had died at the end of February.
On behalf of the committee, the chairman accepted the gift of a hand-made gavel and anvil.
1. Apologies for absenceLord Montagu; Tony Beadle; Jacqueline Bickerstaff; John Billard; Julian Ghosh; Tim Holt; Peter Mead.
2. Approval of minutes of meeting of 28 January 2007
The chairman signed the minutes of the meeting of 28 January as accurate.
3. Matters Arising from previous meeting
6.A. Drive It Day The secretary confirmed that he had made the application to have the phrase “Drive It Day” registered as a Trade Mark through patent agents Boult Wade Tennant. The process was likely to take six months.
6.C Beaulieu The secretary said he had been unable to book the usual dinner at the Master Builder’s House Hotel as the whole hotel had been booked for a wedding reception that day. He said he had asked Beaulieu for suggestions for alternative venues and was awaiting a response.
8 Insurance Meetings had taken place courtesy of the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club with the team from Willis and also with Peter James. Willis were working on a public liability policy for FBHVC traders to complement the similar policy for clubs, and were also now offering access to their RH Specialist Vehicle Insurance scheme through any FBHVC club. Peter James would be trading from mid April and was also offering vehicle insurance on the same basis - both companies would be advertising in the newsletter.
4. UK Legislation
David Hurley said he had little to add to the minutes of the meeting of 21 February. There were four outstanding consultations that he had yet to study in detail, but cursory inspection suggested they would have no direct impact on historic vehicles. A VOSA consultation concerned “future equipment strategy” for MoT testing stations and since there were concerns about the effects automatic MoT testing lanes might have on historic vehicles if operators were not advised appropriately, David said he would be studying the detail carefully before responding appropriately. DH
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- 2 -4. UK Legislation (contd)
David Davies said he had been concerned to discover that a Private Members Bill entitled “The Off Road Vehicle (Registration) Bill” had had its second reading in Parliament. If passed, this would require all unregistered motor-cycles to be registered. The secretary said that DVLA and DfT were opposed to the proposed measures which were intended to improve the ability of the police to confiscate and destroy nuisance machines. As worded, the Bill would give police power to confiscate and destroy any unregistered machine, whether it was being a nuisance or not. It was also unlikely that it would have any noticeable effect on those causing the problem.
5. EU Legislation
EU legislative matters had been well reported between the recent EU Update from FIVA and in the minutes of the legislation meeting of 21 February. The most important matter to note was the useful meeting with Mr Gasparinetti of the EC Environment Directorate in which he had agreed that controls on historic vehicles were unlikely to make any significant impact on emissions.
6. FIVA Matters
The chairman circulated minutes of the recent FIVA Legislation Commission meeting in Paris, explaining that he had been unable to attend himself, but both David Davies and David Hurley had represented FBHVC interests. The minutes indicated a largely positive meeting, with David Davies remarking that the chairman of the commission appeared to be taking a stronger lead and that those present were much more attuned to the task than previously. There had been reports on progress with distribution of the European survey results. Environmental policy and future FIVA research had been discussed. There was recognition that Winfried Kallinger’s start in compiling comparative data about the treatment of historic vehicles in the various European countries had lost some of its initial sharp focus in subsequent iterations and it had been agreed this needed to be brought up to date, perhaps on the basis of a simplified (but clearer) questionnaire that (amongst other matters) drew a distinction between congestion charging areas and low emission zones.
Derek Grossmark noted the continuing debate on the definition of an historic vehicle for FIVA purposes, and the pros and cons of moving the existing 25 year cut off back to 30 years. He sought confirmation that the UK 1973 cut off date for the VED exemption was unrelated to other legislative matters. David Hurley confirmed that was the case, although recent Low Emission Zone proposals for London had used the same definition. He went on to comment that moving the cut off date for historic commercial vehicles from 25 to 30 years would cause problems for preservationists.
The chairman thanked David Davies and David Hurley for their contribution to the Legislation Commission meeting before describing his attendance at recent meetings of both the Heritage Working Group (HWG) and Planning and Finance Group (PFG).
Under Patrick Rollet’s lead, the HWG was becoming much more focussed and was now making significant efforts to improve the links between the historic vehicle movement and the wider heritage establishment. The PFG meeting had concentrated on preparation for the forthcoming General Committee meeting in Cyprus. PFG had recommended that FIVA policy should encompass continuing research and that current proposals for further research should be approved.
The chairman closed this topic by confirming that Eri Heilijgers had recently joined the legislation team to work himself into FBHVC activity with a view to taking responsibility for improving FBHVC’s links with heritage organisations and ultimately doing the same in FIVA. Eri was one of two volunteers who had attended a meeting in January to review FBHVC’s representation in FIVA - the other volunteer had recognised that he was not the right person to look after improving relationships with the trade. There had since been another volunteer whose background made him suitable for this position and the chairman said he would make contact as soon as practical to establish whether or not would be interested in the work. AB
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- 3 -7. Shows, exhibitions, Drive It Day
David Davies said all was organised for Stafford, bar revisions to the display material which were in hand. The stand had been booked for Beaulieu, but it was too early for an exhibit to have been picked. There was some debate about whether or not FBHVC should do anything in connection with the NEC show in November: the secretary said the organisers were keen FBHVC should be there, and he was waiting to see what they might offer to encourage a positive decision. The snag was that the emphasis of the show was at the “modern” classics end of the movement and was no longer truly representative of the movement as a whole: a subject for further discussion at the next meeting. JW
The secretary said the specialist press had given Drive It Day excellent coverage, and there were some 30 events listed on the FBHVC website. He understood that the Today programme on 5 March had mentioned an item in one of that day’s papers castigating DID as it would encourage use of polluting vehicles, but despite buying the main dailies, he had been unable to find the detail. The message, though, was to be prepared to answer criticism.
In the absence of Tony Beadle, there was no news of progress on the 1000 mile project for 2008 DID.
8. Finance and Planning
A. Accounts for nine months to 28 February
Accounts for the first nine months of the financial year were handed round showing a modest improvement on budget for routine matters. The overall figure, though, showed a deficit as the previous meeting had approved expenditure of up to £12,000 for future research and this had to be shown as a commitment in the year the decision was made. Derek Grossmark suggested the research should be drawn direct from reserves and the secretary said he would ask auditors if there was any possibility of writing research costs direct to the balance sheet. JWSubscription rates for the 2007/8 year were agreed as follows:-
Club per capita rate up from 32.3p to 33.7p; Museums up from £50 to £55; Individuals unchanged at £12 per year or £21 for two. Trade support subscriptions would be reviewed at next budget meeting.It was agreed that a donation of £50 should go to Sue Ryder Homes in memory of Arthur Jeddere-Fisher.
B. Vision 2005-10
The chairman said that a notice inviting applications for the post of secretary would appear in the next newsletter.
The secretary said he had received only three comments on the draft Articles, all were valid, and related to drafting detail - there had been no hint of anything substantive, but a reminder would appear in the April newsletter asking for comments by the end of the month. It was agreed there should be a constitution working group meeting in May to discuss these and any further points that might arise. The secretary said he would try to make arrangements for the team to meet at VSCC immediately prior to the meeting on 22 May when it would also be normal for the same team to consider future budgets. JW9. Other matters
The secretary said he had been asked to raise the question of what FBHVC might be able to do to ease the problems faced by the young when seeking to obtain insurance. He added that he had asked both RH Specialist Insurance and Peter D James & Co Ltd about cover for younger drivers. Both had said that claims history showed the under 25s to be exceptionally high risks, but Allan Mitchell of RH Specialist Insurance said his company was willing to allow driving by accompanied youngsters, and would allow unaccompanied driving after two years accompanied experience. There was concern that easing cover for younger classic vehicle drivers could result in damaging the historic vehicle movements’ excellent claims record, which was a major weapon in the lobbying armoury.
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9. Other matters (contd)It was agreed the secretary should represent FBHVC at the forthcoming AGM of CBQC. Ian Edmunds said he would be standing down from his position with CBQC at the AGM, and would thus no longer be attending meetings. The chairman thanked Ian for his contribution over the last few years.
………….…………………………….. Chairman P H J Whyman, Secretary.