ABERAERON TOWN ANGLING CLUB
THE RIVER AERON’S ONLY ANGLING CLUB
CONSTITUTION
1. The Club shall be called the Aberaeron Town Angling Club.
2. The object of the Club shall be to foster sportsmanship and to encourage angling.
3. The annual subscription for the ensuing year shall be determined by members at the Annual General Meeting, unless that in the absence of a quorum at an Annual General Meeting the Executive Committee shall determine the club membership fees for the subsequent year.
4. The officers of the Club shall consist of the President, Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Hon. Treasurer And Hon. Secretary. The President of the Club shall have the right to attend all committee meetings in a non-voting capacity. The President shall be elected by the Annual General Meeting to hold office for three years and may stand for re-election.
5. There shell be an Executive Committee to manage the affairs of the Club in accordance with the Rules and Constitution of the Club. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Officers of the Club and five other members. A report of the work of the Executive Committee shall be made by the Chairman at the Annual General Meeting.
6(a). The Officers and Members of the Executive Committee shall be elected at an Annual General Meeting and they shall hold office for a period of three years and shall be eligible for re-election.
6(b). At the Annual General Meeting no member already appointed to the Executive Committee may propose or second any other member to the Executive Committee.
6(c). The Executive Committee shall prepare at the beginning of each season a statement of policy which shall be displayed on the Club notice board.
7. In the case of a casual vacancy arising amongst members of the Executive Committee the Committee may appoint a suitable member to fill the vacancy until the next Annual General Meeting.
8. A meeting of the Executive Committee may be convened by any officer or any two Executive Committee members not being officers. Five persons shall constitute a quorum. The Chairman may vote and in the event of a tie he shall have a casting vote.
9(a). The Rules of the Club shall be printed in the Club membership card. Every member joining the Club must undertake to comply with these rules and any refusal or neglect to do so or any conduct unworthy of a member of the Club or any member acting against the interest of the Club such member is liable to expulsion by the Executive Committee and he may at an Executive Committee meeting of which at least seven days’ notice shall have been given him and before the passing of such resolution, have an opportunity of giving orally or in writing any explanation or defence he may think fit.
9(b). Any member expelled as aforesaid who feels aggrieved by such expulsion may, upon giving written notice to the Secretary within seven days of such expulsion, call for an Extraordinary General Meeting to consider his case.
9(c). Any member who is thus expelled must apply in writing to become a member in any subsequent year and his case shall be determined by the Executive Committee.
10. The Committee may from time to time add, alter and repeal the Rules of the Club. Any alterations not covered in the membership card will be displayed at the permit sellers’ premises. Such Rules shall be binding upon all members and be construed as part of the Rules of the Club until they are confirmed, rescinded or varied at the next Annual General Meeting.
11. The Executive Committee shall cause to be prepared, audited and printed each year a statement of receipts and expenditure and a Balance Sheet made up to December 31st. The Executive Committee shall appoint annually an independent Auditor.
12. The Annual General Meeting shall be held on the last Friday of January in the year following the season under review. The business of such meeting shall be the election of officers and Executive Committee members, when necessary, the presentation of the balance sheet and any business specified on the notice advertising the meeting, of which at least seven days’ notice shall be given. The date of the Annual General Meeting will be given in the Membership card.
13. The Executive Committee may at any time and also upon the requisition of ten members in writing stating the business for which it is required, convene an Extraordinary General Meeting for a specific purpose. Seven days’ notice of such meeting must be given by the Secretary and no business other than that specified in the requisition shall be transacted at the Extraordinary General Meeting.
14(a). At the Annual General Meeting and at all Extraordinary General Meetings the chair shall be taken by the Chairman and if he is absent the Vice-Chairman, if both are absent by some member chosen by the meeting. Each question shall be decided by a majority of votes. Every member including the Chairman shall have one vote and in the case of equality of votes the Chairman shall have a casting vote.
14(b). The quorum required for General Meetings (Annual or Extraordinary) shall be:
(i) For a motion proposing, the repeal, addition to or amendment of the Club’s Constitution
- 20 members or 50% of the full members of the Club, whichever is the lesser. A
majority of at least two thirds of members present shall be required to carry such
proposal. At least 28 days’ notice of any proposals must be provided in writing
to the Secretary.
(ii) For all other business - 10 full members or 50% of the full members of the Club, whichever is the lesser.
14(c). If there is no quorum at the Annual General Meeting held at the expiration of the Executive Committee’s period of office the Executive Committee in being shall remain in office for a further period of twelve months.
15(a). No member may attend an Annual General Meeting unless he has paid his subscription
for the preceding year.
15(b). Voting powers on all resolutions at all General Meetings of the Club shall be restricted to the following persons (described as full voting members):
(i) Adult members (aged over the age of sixteen), who permanently reside within a
two mile radius of the County Hall, Aberaeron.
(ii) Adult members (aged over the age of sixteen), who were native of the town of
Aberaeron within the classification of 15(b)(i), but have moved away and are classified
as such by resolution of the Executive Committee.
(iii) Members of the Executive Committee.
15(c). References in this Constitution to members having voting capacity shall in all instances refer to members within the definition of Clause 15(b).
16. The Club shall take out a public liability policy and this shall be renewed annually.
17. Any member of the Executive Committee absenting himself without satisfactory reason from three consecutive meetings of the Committee shall resign his position and his place shall be filled by a member appointed by the Executive Committee until the date of the next Annual General Meeting.
18. Voting at all meetings to be decided by a show of hands or by ballot if the meeting decides.
19. All accounts must be approved and all cheques signed by any two (2) of the following officers:
Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Hon. Treasurer, Hon, Secretary.
20. A map showing the location of the Club water shall be obtainable from the Secretary and the permit sellers.
21. Any member of the Club buying or renting or attempting to buy or rent waters previously enjoyed by the Club, and if by so doing shall deprive the Club of fishing rights, shall automatically be expelled from the Club.
22. Deleted at 2007 AGM.
23(a) In the event of the Club ceasing to exist, and following the discharge of all debts and liabilities, any assets at the time of dissolution shall not be paid, transferred or distributed among the members of the Club but shall be given or transferred to such other institution having its objects similar to the objects of the Club.
23(b). The Club may be wound up on a resolution of the full voting members passed by a two thirds majority at a special meeting convened for that purpose upon the request of 95% of full voting members of the Club who must also attend the meeting. At least 28 days’ notice of the meeting shall have been sent to each member of the Club.
23(c). Clause 23(b) above shall be inoperative for so long as there are at least
ten (10) full voting members of the Club willing to carry on and perform the objects
of the Club.
23(d). In the event of the passing of the resolution to wind up the Club the members of the Club shall appoint a representative Committee which shall be empowered to distribute the assets including cash and investments in hand to Clubs having similar objects as its own.
24. Copies of the Constitution may be obtained by members from the Secretary.
NOTE
There are some irregularities in the Constitution wording displayed above (when it was initially written) versus how it is interpreted and applied today; point 6c refers to the publication of an annual statement of policy on the ‘Club notice board’ and points 9a, 10 and 12 all refer to information that will be published in the ‘Club membership card’. The Club no longer publishes a statement of policy, nor does it maintain a Club notice board in the town, and Club membership permits/cards have been replaced by Clubmate online permits. However, the Club’s statement of policy, information that was previously printed in membership cards and the Club notice board can all be interpreted as the contents of this website which is maintained and updated as per the spirit of the requirements of the Constitution above.
To change the Constitution to bring it up to date would require compliance with point
14(b) which requires 20 members or 50% of the full voting members of the Club to
be present in an AGM or EGM and that any proposals repealing, amending or adding
to the Constitution would require a 2/3 majority in a vote. Any proposals would require
28 days notice to members ahead of the AGM or EGM. As this level of attendance at
AGMs has not been realised in recent years, the Constitution could not be formally
amended to reflect recent technology changes.