MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 25 JANUARY 2003 AT CROWBOROUGH

Present Friends of the Caves of Crowborough:
Howard Thompson
William Chipton*
Toby Babb
Nancy Bellis
Robert Stevenson*
Amanda Williams*
Rosemary Cook
Wolfy Edwards
Ellen Bellamy
Barbara Brownswick

Apologies:
Basil Millner
Paul Robinson

Observers:
Gerry Dorrian
Mike Mitchell

*present for part of meeting only

1. ANNOUNCEMENTS
1.1 The Secretary welcomed Friends to the meeting and reminded those present that the business and proceedings of the Friends were not confidential and were for disclosure to persons or organisations outside. He also reminded members to declare any interests, whether personal or non-personal (specific or non-specific) in the products and companies concerned with today’s papers.

1.2 The Secretary congratulated Mr Toby Babb who had recently been made webmaster of the Crowborough Caves website.

1.3 The Secretary welcomed Mr Dorrian from CAVE-safe to the meeting as an observer.

2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2.1 Apologies for absence had been received from the Friends indicated above. A number of Friends were late arriving owing to delays in Tunbridge Wells and its environs.

3. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
3.1 The minutes of the meeting held in November 2002 were agreed and were signed by the Secretary.

4. MATTERS ARISING
4.1 Para 4.2 -- Progress was being made in appointing an additional publicity manager to assist Ms Bellis but was slow owing to the Christmas holiday period.

5. PAPERS
5.1 Local authorities' study on Re-opening of Crowborough Caves: A Feasibility Study.

5.1.1 The Office was conducting a "value for money" study. Fieldwork had been completed and the report was expected at the end of the year.

5.2 Handling conflicts of interest -- FotCoC guidelines.

5.2.1 The issue of conflicts of interests of Friends had been raised.

5.2.2 Wolfy Edwards raised the possibility of "using" a similar approach being considered by Ministers of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The subject would be covered in more depth at the next meeting.

5.2.3 Friends raised concerns about needing to know and declaring what interests were held by other members of the family; defining a personal interest in terms of research within cave societies; and the position of members with a background in the caving. The Friends were invited to consider the issue further and raise any points with the Secretary. The matter would be considered in more detail at the April meeting along with the Code of Conduct.

6. Update on ongoing issues within the Friends and Wealden District Council.

6.1 Nancy Bellis reported that the current Assistant Secretary, William Chipton, was due to retire in mid-October.

6.2 The Secretary voiced his concerns regarding the handling of a KURG (Kent Underground Research Group) member's request to join in on this meeting. Nancy Bellis accounted for her actions and it was agreed that all further correspondence relating to public enquiries for sitting in on the meetings would be undertaken by the Assistant Secretary, William Chipton (up until his retirement).

7. Any other business.

8. The Friends were reminded that their Annual Dinner would be held on the evening of 7 March 2003.

9. Date of next meeting.

If you would like to join the Friends of the Caves of Crowborough, please send an email to Friends Assistant Secretary, William Chipton.

See also:

We respectfully ask all visitors to help us in our campaign to re-open the caves to the public

- please join the Friends of the Caves of Crowborough.