The Istead Rise Community Association (IRCA) committee firmly believes all the amenities offered by the club should be central to the vibrancy of Istead Rise, the lives of its residents and those who choose to contribute to the welfare and social wellbeing of Istead Rise residents.
We aim to continue to develop a vibrant, diverse and friendly sports and social club for members and users. We want the community centre to be renowned for a friendly atmosphere, where all members and their families are welcome to visit and feel comfortable using the facilities.
To achieve this, we propose changes to the IRCA rules, to allow all members to be able to ‘have a say’ on the facilities and allow the association to fully utilise the diversity of its member’s skills and professions.
Therefore, we are proposing the following main changes to the Rules of the Association, summarised as:-
• Country Member Voting and Committee Membership – Section 5
To allow all members to have a say in the operation of the Community Centre and all its facilities.
Country member will be afforded all privileges of full members including voting at general meetings and nominating themselves as Committee Members.
However, Country Members will not be able to take the position of Chair or Vice Chair of the community, nor occupy more than 25% of committee members seats. These restrictions will be in place to safeguard the centre and its operation to the benefit of the inhabitants of Istead Rise. The restriction in country member spaces on the committee ensures control of the association remains with Istead Rise residents and any investments are made solely for the benefit of the Istead Rise community.
The changes do provide country members representation as to how they may wish the association to provide for them. Also, opening the committee to Country members allows the association to draw upon the diverse range of professional skills a wider pool of candidates offers. This further improved the Association’s overall objective of increasing the social well-being, health and welfare facilities for Istead Rise residents.
• Misconduct of members – Sections 9, 10 and 11
All Members, staff and visitors should be able to enjoy the club and its facilities without the fear of adverse behaviour. IRCA has a no tolerance policy to adverse behaviour.
Changes are proposed in relation to the treatment of alleged misconduct by members to reduce ambiguity to the current rules.
• Members and their visitors – Section 13
The current number regarding the number of visitors a member can introduce is 1 guest up to 12 occasions of a 12-month period. We recognise this is can be restrictive when inviting families’ members or friends to use the club and its facilities.
A change is proposed to the rules, which will allow a member to introduce up to 2 guests at a time to the premises up to 12 occasions over a 12-month period. The member introducing will be responsible for the conduct of those visitors.
• Committee – Section 17 and 20
To reflect the change to country member rights and allow those members greater say in the operation of the club and all its facilities is to proposed to allow country members to sit on the committee.
The proposed rule allows up to 3 seats of the committee to be occupied by country members provided the percentage of 75% of full members in the committee is maintained. If the portion of seats taken by full members falls below 75%, one or more those country members must stand down to ensure the majority remains with Full members. Country members will be barred from occupying the Chair or Vice Chairperson positions.
A full version of the proposed rules can be viewed here.
This years AGM held at the Community Centre takes place on Sunday 24th April at 11.00am.
Kind regards
The Committee of Istead Rise Community Association.
