CANALSIDE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION

CONSTITUTION
1. The Association shall be known as Canalside Residents Association. It shall
be abbreviated to CRA

2. The Canalside estates are comprised of Whitmore, Haggerston East and

Bryant Court(37-78). Freehold is held by Metropolitan and One Housing
Group. The Canalside estates are managed by Metropolitan.

3. A copy of this Constitution shall be displayed at Whitmore Community

Centre, 2-4 Phillipp Street, London N1 5NU

Objectives:
4. The objectives of the Association shall be:-

to promote the exercise of the residents rights and the maintenance

and improvement of their housing conditions, amenities and
environment:
to encourage a community spirit
to represent the interests of residents in consultation with other bodies
to promote the harmonious functioning of a multi-cultural community
and to work towards the elimination of all forms of discrimination
within it

5. The Association shall have the power to affiliate to any Body whose objectives
may be of benefit to its members.

Membership

6. Membership is open to all residents aged 16 years and above living on the
Canalside estates, irrespective of race, faith or religion, disability, gender,
age, or sexuality.

7. Membership is open to all tenure types, including leaseholders.

Management Committee Meetings

8. The business of the Association shall be conducted by a management
committee elected at each Biennial General Meeting, which shall consist of a
Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and Vice-Chair and of not less than 5 members
and no more than 12 members.

9. The quorum of the Management Committee shall be not less than 5 persons
who are members of the Management Committee.

10. The Management Committee shall be elected from amongst its members a
Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer and Secretary at the first meeting after the
Biennial General Meeting.
11. Members of the Association may be elected to serve on the Management
Committee for two consecutive terms only, unless a 2/3rd majority of the
Biennial General Meeting vote to permit further terms of office.

12. The Management Committee shall meet as necessary and not less than 8
times in a year. Committee meetings shall be open to any member of the
Association wishing to attend who may speak but not vote.

13. If any elected member of the Management Committee fails to attend three
consecutive meetings without giving apologies, may be deemed to have
relinquished their membership of the Committee.
14. The Management Committee may not act in a way that which is against the
decisions of a quorate general meeting.
15. The Management Committee shall endeavour to maintain full strength by coopting any member of the Association onto it.
16. The Management Committee may nominate persons to represent the
Association at forums relevant to the aims of the Association. All such
representatives are to give oral or written reports at the request of the
Management Committee.
17. Persons who represent special interest groups but who are not residents may
be co-opted onto the Management Committee by a majority vote of not less
than 2/3rds of the Committee.

General Meetings
18. Not less than 3 meetings in a year shall be General Meetings open to all
members to speak and vote. The decision of the General Meetings shall be
binding on the Committee. All decisions shall be taken by a simple majority
vote of full (resident) members present and voting. General Meetings will held
in March, June and September each year. Notice of General Meetings will be
given in the Canalside Newsletter distributed to all residents, and notices in
blocks.

10. The quorum of General Meetings shall be not less than 15 persons who are
members of the Association.

19. Members shall conduct themselves in a manner that will not cause offence to
others. Racist, sexist or inflammatory remarks or abusive behaviour will not
be tolerated. The Chair of the Committee has the right to warn members of
their behaviour, and to call a cooling off period of 10 minutes where the
person warned must not repeat the offensive behaviour. If they persist the
Chair has the right to halt the meeting and ask that the person leave the
meeting. The committee must arrange a date and time and hold a meeting for
them to discuss the incident and make a decision for on what action to take.

20. The quorum for General meetings shall be not less than 15 persons who are
members of the Association.
21. General Meetings cannot change the Constitution or elect a Management
Committee.
22. Decisions made at General meetings shall be by a simple majority vote.
23. Each member shall have one vote.
24. All motions put before a General Meeting shall have a proper and seconder.

Extraordinary General meeting

25. An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called by any member by notice in
writing to the secretary and signed by 15 members of the Association. Such
notice must state the reason for calling such a meeting. Notice of such a
meeting shall be published at least 14 days in advance.

26. The quorum of the Extraordinary Meeting shall be not less than 16 persons
who are members of the Association.

Biennial General Meetings

27. The Committee shall call a General Meeting of the Association every second
year in the month of October. Not less than 21 days notice of the Biennial
General Meeting shall be given to all members.

28. The quorum for the Biennial General Meeting shall be not less than 15
members.
At this meeting:
The Committee shall present the annual report of the Associations
activities;
Sub-committees shall present annual reports and accounts of their
activities;
The Committee shall present the audited accounts of the Association
for the previous two years;
The offices and committees for the next two year period shall be elected;
Any proposals submitted to the Secretary in writing not less than 7
days in advance of the meeting shall be discussed.

Sub-committees
29. The Management Committee may appoint such sub-committees as may be
required to carry out activities of the Association. Such sub-committees shall
be directly accountable to the Management Committee. The sub-committee
shall agree in advance the terms of reference of any sub-committee, which
may then act and apply any finance raised by itself, or on its behalf, only
within those terms. The chairperson and Treasurer of the Association shall
be ex-officio of any sub-committees.

30. Where any sub-committee is to continue in existence beyond the Biennial

General Meeting following its appointment, its members shall submit
themselves for re-election at that meeting and subsequent Biennial General
Meetings.
31. All sub-committees shall keep proper accounts of income and expenditure,
and a proper record of all meetings, and shall report on them or deliver them
up as required by the Management Committee or General Meeting.
32. The Management Committee or General Meeting may dissolve any subcommittee whereupon the accounts, records and assets, financial or
otherwise, of the sub-committee shall pass into the hands of the Management
Committee.

Finance:
33. All monies raised by, or on behalf of, the Association shall be applied to
further the objectives of the Association.

34. The Treasurer shall administer all finances of the Association and shall keep
such accounts as are deemed necessary y the Management Committee.
35. The accounts shall be audited prior to the Biennial General Meeting.
36. A statement of accounts shall be made available by the treasurer as and when
requested by the Management Committee.

Duties of Officers:
37. The Chair (or in his/her absence the Vice-Chair or other Committee member)
shall conduct the meeting of the Association.

38. The treasurer shall open and maintain a banking account in the name of the
Association. All cheques shall be signed by the Treasurer and one other
Committee member nominated by the Management Committee. The
Management Committee may authorise two of its members, in addition to the
Treasurer, to act as cheque signatories. No signatories shall be persons of the
same household. The treasurer shall keep proper accounts of income and
expenditure and report them or deliver them as required by the Committee or
General Meeting. Such accounts shall be audited by a non-member of the
Management Committee appointed by the membership at the Biennial
General Meeting.
39. The Secretary shall be responsible for convening of all meetings and the
giving of the prescribed notice to members. S/he shall ensure that a proper
record is kept of all meetings of the Association, its Management Committee
and sub-committees in the form of Minutes, and shall deliver up such records
as required by the Committee or General Meeting. The Secretary shall permit
the Minutes to be examined on receipt of not less than 7 days notice by any 2
members of the Association.

Alterations to the Constitution:

25. Any alterations to this Constitution shall require the approval of a majority of
2/3rds of those present at a Biennial or Extraordinary General Meeting.

Dissolution:
If the Management Committee, or if it no longer exists, any 10 members of the
Association, shall decide that the Association shall be dissolved, they shall give
at least 14 days notice of a meeting to all those eligible for membership at which
the matter shall be discussed, For the sole purpose of dissolution, no quorum
shall apply, and the Association shall be dissolved by a two-thirds majority of
those present. The assets, financial or otherwise, remaining when the

Association has satisfied its liabilities, shall be applied for such purposes of
benefit to the community as the meeting decides.