Constitution originally adopted and amended at the Annual General Meeting 25 April 1972.
Updated, amended and readopted 21 January 2021.
The name of the Society shall be the Hertford Civic Society.
The objects of the Society shall be to promote and encourage the following objects by charitable means but not otherwise:
- To encourage high standards of architecture and town planning and promote principles of good design (including sustainability) in and around Hertford;
- To stimulate public interest in and care for the beauty, history and character of the area of the town, its natural environment, its amenities, and its surroundings;
- To encourage the preservation, development and improvement of features of general public amenity, infrastructure including transport, or historic interest;
- To pursue these ends and enable civic participation by means of meetings, exhibitions, lectures and promotion of schemes of a charitable nature;
- To own, operate, and maintain the Salisbury Square fountain until such time as another suitable organisation takes over these duties.
Membership
Membership shall be open to all who are interested in the aims of the Society. Membership shall lapse if the subscription is unpaid six months after it is due. Firms and companies in professions, trade or commerce may be admitted as corporate Members.
Organisations concerned with the protection of amenities, Residents’ Associations and similar bodies may be admitted as Affiliated Members.
Every member shall be entitled to one vote at a General Meeting: a person voting on behalf of a Corporate or Affiliated member must first be authorised in writing to do so. Individuals who are members of organisations affiliated members may attend at the discretion of the Executive Committee.
Subscriptions
The subscriptions should be published in the Membership Application form and shall be approved at a General Meeting. Subscriptions shall be payable on joining and on each 1stJanuary thereafter.
Meetings
An Annual General Meeting shall be held in or about Marchof each year to receive the Executive Committee’s report and independently reviewed accounts and to elect officers and members of the Committee, and 14 days notice of such meetings shall be given. The Committee shall decide when ordinary meetings of the Society shall be held and shall give at least 7 days notice of such meetings to all members. Special General Meetings of the Society shall be held at the written request of 25 or more members. Fourteen days notice of such meetings shall be given to members accompanied by a brief statement of its purpose. The accidental omission to given notice of a meeting or the non-receipt of notice of a meeting by any person entitled to receive notice shall not invalidate the proceedings of that meeting. Twenty members personally present shall constitute a quorum for a meeting of the Society. If a quorum is not present at any meeting of the Society or the Executive Committee that meeting shall be adjourned to such place and time within one calendar month as the Chairman of that meeting shall decide and the members present at such adjourned meeting shall constitute a quorum.
Officers
Nominations for the election of officers shall be made seven days before the Annual General Meeting. Such nominations shall be supported by a seconder and the consent of the proposed nominee must first have been obtained. The election of officers shall be completed prior to the election of further Committee members. The officers of the Society shall consist of :
- Chair
- Vice Chair
- Honorary Treasurer
All of whom shall relinquish their office every year and shall be eligible for re-election at the Annual General Meeting. The office of Chair shall not be held for more than 3 consecutive years unless at a meeting in the fourth or any succeeding year the Chair is re-elected by a two-thirds majority of members present. A President and Vice Presidents may also be elected at a General Meeting of the Society, for periods to be decided at such a meeting.
Committee
The Executive Committee shall consist of the Officers and not more than 16 further members. The Executive Committee shall have power to fill vacancies in the Committee and in the Officers. The Committee shall have the power to co-opt further members (who shall attend in an advisory and non-voting capacity). The President and Vice Presidents may attend meetings of the Executive Committee but may not vote at such meetings. The members of the Executive Committee shall relinquish their office every year and shall be eligible for re-election at the Annual General Meeting. Nominations for election to the Executive Committee shall be made at or before the Annual General Meeting. They must be,supported by a seconder and the consent of the nominee must first have been obtained. If the nominations exceed the number of vacancies, the matter shall be put to the vote at the Annual General Meeting. The Executive Committee shall be responsible for running the affairs of the Society, and may take decisions on its behalf. A quorum for meetings of the Executive Committee shall consist of 5 members.
Trustees
The Executive Committee shall appoint three members of the Society, normally including the Chair and Hon Treasurer, to act as Trustees to be held responsible for all actions of the Society by the Charity Commission.
Jubilee Celebration 2022
Appeals
The Executive Committee shall have power to make appeals, solicit donations and canvass monies for carrying out the objects of the Society.
Expenses Of Administration
The Executive Committee shall have power to make appeals, solicit donations and canvass monies for carrying out the objects of the Society.
Investment
All monies at any time belonging to the Society and not required for immediate application for its objectives shall be invested by the Executive Committee upon such investments, securities or property as it may think fit, but so that monies subject or representing property subject to the jurisdiction of the Charity Commission shall only be invested in such securities as may for the time being be prescribed by law.
Borrowing
The Executive Committee may borrow for the objects of the Society such monies at such rate of interest and in such manner as it may think fit, subject to the approval of a General Meeting of the Society.
Amendments
The Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds majority of members present at any meeting provided that 14 days notice of the proposed amendment has been sent to all members, and providing that nothing herein contained shall authorise any amendment permitting the expenditure of funds of the Society on any object which is not charitable in object.
Winding Up
In the event of the winding up of the Society the available funds of the Society shall be transferred to such one or more charitable bodies having objects similar or reasonably similar to those herein before declared as may be chosen by the Executive Committee and approved by the Charity Commissioners For England and Wales.
