South Eastern Centre Motocross Combine Minutes JANUARY 2003

PRESENT : 20 Delegates were present representing the following Clubs :- Brighton, Crawley, GEST, Greenwich, Premier, Sidcup, Twickenham and the TSM.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE : Were received from Frank Dixon and Ashley Gregory.

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS : It was proposed by Mr. Lane and seconded Mr. Horton that the minutes that had been circulated from the meeting on 11th September were a true and accurate record. Carried. It was also proposed By. Mr. Brown and seconded Mr. Wood that the minutes that had been circulated from the 4 Centres Dates Meeting on 30th November were correct. Carried.

MATTERS ARISING :

NFU Adverts : Mrs. Clarke apologised again for not completing this task and asked if it was felt necessary to go ahead. There was some discussion with the majority of delegates thinking we should go ahead and advertise for land. The Secretary agreed to get on board this task.

Rider's Handouts : Mr. Wood admitted not a lot had been done on this project recently and it really needed updating with current information and perhaps have the website, a TSM subscription form and track directions included.

Website : Mr. J. Clarke reported the counter had 456 hits logged up, he had included maps of the tracks, a fixture list and minutes. It was thought to be a good idea to also add a TSM subscription form that could be downloaded. After some discussion it was proposed Mr. Powell and seconded Mr. J. Clarke that we go for a more user friendly address even if it meant splashing out £20. Agreed.

Joint Dates Meeting with the other Centres : Mrs. Clarke said she was really disappointed with the response from the other Centres as it had been from suggestions from those Centres that the meeting took place. She had gone to all the trouble of organising a venue at Abbotts Langley and for all intents and purposes it could have been a SE Centre meeting from the delegates that attended. It was agreed if there was to be one in 2003 it would be organised in our Centre and to let the other Centres travel to us. Mr. A. Clarke thought the Secretary should write to the other Centres and convey our disappointment and Mr. Wood said this could also be put in the TSM to inform everyone generally.

Centenary Supper : Mr. Brown said the doors had now closed on 220 with the venue not being able to take anymore. It was hoped the Clubs would bring memorabilia with them to show.

Winterpick Farm : Mr. Brown said he would like to apply for lottery funding again to promote the sport with a meeting at Winterpick Farm promoted by the Combine. The Horsham Club sadly lacked the manpower to stage a meeting nowadays and to save the venue going elsewhere he thought with a bit of creative accounting the venue could be used 3 times in 2003 by paying a block rent. He understood the application for funds was being prepared.. Mr. Lane put forward an idea that we have one person to do all lottery paperwork, give the job a title for example Funding Co-Ordinator and the authority to complete and apply for all funds. Mr. Claridge thought this would be a good idea, Mr. Herd was unsure feeling last year's application had to have 2 signature on it, Mrs. Clarke suggested perhaps a way around might be a letter of authority in the first place from the Chairman and countersigned by the Secretary. Mr. Claridge explained this year's idea was to target local schools and say it is free to attend and also go down the educational road with instruction and leaflets in a marquee, we might also be able to tap the factories up for help in this area. Mr. Brown proposed we should ask Nock Hooper if he would consider being the Centre's Co-Ordinator, Agreed.

Advertisers Banner : between Mr. Brown and Mr. Wood little had so far been achieved but Mr. Wood had made a montage for the Grass Track Combine and it was thought a similar thing could be done for the Moto Cross Combine with a backdrop of pictures. There was some discussion on how such a thing could be transported between venues and in the end it was agreed to have 3 made.

Practice Days : Mrs. Clarke had made enquiries of Mr. Bellars regarding the anomaly that had now cropped up regarding affiliations at practice days. Mr. Bellars was of the opinion that anyone taking part in a practice day of any status must belong to the ACU to benefit from their insurance, this would mean if a rider did not have some sort of affiliation to the ACU whether it be an officials one or a trials one he would have to take out a day licence so affiliating himself. Mr. Brown announced the Centre had agreed to pay a one off £10 fee to all officials this year when they were paid their expenses to cover the costs of their affiliations, it being felt if they were working for the Centre and had to be affiliated the Centre should re imburse their costs.

ACU MOTO CROSS COMMITTEE MINUTES AND ELECTIONS : At the recent elections Dave Williams and Frank Dixon were returned unopposed. Mr. Herd announced that Mr. Roy Humphreys had that day been voted in as the new Committee Chairman. Mrs. Clarke said that no minutes had been issued yet from their November meeting.

GOLDEN JUBILEE MOTO CROSS : All delegates present felt this had been a very good meeting, the track was first class and the premier Club was to be congratulated on putting an excellent meeting on. Mr. Batten said he felt they had been too ambitious with the number of entries accepted and he had heard a few moans when the racing was cut short. Mr. Claridge said the representative from the Sports Federation was very impressed and gave a glowing report at their next meeting. The balance sheet for the meeting shows an excess of £739 and Mrs. Clarke said there was a residue of £492 left in the Combine's account. Roy Humphrey attended the meeting on behalf of the ACU and have some constructive talks with Don Palmer from the Sports federation about possible funding for a future GP. Mr.Nichols said unfortunately Premier had now lost the use of the land because the farmer had been paid a 5 figure sum not to let motorcycles on the land again by the local houseowner.

THE SPORTING MOTORCYCLIST : Mr. Bramal said he had plans to move to a new level and advertise in all the local Maxxis round's programmes. 2500 copies were printed in December and slight changes to wordings in regulations would now come into force. Mr. Burton was not happy with the lack of advance warning received by Clubs about an increase in the price which left no time to change budgets for 2003. A new 2 tier price range was being introduced at £1.10 per copy if under 10 were ordered by a club and £1 a copy if over 10, plus of course the postage.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS :

Bibs : It was ascertained Sidcup Was holding the supply.

Neil Hellings : The planned visit had been cancelled because of the political climate but it was agreed that when things calmed down he would be encouraged to come again.

Four Stroke Noise Levels : Mr. Batten was becoming increasingly worried about the amount of noise the 4 stroke Yamahas were emitting and whether excessive noise could mean tracks may be lost to the sport. It was known that aftermarket silencers were noisier than standard ones and that SMX had banned them at all of their tracks. Mr. Herd felt this could be a dangerous path because of Restrictive Practise Legislation. He had spoken to Eddie Jones, an ACU noise meter operator, who had informed him the way of conducting noise test had been changed to accommodate the new 4 stroke Yamahas. The problem was now coming to a head because the 4 stroke numbers were on the increase. There was some talk about the FIM and the ACU introducing changes but it was felt they would not be in the near future. It was agreed the SE Centre should set an example and lead the way by perhaps insisting all machines be fitted with enduro silencers instead or to introduce a lower noise limit. It was agreed the Secretary would send a letter to the ACU's Moto Cross Committee expressing our concerns and Mr. Brown suggested a noise meter operator be sent to all MX meetings in 2003 and test all machines be they 2 or 4 stroke. Finally the Combine will draw up a statement to be printed in the TSM for the next 3 consecutive months and Mr. Herd will undertake to talk to the other 3 Centres about our concerns whilst Sidcup Should send a copy out with the acceptance of entries for the first meeting of the year.

Clerk of the Course Seminar : Mrs. Clarke asked for names of anyone wishing to be put forward for a seminar.

Xmas Cards : Mrs. Clarke said Mr. Wood had printed some excellent Christmas Cards which had been sent to all our advertisers and she thought it would be a good idea to print some to sell next year but Mr. Brown said the Centre had already decided to do this.

New Insurance Rates : Mrs. Clarke showed delegates a copy of a letter from Mr. Bellars detailing new insurance rates which all Club Secretaries should have received direct as these figures were not being printed in the handbook.

Scrutineer's Seminar : It was thought Mr. B. Edwards would not be conducting anymore scrutineer's seminars in the Centre and Mr. Herd wondered if we could ask Rugby to organise one in our area. Names to be sent to Mrs. Clarke.

Centre Championship Rules : Mrs. Batten wanted the Championship rules to be tidied up regarding the groups of juniors he proposed under format 5 iv Juniors "- each club will offer places to a minimum of two groups of riders " be deleted. Agreed. He also proposed and Mr. Wood seconded that under 5 Format iii it read " Race times to be a minimum of 15 minutes per leg plus 1 lap " all other references to be deleted.

Day Licences : Mrs. Clarke reminded Clubs they should be sending their £6 day licences back for a refund and buying the new £10 ones for the coming season. She also added that a help to harassed secretaries was the fact Full Licences could be downloaded from the ACU's website in colour.

There being nothing further to discuss the meeting closed at 11.45 pm.