Creffield Area  Residents Association © Cara 2011 1. The Association shall be called the Creffield Area Residents’ Association. Purposes of CARA 2. The objects of the Association are: i. to foster and preserve the facilities and amenities of the residents and clubs in the area within the line marked on the plan attached hereto. ii. to offer assistance to members on all matters relating to the well-being of the area, including but not limited to matters of local planning regulations, especially those relating to conservation areas, refuse collection, street lighting, policing, transport and community open spaces, and to propose courses of action and/or help as appropriate. iii. to promote and participate in such other activities within the London Borough of Ealing or elsewhere as are in the opinion of the executive committee ancillary or conducive to the objects of the Association as defined in sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) hereof. 3. The Association shall be non-party political and non-sectarian. The Association is committed to and has adopted a policy that it will not discriminate against any individual or community group on the grounds of race, religion, age, disability, colour or sexual orientation. Any member found to be in breach will be subject to the procedures laid down in clause 8. Membership of CARA 4. Candidates for membership shall be accepted by the executive committee in its absolute discretion on payment of the appropriate membership fee in full.   5.   Membership of the Association shall be open to: i. all persons of not less than eighteen years of age and being resident in the area covered by the Association (specified in Rule 2i above); ii. any such other person or persons as the executive committee may in its discretion invite to become members of the Association. 6. The member of Parliament for Ealing Southall, and Ealing Acton Parliamentary Constituency, Ealing Borough Councillors for Ealing Common, South Acton and Acton Central wards shall be entitled to be ex-officio members of the Association. 7. i.      Each member of the Association shall pay an annual subscription at the rates prescribed by the executive committee. ii. The annual subscription shall be due on the first day of January in each year and it shall be deemed to be a debt due to the treasurer of the Association for the time being. Any member whose membership fee remains unpaid after the 14^th January in any year and who fails to remedy the situation after being requested in writing to pay the said fee by the chairman shall cease to be a member of the Association but upon the said fee being paid in full, membership will revive subject as aforesaid, to the absolute discretion of the executive committee. 8. The executive committee shall have the right for good and sufficient reason to expel or suspend any member who shall offend against the rules of the Association or whose conduct in the opinion of the committee renders that member unfit for membership of the Association or brings the Association into disrepute. Governance and financial management 9. i.     The management of the Association shall be entrusted to an executive committee of up to 15 members, including at least one representative from each of the five zones marked on the plan referred to at Rule 2i above. The committee shall appoint from among its members the officers of the Association, namely a President, a Chairman, a Treasurer, a Membership Secretary, and a Secretary. All such positions shall be honorary. Committee members shall be elected for a term of office of two years (eventually, half the committee being elected/re-elected annually) from among the members of the Association by the members of the Association. Each committee member would serve a maximum of four years if re-elected. Thereafter, a majority of the committee may invite a particular committee member to offer themselves for re-election for a further period if they deem this to be in the interests of the Association. Nominations for election and/or re-election will be invited from all members of the Association at least 28 days before the Annual General Meeting and all nominations must be brought to the attention of the Secretary at least 14 days prior to the Annual General Meeting. Voting for executive committee members will take place at the Annual General Meeting. ii. The executive committee shall meet at such times as it shall determine and at all meetings of the committee five shall form a quorum. 10. The executive committee shall have power: i. at any time and from time to time to fill any casual vacancy among the officers and the committee. Any officer or member of the committee so appointed shall hold office only until the date on which the committee membership would normally have ended, and shall then be eligible for re-election. ii. to co-opt in its absolute discretion such other person or persons as it may from time to time consider appropriate. 11. There shall be audited accounts of the financial affairs of the Association. Annual General Meetings 12. An Annual General Meeting of the Association shall be held before 31^st May in each year and 15 months shall not elapse without a general meeting. 13. The secretary shall at least 28 days before an Annual General Meeting send to every member at his or her address as recorded in the Association's books a notice of the Annual General Meeting stating the time when and the place where it will be held. At the annual general meeting the following business shall be conducted:          i. the annual report; ii. the presentation and (if accepted) the passing of accounts; iii. the election of the executive committee;   iv. such other business as shall have been communicated to the secretary, including notice of the major campaigns which the executive committee intends to undertake in the forthcoming year, such campaigns to be voted upon and a simple majority will provide a mandate for the committee to pursue such campaigns. 14. The quorum at an annual general meeting shall be twenty. Extraordinary General Meetings 15. An Extraordinary General Meeting may be convened at any time and shall be convened within 28 days of the requisition of one-fifth of the members of the Association for the time being or thirty members whichever is the less. Such requisition shall state the purpose for which such meeting is required. 16. The secretary shall at least 14 days before any Extraordinary General Meeting send to every member at his or her address as recorded in the Association’s books a notice of the meeting stating the time when and the place where it will be held and the business to be conducted. 17. The business at an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be limited to that provided by these rules and those further matters set out in the notice convening the meeting. The quorum at any Extraordinary General Meeting shall be twenty. Voting 18.   At all meetings of the Association each member shall have one vote. Rules of the Association 19. No alteration or addition to these rules shall be made except by a resolution carried by at least two-thirds of the members present and voting at a general meeting the notice of which shall have contained particulars of the proposed alteration or addition. 20. The Association may only be dissolved at a general meeting at which not less than one-half of those members who have discharged all current liabilities to the Association shall be present and by a resolution carried by a majority of at least two-thirds of the members present at such meeting and entitled to vote. Such resolution, if passed, shall empower the then committee of the Association to distribute the assets of the Association (after the discharge of all liabilities of the Association) to such local charities or causes as the executive committee in its discretion shall think fit, and to take all such other steps as may be required to wind up the Association. Rules undated Amendments were voted on and agreed at the Annual General Meeting on 17 May 2007