Minutes of Extraordinary General Meeting of New Milton Memorial Centre

Charity no. 1200325

 

Held at the New Milton Memorial Centre on 2nd July 2025 starting at 19.00

 

Present;               Peter Parslow (PP) – Trustee

Neil Stevenson (NS) – Trustee

Tony Almeida (TA) – Trustee

 

104 members of the public, including 38 existing members of the CIO (having joined at the AGM) and 60 new members who signed up on the day, in addition to the three trustees.

Note: five stated they live outside the electoral area of New Milton and one was under 18; these are therefore welcome but not eligible to be members and vote.

 

Apologies: Nick Saunders, Grahame Goodyer

 

Note: numbered items in these minutes correspond to the numbered voting items in the agenda.

 

Welcome and introduction

NS welcomed attendees, highlighted the first “Saturday at the Hub” on 5th July. He recapped the AGM and the consultation undertaken over the past two months including at a meeting of the New Milton Residents Association, with regular hirers and others, which had gained useful and significant input. He drew attention to the slightly changed wording since the AGM – but that it has not changed since the official notice of this meeting. Also highlighted that a vote this evening does not make it a “done deal”; there will be further negotiation of terms with New Life Church.

 

PP explained the membership and voting process and introduced the first vote, proposing NS as chair for the meeting.

 

  1. 1. Vote: The members appointed Neil Stevenson as chair for the meeting by a show of hands

 

TA presented the vision, ideas, and problems of the centre. The vision is to refresh, revitalise, revive, and restore – including rebranding: a new image, logo and trading name whilst retaining the centre’s legacy and heritage. The centre is financially unsustainable so is seeking a partnership with New Life Church to bring not just money but increased use and diversity of use of the facilities. Also submitting a bid to the National Lottery and looking for local sponsorship; donors and sponsors prefer to support something which is sustainable and successful.

 

Tom Rothwell, Pastor of New Life Church presented the history, vision, and community services programme of the church. It has existed in the community for 40 years and currently has about 180 people meeting on Sunday mornings at Arnewood School. The church uses its premises in Gore Road as offices and to provide community services such as a toddler group with about 25 regular parents; Christians Against Poverty debt counselling; youth activities, where they are recruiting for a staff member, having had one pre-pandemic; Storehouse, providing a couple of food parcels each week; community action group, providing physical assistance to individuals in need; Community Crafts once per month with 20-25 people attending; Operation Christmas Child where the church acts as a collection point for hundreds of Christmas gifts that go abroad; work with other local churches and New Milton Town Council to host seasonal activity trails on the Recreation Ground; care home visit; “Truth Be Told” pre-school / elderly interaction; assisting local schools with RE lessons; Alpha Course; men’s and ladies’ groups which are mostly attended by church members – whereas the other activities listed are mostly non members. All activities sign post other services in the community. The church currently has four staff and a lot of volunteers.

 

Councillor Alan O’Sullivan presented on behalf of New Milton Town Council, although he is also a New Forest District Councillor. Alan has been involved for some 10 years and explained how the major development idea of some eight years ago stalled when Hampshire County Council withdrew its offer of funding. He highlighted that one of the two rooms to be let has been exclusively used by a nursery for many years and that main hall is rarely used on a Sunday. Alan stated that he supports the proposal, subject to an active stakeholder group to be involved in running the centre.

 

Simon Dove, Secretary of New Milton Royal British Legion presented on behalf of the legion sub-committee. He explained the long relationship between the legion and the centre; that there are some 800 veterans across New Forest. The local branch had been in administration for some time but came out of that in November 2024 and now has 45 members. The RBL branch supports the proposal.

 

Sue Larking, chair of New Milton Residents Association presented, emphasising that she was giving a flavour of members’ views, not an official position or the view of every one of their 2000 members. NMRA wants the centre to prosper and has no problem with New Life Church. The financial state of the centre is not a new problem and things need to change as the pattern of the past 20 years is clearly not working. She expressed concerns on how the lease will be worded and what the impact will be on other users, and recommended changing the management structure to give more participation and communication with the community.

 

NS read part of a letter from Nick Saunders of Milton Heritage Society: their committee supports the proposal, recognising the need for funds to support the way forward. They recommend a proactive management structure with a consultative group including RBL and hirers.

 

NS stated that the trustees are committed to an improved management structure which will need a paid centre manager and additional volunteers.

 

There was about an hour of comments from the floor, each restricted to two minutes by the chair. Comments included:

  • there has been a lot of talk in the past about improvements, how have we got to the current position? NS responded that none of the money for those previous suggestions had actually been provided.
  • A 25 year lease is too long, and had the trustees tried raising funds from the community?
  • “what’s in it for us?” – what is in the contract to cover “what if” scenarios. NS responded: over £300,000 plus ongoing financial contributions (service charge, regular income from additional hires)
  • the available space would be “reduced by 50%” – how come the suggestion is to rent out upstairs but extend downstairs. NS responded: it’s 30% of the hireable space and the unique selling point of the centre is the main hall, which is not part of the lease area.
  • Was Alan speaking “on behalf of NMTC”? yes, he is one of their two councillors appointed to liaise with NMTC & was reporting after the plan had been shared at a full council meeting.
  • How many present are members of New Life Church: PP responded that the church does not have a formal membership, but that as he is a member he recognises some 50 people who do attend – but that not all of those live in New Milton, so less than half of the voting members in attendance attend the church.
  • A member of the church pointed out that their presence will bring stability and that the church has a lot of volunteers, whose interest in the community is shown by their attendance at this meeting.
  • How many parking spaces will be lost. PP responded that the church has requested two for staff, and this is less space than the centre has regained now that part of the car park is no longer used as outside space by the nursery.
  • The two rooms have a potential £400,000 income if rented out almost all the time and that £300,000 represents a room rental of only about £3 / hour.
  • How about offering a ten year lease with the possibility of renewal.
  • The centre should apply to New Forest District Council for Community Infrastructure Levy funding.
  • A staff member of the church who is a young parent sees nothing going on at the centre for her demographic, and stated that the church will bring opportunities for such use and widen the diversity of those using the centre. The church toddlers group might also rent space downstairs on a sessional basis.
  • The Moslem society is a regular user upstairs; how will they be affected. TA responded that they are content with alternative space in the centre for their Friday prayers. NS said that they are an important hirer/stakeholder.
  • Would the church allow subletting? PP responded that the trustees have encouraged the church to consider subletting. One present said they should not be allowed to, as they would get that income; others supported it, to keep flexibility in use of the rooms.
  • A church member thanked the trustees for keeping the centre open. She highlighted the difference between potential and actual income, and that the proposal had been out with the public for two months – hence the large attendance at this meeting.
  • Reservations about the long lease and loss of flexibility and room space as evidenced by one user having moved out of the centre (one session per week). The entire building should remain available, preserved as a vibrant memorial hall, not a church hall. Concern about marginalising other groups in the community. Need to align with town plans. £300,000 is only about £12,000 per year.
  • A church member thanked the previous speaker and pointed out that the church would also pay some £12,000 per year to rent the main hall on Sundays.
  • The 1973 constitution was quoted as saying that the building should remain non-religious and non-political. Note: the constitutional objective remains the same: “Community Facility for the use of the inhabitant … without distinction of political, religious, or other opinions”.
  • One of the church leadership: the church had met in the hall for some ten years. The figure of £340,000 was a commercial valuation obtained by the trustees. There is otherwise a risk that the centre will close.
  • There had been a rumour that the church would insist on closing the bar. Tom Rothwell responded: the bar won’t be open on Sunday mornings when the church hires the main hall, but the church leasing upstairs will have no impact on the bar downstairs.
  • We don’t normally have public meetings to consider hirers; people should consider if their view would be different if it was not a religious body? If it was not 25 years? If it was less than £300,000?
  • Someone who has recently moved to the area with a dependent with disabilities has been overwhelmed by the welcome in the community including by the church, which is a good church for those with disabilities.
  • Would the church be pushing religion on people? Tom Rothwell responded that they will share their faith, seeing it as good news, but that lots of people use the services and even attend Sunday worship without becoming Christians.

 

Several possible amendments to the resolution were discussed. PP outlined the process that could be followed in the event of an amendment being proposed.

 

  1. The chair proposed first voting on the resolution as it was issued with the agenda:

 

“The members agree to authorise the trustees to let most of the upstairs of the building for 25 years to New Life Church”

 

It is the sort of decision that the constitution requires has “a 75% majority of votes cast”. The vote by a show of hands was so close to 75% that the chair called for a countable poll in writing. In the written poll, 59 votes were cast in favour, 16 against: 79% with five abstentions. The resolution passed.

 

Some members requested that their names be minuted with their votes:

 

Voting for: Selina Crutch, Simon Crutch, Kevin Holland, Sue Larkin, Gillian Bird, Geoff Bird, Caroline Drew, Janice Jinks

 

Voting against: none recorded