We are also greatly indebted to the Howard de Walden Estate and to the Portman Estate who both provided generous funding in order to help us host the AGM this year.
There was somewhere in the region of 200 of our members in attendance, and it was pleasing to see so many senior members of Westminster City Council take time out of their busy schedules to join us at the meeting. We are, as always, appreciative of their support and of the recognition that they afford us. We are also impressed with the enthusiasm with which they are keen to engage with the Association on the matters that concern us all.
I am very keen to also thank Dr David Green of King's College Environmental Research unit who provided us with a fascinating and enlightening view of his research into air quality in Marylebone.
I feel like we only had the opportunity to see the tip of the iceberg during the short time that we allowed him to present his topic, and I imagine that if we had time, our members would have happily questioned him for quite some time to gain further insight into his work. I presume that this is a subject that we will end up returning to at a later date as the issue of air quality is one which concerns many of us living in Central London.
I am grateful to you all for voting me in to take on the chairmanship of the Association. Given that I have been serving on the committee for the past fourteen years, mostly as chair of the Planning Subcommittee I am cognisant of the importance of the chairman's role. I anticipate it will be challenging in many ways, and I am also hoping that it will also turn out to be equally satisfying. I am sure you will agree that our previous chair, Carl Upsall has carried out an enormous amount of work for the Association over the past three years, and I hope that I can at least come close to matching his skill, determination and fervour for the important matters that the Association must deal with in the months to come.
For those of you not able to attend, the new committee voted in on June 14th is as follows:
Stephen Quinn - Chairman
Kevin Coyne - Honorary Secretary
Keith Evans - Honorary Treasurer
Michael Bolt, Sheila Green, Regina Kibel, Harold King, Patricia Neville, Keith Stuart-Smith, Monica Perez, Philip Vernon
The first meeting of the new committee will be in September and in our next newsletter, I shall report to you on how we will be organising ourselves, and what we plan to make our priorities over the year to come.
Furthermore, I would urge you to consider carefully how you might be able to become more involved in the Association. If there is a burning issue that you feel needs to be addressed, or even if you feel that you could, or should give a little of your free time over to helping out in the Association, please do not hesitate to get in touch by email, telephone, or post.
Stephen Quinn
