After a brief introduction Shirley summarised the events on Volunteer's Day (27^th March). Over 40 people attended the meeting and more than 30 have since signed up for training. The four groups - Funding, Housing, Open Space/Heritage and Traffic/Parking - held 'brainstorming' sessions and most have since had a further information exchanges or meetings (see below). There are now over 80 people on the Volunteer DataBase.

Susie summarised the progress made by the Housing Group. 10 people attended the meeting held on 31^st March, including people interested in Self-Build, Co-Build and Housing Associations. The group has started work on the housing side of the Urban Form Study (for which Julia Banerjee has prepared worksheets). Deborah suggested that the group should contact Howard Topliss of Tor Homes. Pruw and Donald remarked that Sovereign Homes were also worth talking to. There was brief discussion of the need to consider renewable energy as well as sustainable design ideas. The Housing group has decided to meet regularly in the Project Office each Wednesday at 6pm.

Shirley discussed the progress made by the Open Space/Heritage group which has also been very busy. She mentioned that it was unlikely that the group would do a proper wild-life survey - the Bungalow Garden is too small to make this worthwhile and there is no legal obligation to do one. The matter of the cost of a proper Archaeological Survey was discussed (and who should play for it). Pru proposed that the BBC Time Team should be approached - not only would that save money but it would bring welcome publicity to the project as well. The group has decided to meet regularly in the Project Office each Tuesday at 6pm.

Dave briefly mentioned the work done so far by the Traffic and Parking Group. It is expected that the Totnes Traffic and Transport Group will provide much of the manpower (Martin Gilbert and Alice Llewellyn have already signed up. Dave will discuss with the others which day the group should meet (Thursday perhaps?).

The funding group were meeting tonight (1/4/04).

Susie and Deborah outlined what had happened at the meeting of the Totnes Strategy Group on 30^th March.

The matter of the Grove School was discussed. It was agreed that no-one was sure what (if any) decision had been taken by Devon County Council about the school. If it were to move then one possibility was that the premises would become a Youth Centre. Since any plans for the school could impact the Southern Area Plan, it was agreed to (a) ask Deborah to investigate what decision had been made and (b) to write formally to the Council asking for clarification. Donald volunteered to draft a letter.

Di Parkin made a brief visit to the office. She was asked about providing training for the Working Party itself. It was eventually agreed that:

1. Anyone who wanted to sign up for the 'volunteer/research training' to be held over the next couple of weeks should do so
2. Di would conduct a 1-hour session at a Working Party Meeting (probably the one on May 26^th) as part of the preparation for the "Planning for Real" part of the project.

After Deborah, Susie and Shirley had left, some time was spent discussing constitutions. It was eventually agreed that a Company Limited By Guarantee was the best long-term aim. Lionel is familiar with Treasurer's Accounts and has agreed to help set one up at HSBC (who give interest on current accounts). In the short term, we need to set up proper public voluntary group as follows:

1. send an email to all volunteers informing them there will be a General Meeting to agree a constitution in 2 weeks time (say Friday
2. get a draft constitution (Pruw to supply some models) and pass it around the WP by email for comments
3. agree the draft at the next WP meeting on 14^th April
4. hold the General Meeting to approve the constitution and elect the officers (Chairman and Secretary)

Among miscellaneous items raised were the following:

1. We need more keys to the office. Do the Strategy Group still have any?
2. Shirley needs demographic data (proportions of the population of Totnes split by age group etc)
3. Pruw volunteered to produce a fortnightly news sheet (side sides of A4). She needed a logo (we do have one) and a name for the newsletter
4. During the tour of the Bungalow Garden on 27^th March, Peter Sutton had note that there were signs of Japanese Knot Weed growing near the pond. Since this is a very serious matter (if you spread knotweed outside of your property you may be liable to prosecution) it was agreed that David should write to Ken Carter (Environment Manager at SHDC) notifying him of the sighting.
5. The need for a photocopier in the office was highlighted. Someone thought that Peter Sutton had mentioned that there was an obsolete (but possibly working) at his offices.
6. The question of insurance of the project office (particularly Public Liability Insurance) was raised by Pruw. Dave explained that as yet he had not received documentation of the license (or lease) from Tony Osbourne. It was agreed that Dave should write to Tony pointing out that we were assuming that he would be responsible for such matters.

The meeting closed at 12.25pm. The next meeting will be held on 14^th April.