Minutes for Rackenford Community Benefit Society
24th November 2025
6.30pm
1) Ratify minutes from last meeting- Everyone agreed to ratify the minutes of the last meeting
2) Feedback from email sent to Steve & Oliver and how we proceed
We have received an email back from them which suggested that we call them to make arrangements for a meeting.
We need to ring them to see if they want a chat on the phone or have a meeting. We should accommodate their wishes. We must give them the opportunity to speak to us only if they want to and make it clear that the ball is in their court.
We would like to know their plans but principally the meeting is to let them know what we have been up to. Explain what the CBS is, that is is a legal entity with bank account and to inform them that we are ready to go if they ever decide to sell.
Action: HAA to telephone the owner of the Stag to arrange a meeting or chat. NM to accompany.
3) We have been approached by a resident from Rackenford about renovations to see if the CBS could. fundraise to do up the pub – to make it look better as the front of the building has become a bit of an eyesore.
Society rules have a narrow remit :
‘The Society exists in order to carry on business for the benefit of the community. This
is the Society’s Purpose. The Society’s Objects shall be: to carry on business for the benefit of the community. We will achieve this by purchasing, refurbishing and maintaining The Stag public house as a profitable business and social hub, to carry out activities for the benefit of the whole community in and around Rackenford in Devon.’
We were unanimous that while this is a nice idea it is not the CBS’s purpose to raise money to spend on a property that the community does not own.
It was raised that as a group we could contact Collette Hall, the conservation officer at NDDC, regarding the building being in disrepair to see if there is anything lthat can be done.
It was decided unanimously that we do not feel this is part of the society’s remit-it is not our position to get involved in matters related to conservation or planning. As a group we would like to cultivate a positive relationship with the owners of the pub and getting involved in such matters would be counter productive.
5) Pride of Place programme – pride of place a suggestion from the government that they are going to encourage communities to take control of pubs, highstreets etc – perhaps this could strengthen our position in the future but currently it is not policy. We are not sure how effective this will be and whether these plans will ever come to fruition.
6) Share offer policy – the documents that are waiting for approval do not have the CeIS cost included in them. This is about £3000 to set up, this is the tax incentive to encourage people to buy shares. It was decided that this is not something that we can do until the pub is on the market and we are in a position to put in an offer and raise share capital.
Share offer policy documents a maximum investment of £50,000 with the lowest being just £100. It is hoped that this wide range will encourage more people to buy shares in the venture.
These documents were all agreed in principle – any changes in the future or the addition of the CeIS cost will be approved at a later meeting when they are included.
7) Updated dispute and grievances policy
All agreed this can be ratified.
8) Website – what do we want to go on the website? It was suggested that in addition to the minutes of the CBS meetings being shared with the Rackenford Parish Council we should publish them on the website as well. This would ensure that news of the workings of the CBS for fully accessible to the public, which is a requirement for a CBS. This was unanimously agreed by the committee.
The potential of the website was discussed, that it is a great vehicle for selling the concept of community pubs. We should be pushing the stories of their success on our website including data and stats from Plunket. We need to demonstrate to the public how community owned pubs can benefit the local community both economically and socially.
It was also discussed whether we should have a question box but it was decided that a frequently answered questions page might be better, used to make clear points on the questions that have been asked by members of the community at Village day and also through the social media pages. We could have a feedback/comments box with comments coming back to us for approval rather than having it completely open and public as this may be a step too far. It was decided that perhaps including a news section to update people on what we are doing might be more beneficial.
Action: AW and IW research and gather some information about how brilliant community pubs are with case studies.
IW to relaunch website with more contents
9) CAMRA representative for North Devon has contacted us. They had heard that there was a plan to try and take over the Stag and have offered their support. They have now included information about the Stag on their website. It was agreed that there is not really much to do currently however we should really try and cultivate this relationship as if we ever do manage to buy The Stag for the community it will be important of offer real ale because of the benefits that being a CAMRA pub brings- additional advertising and access to a loyal customer base who are willing to travel for a pint.
10) Shares from committee members. Not all the committee had paid in for their shares so it was decided to re-circulate the details to ensure everyone has put in.
11) Set up access for internet banking for treasurer NH and secretary HAA use the telephone to set this up: calling then downloading the app.
All bank correspondence going to NH: NH said that he was happy for this to happen and everyone was also in agreement that this should carry on.
Action: NH and HAA to set up internet banking.
12) Ring of Bells planning app – Property guardianship was discussed and it was decided that this was not relevant to the situation in Rackenford.
13) AOB
Support with content on social media. All of the social media pages are set up but material is needed. Videos and photographs of community events to help ensure there is a steady stream of material so that we have more content and a better online presence.
Action send photographs and video to HAA
NM- suggested that we should have postcards/ business cards made for the CBS that we can use to publicise what we are doing when we are out and about. This could include a qr code to the website and we need to have links to all the social media pages on the cards and website. The use of CBS funds to purchase printed material was discussed and it was thought to be a bonafide business expense. It was decided that this was a good idea as long as we make sure that any cards or flyers that we have printed contain no time sensitive information.
Action NM to design something which we can approve
There is not much point meeting up too regularly until there is something to do. The next meeting was set for March. However, we can keep in contact through our WhatsApp group and call an extraordinary meeting should the need arise.
Next meeting date Tuesday 3rd 6.30 March,