View From The Reddings

[Geraint Parry]

VIEW FROM THE REDDINGS

 

The RPRA AGM

 

Friday 29th February saw the 112th annual general meeting of the RPRA.  The top table for the RPRA at the AGM changed.  It is congratulations to Les Blacklock from the Cumbria Region as he was voted in as President.  This is quite an honour for Les as he is the first Cumbrian to serve as a President and also the first Region Secretary that has held the post too.  It is fitting that Les has become President as he missed out by just one vote to Pat Mitchell 3 years ago.  Pat remains as vice president along with Brian Mead and John Edwards, Brian a region secretary too and John a former region secretary so it has been something of a coup this year for these officers!  Congratulations to them all.  

 

As far as voting on the propositions was concerned this time last year members voted not to accept ETS for racing but at the following Council meeting Councillors had to address the Disability Discrimination Act and ETS was introduced under rule 142.  The voting this year then would be a test to see if the membership endorsed the actions of Council and they have done overwhelmingly.  Several of the propositions were passed unanimously by all regions and so I hope now that we can draw a line under all the debate and get on racing our pigeons.  There were several propositions to introduce time penalties for those users of ETS and these were all defeated.  Council went further to make the case clear at their evening meeting – Rule 189 clearly states that results are based on actual flying time and so time penalties for anyone using any clock are in contravention of RPRA rules.  There were some other key rule changes.  One proposition that fell was that of the number of pads allowable at the loft.  The current rule is 3 pads per loft and this will stand for 2008.  The joining together of say  3 antennae pads by a cable to make a 6 antennae ‘pad’ is not acceptable; this is deemed as 3 pads.  Council has been aware for some time that a minority of members abuse the membership payment rules and pay one membership every 2 years but still manage to obtain a supply of rings each year.  Why anyone would want to defraud the RPRA out of a whacking £4.50 beats me but there we are.  So in order to overcome this all RPRA members will now only be able to purchase rings for the same year as the rings they wish to purchase.  So for example if you order rings between October 08 and the February 09 you will need to have paid the 2009 subscription before we will send you your rings.  The rules passed at this AGM will be published in full as soon as possible for all to see.

 

 

 

Council Meeting

 

At the Future of the Sport Committee Council was advised that the subject of recognition as a sport for pigeon racing rumbles on.  There is still a lot of media interest (and we hope a forthcoming BBC Newsnight article this month).  Pat Mitchell however had received a letter from the Sports Council via Richard Ottaway MP.  The FOS Committee will therefore review the application procedure to see if there is any scope to formally apply to be considered as a sport.  You may recall from a recent VFTR that the Sports Council stated that they had never received an application from us before which patently was not true.  This application procedure will be reconsidered at the next FOS meeting later this month.

 

The Olympiad Committee heard that preparations for the selection show are well in hand.  This will take place at Ray Knight’s show at the Doncaster Dome on Saturday 15th November 08.  A letter had also been received from Mike Spear of Devon (winner of best cock in the Standard class in Ostend) who had complained that he had not received a gold medal.  Mike also felt that he and others had not received recognition for the excellent result.  This was a matter that the Olympiad committee took issue with.  Whilst we accepted that there was no ‘gold medal’, the fact of the matter was that none had been issued by the FCI.  Despite a written request to the FCI for these and also to replace the trophy we received which was the second place trophy, the Committee felt that all Olympiad entrants had received due credit with presentations at Regions of RPRA medallions and FCI certificates, good publicity after the Olympiad in the fancy press, a splendid colour article in the BHW over Christmas 2007 and a display of the all the winners and their birds at the Show of the Year. Nevertheless we will hasten the FCI once again to see if we can procure these medals.

 

The Clock Committee received a presentation from Linells with the T3S Thimble drum.  This is the T3 with the flapper cover which means it can be used without thimbles.  RPRA rules however require a thimble to be used and a proposition to allow timing in without a thimble was defeated at the AGM earlier in the day.  Therefore the T3S could not be approved.  Council was reminded also that there are adverts already in the fancy press selling and servicing these T3S clocks and RPRA members should be aware that these clocks cannot be used in RPRA races and so they should not purchase the T3S clock.  Progress on using GPS for loft locations was also defeated at the AGM so the use of GPS has again been put on the backburner.  The Clock committee has however asked the Racing Support team to make some comparisons on Google Earth with existing loft locations.

 

The Rules Committee had a busy day reviewing the new rules and putting them into context within the rule book.  The 2008 rule book will be published after the March Council meeting and should be available in late April/early May but we will publish the ETS rules in order that you have them ready for the 2008 season.

 

AI Update

 

Well it has been something of a busy week or so on the AI front.  Firstly Brian Tattersall was in Brussels at an FCI meeting where he heard that the western European countries were to meet with the French Minister of Agriculture as, he was told, the French Government intended to stop British racing for 3 months because of the AI outbreak in Dorset.  The meeting was to be in Paris on 26th February and Brian felt that I was best placed to represent the RPRA.  Before I travelled I spoke to my contact in DEFRA who told me that he thought this was over reaction by the French Government as the AI restrictions had been scaled down in Dorset and if there were no further outbreaks by 29th February then Britain would have been AI free for 30 days and all restrictions would be dropped.  So off I went to Paris for the meeting at 5 pm with colleagues from the FCI.  I have to say that the French Government had duly revised their views.  It was a very fruitful meeting and the conclusion was that they were happy for the French Federation to police who went into France to liberate on the condition that no pigeons from infected areas travelled to France.  This should be relatively easy to monitor as of course all organisations from each country must apply to the FCF for a permit to liberate.  They would guarantee to the French Government that, with the co-operation of home countries, no pigeons from infected areas would be liberated.  In this case it would not then necessarily rule out racing for all the UK if AI was contained in just one area of the UK.  That said I am sure that DEFRA may have an opinion on this but in principle that is what the French Government were happy with. Also key at this meeting was the distribution of new research into HPAI on racing pigeons further strengthening our case.  Significantly one of the researchers was probably the world expert in HPAI, a Professor Osterhaus of the Netherlands and it is hoped to get him to address the FCI.

 

On my return to the UK I passed this latest research to DEFRA and the outcome of the French Min of Agriculture meeting.  I understand that DEFRA are currently working on the response to our latest legal letter so I hope that these documents will help to convince the Secretary of State of our case.  The one fly in the ointment was that on my return to the office from the Council meeting on Saturday last I cranked up my computer to check for urgent e mails and found one from DEFRA advising that a dead Canada goose with HPAI had been confirmed on Friday 29th February.  So we will have to go another 30 days before we can be classed as AI free.  I do not believe however that this will change any arrangements as yet with the French Government.  Certainly DEFRA has taken a different view on the Portland outbreak and everything seems to have taken a much lower profile being that the infection was in wild birds rather than domestic poultry.  I am also in regular contact with a French fancier who has the ear of officials in the French Min of Agriculture so that is another string to our bow.

 

Just before I went to Paris I learnt that the Secretary of State has agreed to a meeting with the Confederation.  Council were advised of this and are to send the President and General Manager.  I would hope that such a meeting would not be necessary as we should have had a response from Mr Benn to our latest legal letter  and, if it is more of the same from him and his department, it may not be prudent to meet with someone whom we intend to take to court!

 

Stray Collection services

 

I wrote a few weeks ago about a new service called Dafydd Hughes Ltd who were trying to find fanciers around the UK to assist in moving stray racing pigeons in some kind of network.  Whilst the RPRA does not endorse any particular stray collection service you may recall I said that this company had been trying for several years to get a foot in the market and they were hoping to give a wider national coverage, similar to that covered by Amtrak.  I have heard from the boss Roger Hughes recently and he is still looking for fanciers on the Cornish Peninsula, and in North Wales and Scotland to assist.  If you think you might be interested please give Roger a ring on 07760 176205.

 

And Finally!!!!

 

I rather took some people by surprise at the AGM as I announced my resignation as your general manager.  I intend to retire from this post in November this year and so have given Council a good timescale in which to recruit a replacement.  I have lost count of the number of fanciers I have met over the last few years who have said they wouldn’t have my job for anything so it will be interesting to see if any applicants come from the fancy.  As I told Council at the AGM I know there were some people who were very sceptical about a non pigeon fancier being appointed as your general manager including one who is now on Council!  I hope I have proved them wrong.  Anyway there is still another 9 months before I go and I will give you one promise.  I fully appreciate that there is a lot at stake with DEFRA and AI restrictions and I will not shirk from the responsibilities I have been charged with until I go.  I won’t take my foot off of the pedal. Of that you have my assurance.

 

Peter Bryant

 

General Manager

 

 

[Guest Vic]

NEVER EVER, tried to rub shoulders with the big knobs of the administration side of the game. But Iv'e always admired the route that Bob Moffatt  took. Yes, they have  indeed tried to find easy situations for some of the "Hooray Henries" over the years, successful maybe? once or twice, but NEVER EVER again! Surely?  RPRA, BHW?  We are one together?  

[Guest jamesa]

if the time pen props were out of order now come they were voted on and not slung out and what if one had got in what would they have done then another

closed door vote with the same old faces. shame to see the gm go hope he gets a new job quick i wonder where?????

[Guest spin cycle]

good to see the rpra has rediscovered democracy even if it is only a 'flag of convienience'. never mind they'll get their multi pads next year. what choice did the meeting have but to endorse councils action. rule 142 is a vital tool for emergencies, last year it was abused and doubtless would have been abused again.why was it necessary to delete'and willing to do so' if everyone was so happy about ets? unless of course it is to compel club officers to use ets. if this is 'victory'...well..it's just sad. this vftr attempts to build no bridges at all. :'( :'( :'(

[pjc]

I for one will be sorry to see Peter go, he has always been very approachable which wasn't the case with his predesessors! He has worked hard for the sport, much of it thats not seen by the fancy!

Good luck for the future Peter!

[Guest jamesa]

if  time penalties  are in contravention of rule 189 how is it that you have double time on a stoped clock ?, running time and some clubs have time pens if you are late for a strike