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South East Section - An Open Reply

The issue that is currently between the Society and the South East Section is that they are not complying with Society Rules and as such have been SUSPENDED and not EXPELLED, as suggested in the majority of posts on various websites, until the 31st January, 2010.

When you join a Club or Society you undertake to abide by their rules and to my knowledge no Club or Society Rules have ever been changed just because one of their members or clubs has not liked what is contained therein.  Rules are there to be abided by, without rules you have nothing, no governance and no boundaries.  At an AGM’s Society/Club business is discussed and rule changes are put forward, new Society/Club Officers and Committee Members are put forward and are voted on by the members that are present.  There is nothing that can be done if a member does not want to attend and so if falls to the diehards who do attend these meetings to vote as to whether they agree with these rulings or not.  To my knowledge there are no ‘press gangs’ going around the Country forcing people/clubs to join the BKKS.  Our members/clubs join because they want to.  When they join they are agreeing to abide by the Society Rules, it’s exactly the same as when you would join your local Koi Club.  They would have rules in place and when you join you agree to abide by the Rules of that Club, and I am sure that the South East Section have their own rules and that they would expect their members to abide by their Club Rules.  There are other Koi Clubs in the UK who are not part of the BKKS and we co-exist quite happily.  The door is always open to them if they want to be part of the Society and over the past few years we have welcomed new clubs into the Society.

I have been part of the BKKS for many years now and on Council for the past 5 years firstly as magazine collator and then as General Secretary and I have seen changes that have been put in place, some not always to everyone’s liking but in general for the good of the Society, and that is what Council has to put first every time – the British Koi Keepers Society.  It was for this reason, along with the hope that the South East Section might agree to abide by the rules of the Society before the 31st January 2010, that there was no public announcement on our website.  This was Society business and as such would be conducted between the Society and its Sections.  Information would be forthcoming at the next AGM to our membership.  The problem I have with posting on chat rooms is that non-Society members express their opinions, and whilst healthy debate is good, they are not members of the Society and as such have no voice on Society matters.  However in light of the South East posting on various websites I will reply on behalf of the BKKS with regards to the issue over the South East.  

As the South East Section were only suspended it was hoped that dialogue would still continue until 31st January 2010 in an attempt to find a solution.  They have obviously made their decision, but I don’t understand why they are considering themselves expelled from the Society as we haven’t even reached the end of November 2009 let alone January 31st 2010.  Having had several phone calls from various quarters today I am questioning whether it is the whole club who wish to disassociate themselves from the BKKS or just a minority of the Club.  

The Society has no intention, now or in the future, of re-writing the Society Rules or Show Rules & Guidelines to accommodate individual clubs or members.  The Rules are there for everyone and to date the South East is the only club to decide to disregard them and as you read through this very long (my apologies) diatribe you will note that things have changed during the past 3 years that the South East has decided not to abide by the rules.   Most importantly Rule 32n was delayed for 9 months (passed at the 2008 AGM in March) and implemented on 1st January, 2009 to enable any BKKS Sections to hold their shows in 2008 with/without BKKS JSC and HSC present.   To my knowledge, in 2009, only 1 BKKS Section Show was held outside of the Society / Show Rules & Guidelines and that was the South East Show.

There have been 2 open letters from the South East Section, signed by their Chairman, David Brown, and sent by Syd Mitchell to all the BKKS Sections.

To put it into the correct context the insurance wasn’t withdrawn at the beginning of the dispute, the South East Section were advised that as their 2007 show was going to be run outside of the BKKS Rules the insurance cover would not be valid.  Tensions between the Society and the South East had been rumbling before the 2007 show.   In David Brown’s letter he cites 2 instances which I personally believe was the start.  

Firstly the splash screens - to suggest that it appeared that someone had measured the South East screens and then decided to make them smaller is a bit sad.  Splash screens, to my understanding, should protect vats from water transfer if a fish jumps.  I have no doubt that the South East splash screens would have been quite adequate and to my knowledge no-one has told the South East that this is the case officially.  The wording in the paragraph 2.10, relating to splash screens, reads as ‘recommended’ in Version 11 of the Society Show Rules dated February, 2007.  Whilst previous versions may have stated that splash screens should be a certain size in Version 11 it had been written as a recommendation.  These changes were instigated after meetings with South East Section representatives.  I would imagine that the HSC would have worked out how the sizes were arrived at and I don’t know why it wasn’t explained.  Surely it is better for the health of our Koi to have splash screens at the right sort of size to ensure water is not transferred than to have splash screens that are too small.  The second point that is made is with regards to stocking of the show vats, the points system was mainly adopted for the BKKS National and whilst the recommendation was there for BKKS Section Open Shows, there were also guidelines for the 100” rule for stocking of show vats.  No one was insisting that the points system be used as a matter of course there was the option of the 100” rule as well.  It has always been the Society’s aim to ensure the best possible conditions for Koi at our Section Shows and the knowledge and expertise that is very evident across our Sections is impressive to say the least.  Again, following meetings with the South East Section, the wording in Show Rules and Guidelines was amended to show the points system as a recommendation, thereby ensuring sections could make their own decisions according to local conditions.  The changes made therefore removed the reasons the South East Section had originally given to hold a non-BKKS show.  The HSC Officials are at shows to help and offer guidance if required.  An instance occurring where all the HSC Officials attending that show were delayed would to my mind be a very rare event and I am sure that a suitable remedy would be found to allow benching to start.  I have yet to see a show where it would be necessary for the HSC /JSC to leave the showground.

Yes, Bernie Woollands has been part of the Discussion Group looking at a Society Benching Code of Practice and the Show Rules & Guidelines which, I understand, will be taken on board as part of the Animal Welfare Bill which will come into effect with regards to Shows in the near future.   Whilst Bernie is the South East Section PRO he is also a member of the JSC and as such, much of his training as a judge has come through the Society JSC attending shows up and down the Country.  I believe it is fair to say that all the Society Sections provide great training grounds for the JSC and HSC not just the South East Section.  The Discussion Group is comprised of some very experienced JSC and HSC members so the expertise we have will provide us with a very comprehensive Benching Protocol for the future.

In August 2007 I was advised to take a break from Society business due to severe depression so was not privy to discussions with regards to the South East 2007 Show.  From my personal perspective I had to withdraw my Koi because I was in an untenable position being General Secretary of the Society.  The South East Section did not advise the Society, officially, that they were not going to be using the HSC or JSC and it was only through rumour that Council got to hear about it.  As you will appreciate it did not go down too well, so we have the Society on one hand not happy that the South East are not abiding by the rules and on the other hand we have the South East Section not happy that they have to comply with Society Rules.  The Society contacted the Insurance Company and asked if the Show would be covered by the Society Insurance.  The verbal reply was that if the show was not run under Society Rules then it wouldn’t be covered and things escalated from there.  This has been clarified in writing.  The South East Section, have on numerous occasions made it public that they are running independent of the BKKS, so how would an insurance company view a claim at this show.  The first question they would ask would be ‘was it a BKKS event’.  Well, no it wasn’t because the Section had made this perfectly clear on websites and in magazines.  The insurance works, the North East Section had a problem in 2008 and this was settled quickly and efficiently, they had complied with the Society Rules.

With the Animal Welfare Bill looming the Society is actively engaged with the relevant agencies to ensure that we can still run our Koi Shows.   It is anticipated that Show Rules and Guidelines will be enforced to ensure that all aspects of the Koi’s wellbeing are addressed.  With the Society as a stakeholder and with the backing of DEFRA we anticipate that our documents will be to the forefront.

This now leaves me with the conclusions as to what the outstanding issues are between the Society and the South East Section.

  • Insurance cover, the South East Section have all the relevant documents and clarification from the BKKS’s insurance brokers regarding coverage for shows being held outside of the BKKS remit.
  • Splash Screens, that this is now a recommendation regarding the size of splash screens, and the use of different size screens would not break any rules.  The point of splash screens is to protect vats/fish from cross contamination and should attempt to ensure that water is not transferred between vats should a fish start flicking/jumping.
  • Points System, there are 2 options for this and there is no problem with using either, or amending the points allocated to suit local conditions, with guidance from the HSC official.  The National Show happens to use the points system that doesn’t mean that your Section has to.  South Hants has used a points system for many years and to my knowledge there have been no grievances about that.
  • There is, and never has been, any doubt about the promotion that the South East Section has given to the Society.  But, please don’t assume that this is only done by the South East.  The Society is afforded a lot of promotion by all of its Sections by having JSC and HSC officials there and in particular with our trainees.
  • Respect between both parties.  Reps from the South East have on numerous occasions inferred that there is no respect from Council towards them.  Could this have been triggered by a very uncomplimentary picture of the Society Chairman being put on public websites with comments about Council not listening to the South East.  A very hurtful thing to do – we are all human and have feelings but that didn’t stop some of your members from doing this.  No public apology was ever given to him so I can understand why he is so short with some members of your Section at times.
  • Someone has to run the Society and to my knowledge no Council has every got this right for everyone.  We do have to work together to improve and grow the hobby or all will be lost.  The Society has endured much heartache over many years and has overcome many obstacles and problems.  We are still here and 2010 is our 40th Birthday surely that says something.  
  • Why is the South East fighting to keep its BKKS status if it is not happy with the Rules that are part and parcel of the Society.  Other Sections are happy to abide by the rules laid down and any rule changes that the Sections feel would benefit the Society can be proposed, discussed and voted on at the AGM.

Having now read the last ‘open letter’ from the South East Section I would comment as follows:

There has never been any inference that Council has wished that the South East leave the Society.  Changes in the Show Rules and Guidelines, amending the rules on Splash Screens and Stocking Levels, benefit all Sections holding shows.  However the Council hoped that as these changes addressed the original issues given by the South East Section for holding a non-BKKS Show and that they would be able to hold their show within the Societies rules in the future.  If the South East Section wish to leave the Society then please have the guts to stand up and say it.  At the meeting in July, the South East Secretary, Mick Preston, made it perfectly clear that he wanted to go forward from that date and try and find a resolution.  This was hampered by the constant referral to things that had happened in the past.  He was on a ‘hiding to nothing’ as it was clear that he would not be allowed to move forward.  Whether the Show Rules were ‘ill thought out’ is no excuse, they evolve each year, things change so they have to change and it was decided several years ago that there should be a radical look at the Show Rules & Guidelines, especially with the Animal Welfare Bill coming in.  This is currently being done by a ‘Discussion Group’ including myself, 3 x HSC and 3 x JSC (including Bernie Woollands).  We have now got a final copy of the Benching Protocol (our thanks go to the South East Section for allowing the BKKS to use their one as a starting point) and draft Show Rules & Guidelines for 2010 which are in the process of being completed in readiness for the next meeting in December.

A proposal was put forward from the floor (after discussion) that the South East Section be suspended until the 31st January, 2010 and a request that they comply with all the Society Rules was made, if this had not happened and the vote had been the same then I believe that the South East would have been expelled by the Sections present at the meeting.  All BKKS Sections had received adequate notification that this subject would be discussed at the meeting, but obviously only those that sent a representative could vote on the day, following the discussions.

In closing, my concern is that not all the members of the South East Section are in receipt of the full facts, has this been discussed at their meetings – I don’t know because I have been told that nothing has been said.

So at the end of the day does the South East Section want to be part of the British Koi Keepers Society, the decision is theirs.  If they decide to stay then they must abide by the rules the same as everyone else.  If they decide to leave then, on behalf of the Society, I wish them every success in what they do.


Sue Ravenhill
General Secretary
The British Koi Keepers Society