The following is a brief report that was sent to all NACCAi members this evening.
I am sending this email to all members as a brief report on our ordinary meeting general held yesterday at the Community Hall.
Firstly I would like to thank members and guests that came to the meeting. All up 29 people were there – 26 members and three guests. There were apologies from nine members. We thank those who attended for following COVID safe practices.
Even though we didn’t strictly follow the agenda, I felt that the meeting was quite successful. We had some open and honest discussions about issues concerning members and how to move forward with them. Many thanks to those members who brought these issues up.
Importantly, we agreed to establish two new subcommittees, one to work on roads, drainage and verge issues, and one to work on the imminent Heros Beach improvements and landscaping. Both are long standing community issues and it is good to see things starting to happen. I feel that subcommittees looking after such issues on behalf of our community is a good approach. The committee will work with these subcommittees over the next few weeks to develop terms of reference for them which will then be put to the next ordinary meeting for approval. Thank you to those who volunteered to be part of these subcommittees.
It was unfortunate that Sarah Wilkinson from MidCoast Council was unable to attend, but in the end it was a benefit as it gave us more time for discussion. Before the meeting Sarah sent me an email about the next steps and timing for the Community Plan which I will post on the website for information.
In the meeting some members said that they didn’t think the Association should get involved with issues that don’t directly affect the village, such as Fame Cove. I don’t agree with this, and I believe that the Association should get involved in issues in our neighbourhood that affect our amenity and our environment, and our constitution permits us to do this. Fame Cove and the non-urban land are examples of such issues. We are fortunate to have people in our community that show strong interest in such issues and we appreciate the effort they put into them.
However, we recognise that such issues may not affect some residents, for example activities on the land on the eastern side of the Cove that are monitored by the Fame Cove subcommittee directly affect residents on the Cove Boulevarde side, but not those on the Promontory Way side. Vice versa, issues associated with Heros Beach and the Walker Corporation land around Beauty Point directly affect residents on the Promontory Way side, but not those on the Cove Boulevarde side.
So to handle these differences, in my role I need to make sure we have a good balance in meetings, and over time make sure that excessive time is not spent on any one issue. Having reports provided with agendas and just having questions on them in meetings as we did yesterday will help.
We also agreed to have two more meetings this year, with an ordinary meeting on 17 October, and the Annual General Meeting on 5 December, so please put these dates in your diaries for 10am starts.
After the meeting a number of members told me they were pleased with the open discussion, and that there was plenty of time for it. We will make sure that future meetings provide adequate time for open discussion and new issues. We are committed to structuring meetings to meet attendees key points. We therefore reiterate our requests for proactive engagement with the agenda preparation so that agenda items are known and appropriate time is allocated for them.
The minutes for the meeting will be posted on the website in about two weeks.
Finally, I would like to give a big thumbs up to the Hall Committee – after its recent painting and floor sanding the hall is bright and cheerful inside, and it was a pleasure to hold the meeting in it. Thank you for the assistance in set up and pack down - well done Hall Committee – much appreciated.
