BURRUM HEADS PROGRESS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
PRESIDENTS LETTER APRIL 2013
burrum heads progress association newsletter april 2013 www.frasercoastcentral.com.au
2 0 1 3 P r e s i d e n t ‘ s R e p o r t
The past 12 months have been very rewarding as the
Association has achieved a better known image
throughout the Fraser Coast Region. This has been
accomplished with a great deal of “behind the
scenes” work by your Management Committee.
Our little village has received a lot of media
coverage over the last 12 months particularly since
“that” Australia Day weekend which we will always
remember. The response to our community’s needs
from local residents, organizations, business people
and similar groups in the greater Fraser Coast
Regions has been overwhelming. Our heartfelt
thanks go out to everyone involved in our recovery.
CHART PEN GRAPH IMAGE www.www-globalcommodities.com
The Association has established a Disaster Relief
Fund to help better prepare the community for any
future “events.” Donations are still pouring in and
the community appreciates this generosity.
Membership has grown over the last year with over
100 members at present; 16 joining during the year
and already 6 have joined for the 2013 year. This
corresponds with an increase in attendance at
monthly meetings and a greater interest taken by
members in Association activities. We had four
guest speakers during the year presenting interesting
topics relevant to our community.
In March we held a “Meet the Candidates” special
meeting which introduced all candidates to the
community. Since the Local Council and State
Government elections we have had regular
attendances and support from our State Member,
Anne Maddern, various Councillors, especially our
Division 5 Councillor, Rolf Light, and our Mayor
Gerard O’Connell. This year the Association has
established an excellent working relationship with
Council … bimonthly meetings are held with FCRC
CEO Lisa Desmond, Rolf Light and various Council
representatives. These meetings have proved to be
beneficial for our community.
We have been fortunate this year to have received
two grants from the Gaming Community Benefit
Fund, one to install a small solar power unit on the
community hall and the other for a major upgrade to
the community hall and administration building. The
hall upgrade is now complete – with upgrades to the
administration building (old SES shed) to start
shortly. Many good comments have been made
about the new kitchen and floor covering. This has
given us modern facilities for use by the community.
To enable the Association to maintain the
community hall and support other community
organizations a viable income is necessary. The main
source of this income is (as usual) the Newsletter.
Thanks to the excellent volunteer group who
produce, edit, print and deliver the newsletter in the
local area and via the internet. I have received many
congratulatory comments about its presentation and
quality of the content. Other contributors to our
income are the Sunday Bingo, Indoor Bowls and the
casual hire of the hall. It is interesting to note that
there are approximately 22000 people using the hall
during a year.
AAA
During the year your Association has invested funds
towards the improvement of community facilities. A
new bowls mat has been purchased for the Indoor
Bowls Group, a defibrillator has been purchased and
installed in the Council Caravan Park office, the tennis
courts have been resurfaced after abnormal wear and
the car park upgraded behind the community hall. The
Association has now joined the 21st Century by
establishing a web site www.bhpa.org.au to promote
our community and all it has to offer.
Our regular events calendar seems to be growing each
year. Attendances at these have been most
encouraging. More residents seem to be participating.
This is a very pleasing outcome for the organisers.
ANZAC Day parade seems to be getting larger each
year and has been mentioned as one of the best in the
area – not bad for a small community’s event. Both this
and the Remembrance day services were well attended.
A Dance Concert and Seniors Concert were both very
well attended and enjoyed by the many who attended.
Funds raised at these events have been donated back to
the community. A new event was trialled in 2012, the
Observation Fun Tour. It proved to be a popular event
and is worthy of consideration for 2013 … the hard
work done by the organising committee is much
appreciated by the community.
Light Up Burrum Heads was conducted again for
Christmas 2012 with sponsorship from MCR Logistics
and Burrum Traders. Many thanks for their generous
donation. Vouchers were given as prizes with the
proviso that they be spent within the Burrum Heads
community. Hopefully Light Up Burrum Heads 2013
will attract many more entries in the competition.
Our yearly Village Christmas Party again was a great
success. Most children’s activities were sponsored by
BHPA so that they would be free of charge. Many
thanks to all those who helped on the day and special
thanks to sponsors, Foodworks and Ergon and others
who donated goods and services to help make the event
such a success.
AAA
The annual Australia Day celebration did not take
place this year due to the extreme m weather event that
occurred. We hope to make up for it next year.
Finally after 21 years and much pain, lobbying and
constant dedication to the cause by all the groups and
clubs/organizations over the years, our new boat ramp
has been “promised” by the State Government. The
general area has been identified and preliminary plans
need to be drafted. The Boat Ramp Sub Committee
needs to be congratulated for their persistence.
The devastation at the Lions Park swimming beach
caused by storm water outflow during the 2011/12
deluge is still a great concern to the community.
Questions are still being asked about the water quality
in this area and the adjoining lagoon … hopefully a
solution will soon be forthcoming.
After almost four years of the slow decay of the block
wall at the Lions Park some light can be seen at the end
of the tunnel as Council is implementing plans to
repair/replace the damaged wall.
AAA
2012 was a very successful year for BHPA and this is
due to the enormous amount of volunteer work done by
members of the Management Committee and other
BHPA members. Without the cooperation of all
community groups and BHPA members we would not
have been able to achieve all that we have in the last
twelve months. Extra special thanks to members of the
Management Committee, Secretary Dawn Fletcher,
Treasurer Glen Halkyard, then Ann Reid, Vice
President George Dart and Committee members, Jim
Jones, Fay Kitchen, Darryl Scott and Syd Dart; also
Zorro Tarnawsky and John Ruddick who also attended
Management meetings with Sub Committee reports.
AAA
Stop Press
The AGM was held on 20 March and the Management
Committee for the next twelve months is:
President Ron Gregson
Vice President George Dart
Secretary Al Handley
Treasurer Ann Reid
Other Committee Jim Jones
Syd Dart
Darryl Scott
Dawn Fletcher
The changes to the previous committee are that Fay
Kitchen is standing down and Al Handley has taken on the
roll of Secretary in place of Dawn Fletcher, who is still on
the committee.
I want to pass on a couple of very special “thank you’s” ..
Fay has been a member of the committee for what seems
to be forever.. she is the one I go to to find out who does
what and what goes where in regards to the hall. She is
always ready to “be on hand” when emergency access to
the hall is required or for any other BH PA activity. Fay for
the many years of service to the community … “thank
you.”
AAA
Any Committee is only as good as the sum of its parts.
BHPA has been very fortunate over the last 3 and half
years to have a Secretary who has given such dedicated
and selfless service to the community. Dawn’s
commitment has been enormous and her ability to
correspond with all levels of Government and the business
community with a very positive attitude, no matter what
the subject matter, has stood BHPA in good repute. This
has led to the very good working relationship BHPA has
with the Fraser Coast Regional Council, with regular bimonthly
meetings with the CEO, Lisa Desmond and
Councillor Rolf Light and other council departments; also
a very good working relationship with our State Member,
Anne Maddern.
Dawn has helped me greatly with the day to day running
of the Community Hall and the Association and has kept
me on my toes with a “to do” list after every meeting. At
meetings when I have not quite “got it right” I receive a
“gentle” kick in the shins to bring me back to the subject
at hand.
Working with Dawn has been a pleasure – She will be missed
as Secretary but is still on the committee.
Ron Gregson
NEXT PROGRESS GENERAL MEETING
7 pm on Wednesday 17 April 2013
In the Community Hall
NEW MEMBERS WELCOME
Full newsletter in PDF doc here[Coming later]
Received & published by Henry Sapiecha
