Rosebank Community Inc

Thirteen people attended the February meeting of Rosebank Community Inc-the highest attendance by far in the 3 years since I became involved, boding well for the future and it included the passing of a motion formally recognizing its proprietorship of the Village Journal (VJ).

The major items of discussion were: a report from the Rosebank Roads Improvement Group (RRIG); the relationship of RCI to VJ; and the setting of May 24 for a community gathering.

Denis Byrne reported for the RRIG as follows: The group is still trying to bring Council out to see the turn in to Rosebank Hall; expressed thanks to the LCC for fixing Bob the Bus Drivers Bend on Eureka Rd; Fox Rd is currently being graded, but needs a lot more work; the effectiveness of the Roads Group is shown by the Council acting on various road problems, so far; Council has asked for community feedback regarding the proposal the Roads Group has put in the form of a sketch of the Hall turn in. In the light of this the following motion was carried unanimously. 'The meeting supports in principle the design proposal put forward by Rosebank Roads Improvement Group for the restructuring of the entrance to Rosebank Hall and Preschool.' Garth as Secretary will send this decision to the Council.

RRIG will ask Colin and Jean Tickle and other residents close to the project for their agreement to the proposal and create a form letter for the Preschool parents to sign. Finally the RRIG expressed its gratitude to the meeting for their support. Late news, the RRIG is meeting with Darren Patch of LCC on Fri 22nd Feb 10.30am at Rosebank Hall.

Regarding the RCI/VJ relationship, which has now been resolved. In the interests of brevity I will presume you have read my report of the last two RCI meetings which appeared in the December and February editions of the VJ which outlines the history of this matter.

After robust discussion the following motion was debated and passed 'That the RCI formally recognize its proprietorship of the Village Journal'. The vote was 7 for, 4 against, 2 abstentions. This ends my 2 year endeavor to establish what the relationship is and to regularize it.

I voted against the motion for a few reasons, including firstly a lack of insurance cover and secondly my concern that the focus of RCI and its meetings will now necessarily be the oversight of the VJ. In my view the latter will in large be a duplication of the time and effort of the production team, but given the obligation and responsibility, necessary. Based on my 3 years' experience I believe a better central focus of RCI is to act as an organization that can support community organizations when the need arises and quickly mobilize the community if a new issue arises.

Between now and the AGM I hope to assist the RCI to establish appropriate relationships with its subsidiary the VJ and attempt to fund insurance coverage for its responsibilities. For the VJ, and for public liability when the RCI convenes meetings or events in its name. I believe the incoming committee needs to be aware of their responsibilities and exposure before they take on the task. If we are to take out insurance, which is likely to be of the order of 1000 to 1500 per annum clearly we need to raise the money. The production team is opposed to charging for the VJ. In the last VJ I suggested 20 people contributing $100 each per year. Could you let me know if you are able and prepared to make such a contribution? Likewise with other suggestions about fund raising.

I believe the VJ serves an important role for our community and should be supported, but being personally involved in its oversight is not a priority for me-I have little to contribute and it takes a lot of time. This view is based on the experience of having attended VJ Production Team meetings for the last year and a bit, in an attempt to understand the potential relationship between the VJ and RCI.

Now that the VJ is formally supported by RCI and given the numbers supporting the motion we should have sufficient people who see value in the relationship who will be willing to take on Committee membership next year to ensure it works. There may be others in the community who would like to be involved in this oversight role, if so, please come to the next meeting and get in at the ground floor in defining the new relationship. The VJ team has been working for some time on a set of operating principles which should be ready for tabling at the next RCI meeting and Laurie Stubbs has been working on objectives and reporting requirements.

The next meeting of the RCI will be on Tuesday 22nd April at 7pm at Rosebank Hall-it was agreed that future meetings be on the third Tuesday of the month.

Alan Davies, RCI President

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