Presidents Report
Owen reported that he managed to get a meeting with his local member of parliament who expressed strong support for the position of car clubs not losing access to current state forest areas. It was also suggested that any legislation regarding National parks would not be forthcoming in this term of government.
An update to this since the committee meeting is that we have now secured a meeting with the Minister for the Environment to put our case for retaining rallying in all the current state forest areas. Stay tuned for a report from that meeting over the coming weeks.
Other Items of Business Discussed.
- The committee approved the release of a new Information Privacy Policy and Procedures document. This document will be published on the club website in the very near future.
- Vice President Tim Shepherd reported on the final motorsport meeting at the Ballarat Light Car Club autocross venue which is about to be re-developed into an industrial estate. There was a large turnout of both competitors and spectators with a healthy contingent of HRA members on hand to farewell what has been a long-term and fondly remembered facility.
- Progress on the new membership management system is now ‘full steam ahead’. Steve Hollowood is well advanced on the new website component and will start work on trialling the membership module within the next few weeks in conjunction with membership secretary Kate Officer.
- 2025 event calendar. The VRAP opened applications for events for inclusion in the 2025 calendar. Unfortunately, the online form they used malfunctioned so there is a bit of work to ensure they captured all the applications that were actually submitted.
If anyone is planning on running an event next year and has not yet let Matt DeVaus know about it, please do that ASAP.
- The committee is currently working on a proposal to MA regarding the current rally licence structure and dates for equipment and apparel. This is a response to recent concerns raised by a number of HRA members about the spiralling costs and difficulty in compliance which is forcing some members to review their ability and willingness to continue as competitors.
The committee completed a draft proposal which it will continue to develop with the support of HRA members Dave McAdam and Gerry Bashford. This will then be distributed to other rally clubs in an effort to raise further support for the proposal before submitting it to MA later this year.
Owen Polanski
President