The York Society, Incorporated

York, Western Australia

AGM 1st April, 2011 - Annual Report
Presented to the Annual General Meeting Friday 1^st April 2011

 It is my pleasure to present this annual report on the activities of the Society held during 2010.  At the AGM held on Thursday 22^nd April 2010 the following management committee was elected.

At the first committee meeting following the AGM Denese Smythe agreed to undertake the dual role of Secretary and Treasurer on a trial basis. This became a permanent arrangement for the remainder of the year.

During the course of the year resignations were received from Dilys Bailey and Colleen Macadam.

 A major activity during the year was the adoption of an amended constitution to ensure that we had a form consistent with the current Association Act. We also had an obligation to provide suitable wording in the dissolution clause to satisfy a requirement of the Shire of York in connection with the grant of $200,000 from that body to the Society for the purpose of assisting with the establishment of a permanent home for the Archives.

Society member Ken Betjeman provided many hours of work on the necessary changes which eased the load of the committee in formulating a draft which was put to a special general meeting of members held on 20^th September 2010. This meeting, after considering a series of amendments, adopted the draft and the document was forwarded to Consumer Protection for approval. This was not granted as a result of two inappropriate words in the dissolution clause. A subsequent special general meeting held on 24^th January 2011 enacted the changes required and adopted the amended constitution.

Bill Roy, President

Art & Craft:

This hard working committee once again provided the two flagship events of the year – The Photographic Awards and the Art & Craft Awards. Members were:

The contribution by the committee amounts to much more than the recorded 50 -60 hours spent on average each month and this opportunity is taken to acknowledge their efforts.

The two events attracted considerable entry and visitor numbers as well as providing a vehicle for sales.

Award winners were:
Photographic Awards:

Art & Craft Awards:

 In addition to the efforts of the committee during the past year the Society is also deeply indebted to the many members and others who volunteer to assist the staging of these exhibitions, manning the doors and other functions during the exhibitions and the dismounting after the events.

The Archives sub group continues to provide an excellent service to both Society members and to members of the general public. The ‘team’ during the past year comprised:

On average the centre has been handling around 4 new enquires per week and total volunteer input is currently running at around 60 hours per week which is gratefully acknowledged. The centre continues to open to the general public from 10am to 4pm each Wednesday.

During the year a Building Project sub-committee was established with the following membership;

Bill Roy (as Society President), Julie Rae (as Centre Convenor), Graeme Fisher and Pat Hooper. This group has been meeting regularly and as a result of an invaluable contribution by Graeme Fisher has come up with a building design for our new Archival Centre.

Members will recall that as a consequence of the sale of the Convent the Shire of York made available a grant of $200,000 towards a permanent home for the archives and armed with the building design we are currently negotiating with Lotterywest in regard to funding support for the balance. As part of this process Lotterywest insisted that we undertake a Heritage Significance Assessment (HSA) and this has just been completed by historian Kristy Bizzaca. We are hoping that this will now allow us to proceed with a formal application for funding from Lotterywest with a view to commencing the building project in the second half of this year.

The HSA report has much wider implications than simply assisting with the funding application and with 12 key recommendations the Society has a great deal of work ahead to ensure that the Centre operates at the highest possible level.

Society member Annie Medley who is a professional archivist has been of great assistance to Julie and her sub-group and has been instrumental in persuading the Management Committee to adopt an Archive Policy and a Preservation Policy for the first time. These documents will not only assist in our current endeavours but will provide on-going guidance for the proper running of the centre.

It has been a solid year for this area of activity with the promise of much more to come.

Financial Report 1^st March 2010 to 31^st December 2010.

As a result of the changes to the financial year adopted with the amended constitution the books were closed at the end of the calendar year resulting in the reporting period being only 10 months compared with the previous year consisting of 12 months.

In recent years business accounting software has been used to manage the accounts resulting in a few problems. This year a simple spreadsheet cashbook system was used which allowed a detailed report to be made each month. The financial record in this form was audited by the Honorary Auditor and was found to be in order.

Treasurer: Denese Smythe

Honorary Auditor: Delys Sherry

Membership as at end of year

Summary of Income & Expenditure:

Other Activities

Social Activities:

The sub-committee for Social Activities during the year comprised convenor Ian Crombie and Wendy Solly together with Veronica Sherwood in the latter part of the year. They were ably assisted from time to time by Renee Rees, Sue Duperouzel-Darby and Betty Fox.

A number of functions were held during the year to allow members and others to socialise.

The Society thanks all who assisted with this programme and those who supported it.

Heritage and Historical Matters:

Shire of York Heritage Advisory Committee:

Our representatives on this committee were Robin Betjeman and Colleen Macadam. Following Colleen’s departure from York and resignation from the Management Committee Eleanor Weeks took her place.

This committee which meets monthly provides a forum whereby matters of Heritage Significance can be discussed as part of the normal Shire review process. It does not have the power to make recommendations but can make comment.

One of the teething problems experienced by our members has been the amount of lead time/information provided on issues and often the lack of issues. This process is being attended to and the positive that the Society can take out of this process is that it is being recognized as the body which represents Heritage interests in the town. It is to be hoped that given time this process will start to bear fruit.

Town Hall Working Party:

Colleen Macadam (until her resignation) represented the Society on this body set up by the Shire in connection with the 100 year anniversary of the Town Hall due later this year. We had been troubled by the apparent lack of direction this group was taking and at one stage offered to assume a management role in running a celebration programme but around that time the Shire decided to put in more resources and increased its staffing commitment.

Associated with this programme has been the painting of the Town Hall and the Society is pleased to record that at long last this is underway.

Royal WA Historical Society:

The annual Conference of this body is being held in 2011 in York. The Society is affiliated with this body and is the host Society for this conference. Our delegate to the Historical Society, Julie Rae has been hard at work on plans for this event with additional assistance from Tony Clack.

Disturbance of Graves:

The Society has made several representations to the Shire regarding issues surrounding the disturbance of graves as a result of works associated with the Balladong Country Estate development.

Advertising Sign associated with Balladong Country Estate:

The Society has made representation to the Shire regarding the placement of a sign associated with this development in a position encroaching on the old cemetery at the corner of Balladong road and Avon Terrace.

Conservation Plan for the Sandalwood Yards:

Giving the Heritage Listing of the Sandalwood Yards it was deemed appropriate that a Conservation Plan should be developed. Under Wendy Solly’s leadership the Society applied for funds from Lotterywest to cover such a study. This was approved and the contract to develop a Conservation Plan was awarded to Laura Grey. Currently we await her report.

Rose Bags:

Adelphe King continues to organize the Rose Bag project which is financially supported by the Shire of York. As a result of her efforts all new property owners are sent a ‘welcome’ letter from the Society and on taking up residence are provided with a bag printed with the York Rose containing leaflets and promotional material about businesses and organization in the community. Assisting Adelphe with the delivery of the bags is member Eric Ayling.

Property Manager, Sandalwood Yard:

Ken Solly has provided the Society with another year of service in this role and his input is very much appreciated.

Publications:

Newsletter and Website:

These services were maintained once again by Liz Parker on top of her other duties.

Booklets:

John Pearton continued to manage the stocks of the Society publications. At the end of the year stock levels were as follows.

Objectives

Annual Report

Heritage and
The Environment

York Regional Archives

Publications

Art & Craft Awards

Photographic Awards

Residency Museum

Tipperary School

Executive

Calendar of Events

Membership