Members, you are all aware that through 2022 we have been meeting at Valentine Bowling Club (VBC) as our parent club, Belmont 16s Sailing Club undertakes major renovations. Recently your committee requested a meeting with a senior member of the management team of Belmont 16s to receive an update on the renovations. Renovations are proceeding and will be completed most likely in the second half of 2023. We confirmed that the club anticipated;

  • auditorium bookings will increase; hence it will become increasingly unlikely we can rely on holding our monthly print nights in that space
  • the two upstairs room we used in the past as an alternate to the auditorium and for our tutorial nights would be unavailable. They are being extensively renovated to take advantage of their lakeside location
  • there will be no storage area for our club equipment
  • the club was unable to offer us any other rooms suitable for our meetings

Given this advice we then posed the question whether Belmont 16s Sailing Club would allow us to retain the funds in our bank accounts and the equipment we have and to seek an alternative venue so that our club could continue to function. We have now received advice that the parent club will allow us to part company and to take our existing assets.

I would like to stress that all the dealings we have had with the parent club during these discussions have been undertaken in a positive atmosphere. The parent club has been extremely supportive and generous to our photography club over the years and we will part company on good terms.

Your committee is proposing that we change our name to the Lake Macquarie Photography Club and change our status to an incorporated association under the NSW Fair Trading guidelines – https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/associations-and-co-operatives/associations/about-associations and additional details are available here https://openlegal.com.au/how-do-i-set-up-an-incorporated-association/

Whilst renovations have been undertaken at Belmont 16s, we have been meeting at VBC and we are extremely grateful to that club for allowing us to use their meeting room through 2022. Our intention is to continue to meet at VBC at least in the short term whilst we look to find the most suitable venue for club activities in the future.

To make this change will require us to “wind-up” our existing club in accordance with the club’s constitution. This meeting will be held at 7.00pm on Wednesday 11th January at the Valentine Bowling Club. For those members who are unable to attend in person there will be a simultaneous Zoom meeting where a vote will be put to sever ties with Belmont 16s Sailing Club and set up a new incorporated club called the Lake Macquarie Photography Club. Prior to that meeting, members of the Committee will be investigating possible meeting places for the new club, and information about that will be passed on to members. 

If the motion to create the new club is passed at the January meeting, the Committee will then start the process of registering the new club and planning the transition.

Please, if you have any questions contact one of your committee members. You will find their contact details on the club website and at the end of our Skiffy magazine.