Committee News Sep 2011

The second meeting of the new committee took place on 7 September 2011. There were 12 members present with President Peter Lodge in the chair. Three apologies were received.

Business arising from the minutes of the previous meeting included a reminder for members to give some active thought to a 5yr/10yr plan for the Register, the need to be more proactive in welcoming new members and acknowledging those who had been with the Register for 20 years plus, the need to formalize arrangements with the NZPCRA re their more intimate involvement with our future events, and the need to explore the future and development of the Megaphone.

Andrew Riley’s Financial and Legal report outlined our continuing healthy situation with respect to Term Investments, and the desirability of amalgamating some of those investments to improve our interest returns. The fully audited accounts for 2010/2011 will be ready for signing off during this month (Sep). Andrew has also prepared a budget which has yet to be discussed. On the legal side, Lynda Maddock was researching some earlier papers with respect to rule changes. And in accordance with legal advice received to date, it would appear that any ballot to be conducted among the membership with respect to rule changes may have to be done by post. Seemingly electronic (email) balloting might not be acceptable. So much for the modern age!!

Chris Hyland reported on race matters to date. Taupo was a success albeit that numbers were down, possibly due to Fathers Day and other clashes. Although two day meetings tend to run at a bit of a loss due circuit hire costs, the strong recommendation was that we continue with two meetings henceforth. With the TT at Hampton Downs (HD) fast approaching, it was agreed that we should accept a proposal from HD whereby they enter a joint agreement with the NZ Herald for free advertising of the event in return for 20% of our gate. HD would be responsible for manning the gates and providing all EFPOS requirements. When we did the figures it certainly made financial sense.

There was minimal correspondence to deal with and no Technical, Megaphone or Website reports to consider.

The committee then dealt with Festival 2012. We are still getting quotes for a marquee and are trying to work out the best way to deal with meals. In terms of the meals, there are some contractural obligations that we need to work our way through. Peter Lodge is planning on meeting Pukekohe Park management to reach a better understanding with respect to such matters. But at this stage it would appear that a marquee is the most likely outcome.

Re overseas participation Alan Windsor (UK) is bringing a Seeley G50 whilst Mike Braid has offered to make available a BMW Rensport sidecar outfit for Colin Seeley to ride. All details have yet to be finalized. It seems doubtful that there will sufficient participants available from the UK to make up a full container load. Colin Seeley will be our guest speaker with Bill Swallow, a renowned UK Manx TT rider, to be an additional guest speaker. It is hopeful that a machine might be found for Bill to compete on.

Ron Dunn had some time ago prepared an excellent report on Festival 2011, but this was the first meeting where it could be discussed in detail. Prominent was the success of the prepaid and allocated pit/camping spaces. This will be done again for 2012.

There was considerable discussion over events where there were mixed classes, and also with respect to Graded Scratch events where riders with more than one machine sometimes confused the end results. This whole business is under a vigorous review.

Bike Trans will again be available for bike recovery, and will also be able to uplift bikes from around the country. Their offer is very generous.

To close the meeting there was an item of General Business. Ken Campbell who took over the onerous task of mailing out your Megaphones, figured there had to be a better way to do it. He contacted a company called Rocket Mail and they came up with some extremely attractive costings. So in the future expect to get your Megaphone delivered to you in a plastic wrap.

And that brought the meeting to a close.