New Board members, Liz Cowled, Maree Ann Allamby, Jenny Duncan, John Lillingston, Jonty Bruce and William Hulm.
More than 2.5 hours after the 6:00pm start of the AGM for the Junee Ex-Services Club commenced, a new Board was announced to the crowd of more than 00 in attendance, resulting in applause for each new member announced.
The level of applause varied but the work required to right the club from the issues it has faced in its most recent past, will be one that is faced by all of the new Board members and the members of the Club with the Club simply requiring ‘bums on seats’ to solve immediate cash flow problems in the interim.
The meeting was a stop and start affair with several interruptions which would not be deemed to be conducive to the agenda or how an AGM should be run, however, the meeting was completed some 3.5 hours after it commenced.
The members present found some of the speakers very hard to hear over the PA system, however, it was not really the blame of any audio issues.
Anyone with audio experience would surmise that some speakers were mumbling more than they were speaking, not holding the microphone close enough to their mouth or spoke with no microphone.
One motion was moved and seconded and put to a vote but no one voted as they couldn’t hear the Chairman. A number of points of order were called to try and bring the meeting back to where it needed to be from a governance point of view as those who attended became restless at times.
On a number of occasions the microphone left the Chairman’s hands and repetitive statements were made by the same persons.
One upside of the meeting was that the answers sent to the Board before the meeting, were addressed, although this took a long time and was hard to hear throughout.
The new General Manager Rebecca Jordan ended up taking over to provide clarity and swift responses.
Emily, part of the Danny’s Kitchen duo, which previously served the club for close to 30 years, spoke at the meeting and was warmly welcomed by those in attendance. Several members spoke warmly of the time Danny’s spent at the club, but it was evident now that it is time to move on with a new Board and with new ideas.
The Independent caught up with some of the new Board members early this week. We spoke with Liz Cowled and new President John Lillingston. We will endeavour to speak to other Board members in the next few weeks.
Liz was very happy with the outcome, which has brought change to the club and she is aware of the task at hand.
She said “I think overall the outcome was a great result and I think it’s what we needed to happen. We will just have to work out what needs fixing and the restaurant will be the first issue that needs our attention.”
Being a long-term resident of Junee, Liz felt obliged to run for the Board and was successful in her endeavour.
“I think as a life long resident of Junee, it’s time that we saw the Club move in a positive direction and I’m looking forward to working with the Board that’s been elected to do this. I am excited for the challenge ahead. The most important aspect is to listen to our members and to be as transparent as possible.”
The new Board will be meeting with the Auditor in the near future to assess the current financial position of the Club. Liz told the Independent before meeting with the Auditors, “I have no qualms or concerns with the Auditor. At the end of the day, they can only report on the information that they’re given. The Auditors audit the books after the end of the Club’s financial year (31 December). They have stated their concerns about the viability of the club. We are also very concerned about it.”
John Lillingston has taken over as President and after pouring his first beer at 18, he has decades upon decades of experience including on the Australian Hotels Association Board when he represented taverns in the ACT.
He told the Independent,“Well, I thought that some of the questions to the old Board were what the people wanted to know about. We are going to try and be as transparent as we can. We’ve got to get back to basics and giving the people what they want. The main thing is to give the people what they want, talk to them and just compare and run the place like a business.
“I felt that it wasn’t being run as a business before and that’s the main thing we’ve got to do, to start turning things around.”
John highlighted some challenges the whole industry is facing.
“Well, it’s within any pub or club. It’s the beer excise. Everyone complains about the beer going up, of course. And then that’s something that we tried to keep at a reasonable rate when I was on the board in 2022-23, and just getting bums on seats. Also running the club profitably and fitting in with what the members would like and how they want to see their club progress.”
With the memory of Danny’s Kitchen still raw in many people’s minds, John addressed the Danny’s Kitchen departure.
He said, “I was sorry to see them go, however, that was the decision of the Board and General Manager at the time, so we can’t do much about it now. It’s over and done with and I believe they are happy at their new venue. All we have got to do now is to restart and really listen to, and look after our members.”
When asked would it be fair to say if he had moved on from here and will play the cards he has been dealt. He said, “Yes, that’s right.”
More to come.
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.