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X-Ryder News

Updated: Jun 17, 2022

MOTORCYCLING NSW LIMITED DELEGATES MEETING

21 April, 2022, held at Blacktown Workers Club and on line with WebEx.

Dear friends.

Here are a few items from the meeting which may be of interest.

New CEO Daniel Rushworth and President Darren Gossling.

This was the second MNSW Delegate's meetings of 2022. There had been a slight hold up getting into the club, as a fire alarm had been activated and the entire building was evacuated, with several hundred guests and staff standing around in the street until the alarm was cleared. One of the unhappy results of the alarm was that the gas for cooking had been turned off, so meals at the restaurant were delayed.

The meeting started at 7.07 with the President, Darren Gossling in the chair. The recently appointed CEO, Daniel Rushworth was also there, but no other Directors attended, although several apologies were offered, and Director Chelsey Cheney was on line. Darren introduced Daniel to the delegates, who then gave a report on his first 30 days with MNSW, which he said, has required a rapid introduction to the unique problems of our sport. He is already dealing with a staff review, MA collaboration, the Strategic Development Plan, and the Governance Review. Daniel also discussed his plans to hold Strategic Forums to develop plans to increase Lifestyle Participation and Commercial Opportunities. Daniel informed the meeting that former Acting CEO, Lauren Werrin was presently on Sick Leave. He also confirmed that two valued staff members were leaving MNSW. Former Sports Development Manager Adam Brook is joining RACE Inc, a management organisation for New Zealand horse racing Clubs. Dane Kovacevic, who has been the Sports and Events Officer for three years, will be joining Tennis NSW. Daniel thanked them for their significant contributions to MNSW and wished them well in their new careers. Both these positions will be advertised through recruitment firm Sportspeople Recruitment. Two new positions will be advertised soon; a Sports & Events Officer, and a Partnership Co-ordinator. Below is what I think is the proposed staff structure, which I hurriedly copied off the power point presentation. The one thing which worries me is that there doesn't appear to be any provision for a book keeper. Perhaps this essential service is going to be contracted out.

CEO ____________________________|______________________________ | | |

Compliance Officer Executive Assistant Sports & Development Manager | | Partnership Co-ordinator Development Officer

| |

Communications Co-ordinator Sports & Events Officer

There will also be non- staff Consultants for special duties. Life Member Ron Kivovitch asked how these positions would be funded. Daniel replied that they would be funded by increased income; the budget had been prepared. The budget will be provided in the Annual report.

RACE PACE SETTLEMENT:

Daniel stated that a report on the recent RacePace v MNSW court case will be released soon, however it must comply with restrictions of the settlement deed. The financial details are: Settlement $140, 000, and Legal Costs $105,000 and $80,000, which comes to $325,000. The results of this case should worry every LCB, and MA will now have to re-consider the controlling bodies ' relationship with private promotors.

INVESTING SURPLUS FUNDS:

The Board is still considering where to invest money received from the closure of MNSW Properties Ltd, which is not required for immediate use. When MNSW Properties was closed it had assets of about $9m. The remainder, about $4.4m, is presently in a cheque account, and last month earned 82c in interest. Bank term deposit rates are presently between 0.5 and 0.7%, but this could change, with the Reserve bank expected to raise interest rates soon.

CENTRALISED LICENCING:

The President stated that this major change is still being investigated by the board, but the accountant's figures show that transferring licencing to MA would be about cost-even. Their estimate for 2019, (the last year before the Covid Pandemic caused a severe slump in income) of licencing income is around $500k. Life Member Ron Kivovitch disputed this claim, saying that MNSW's own published 2019 figures show MNSW licence income of over $1M and demanded to know what was going to replace this income. How these figures can vary by $500k suggests to me that there are either different interpretations of licence income, or, very sloppy bookkeeping, or, maybe, both. Darren agreed to request the MA business case for the proposed change.

HORSLEY PARK USERS AGREEMENT: The discussion on management and cost- sharing of this venue has been going for years.

The MNSW board would like to see the two clubs which use the venue, Blacktown Junior Mini Bike Club, and Baulkham Hill Junior Mini Bike Training Club consider amalgamating. A User Agreement is presently being prepared, however the possibility of a new venue at Eastern Creek is still being considered by the Greater Sydney Parklands Trust, which could include provision for a new MNSW office. MNSW has recently spent over $71,000, including $35,000 on equipment hire at Horsley Park. These expenses are unsustainable, especially when you consider that the property is leased, and MNSW would be required to return the site to original condition when they left. Life Member Dave Elliott asked if the Circuit User Agreement could also be used to clarify the arrangements with the Coonabarabran MCC, which uses the MNSW owned Goanna Tracks MX and Enduro circuit. Very little has been heard of this circuit for several years, after MNSW invested a lot of money during the extended drought. INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE:

The Terms of Reference have been prepared, and an MA recommended independent Investigator is to be appointed. There are many individual complaints to consider, as well as the alleged corruption of the former board. In reply to a question of MA involvement, the meeting was informed that MA is not investigating the actions of the former MNSW board, but may assist if required. CONSTITUTION REVIEW COMMITTEE:

This committee is presently working on various amendments. No estimate on when a draft version will be available for members' consideration was given. Life Members and MA will be invited to offer their opinions.

FINANCIAL REPORT:

The supplied financial report was completely useless. It consisted of five pages of pretty coloured graphs, which only gave an indication of trends. The normal pages of income and expenditure for various accounts were missing, as was the assets and liabilities registers. There is no chance of identifying any details of individual account transactions. Delegates were not impressed. I hope that the Annual Financial Report is more revealing.

GENERAL BUSINESS: BOARD ATTENDENCE:

Life Member Ron Kivovitch expressed his disappointment that only one of the directors, the President, was present at the meeting. The President, Darren Gossling, replied that there were two apologies, and Director Chelsey Cheney was on-line. He agreed that attending face to face was preferable when personal circumstances allow, but he expected new technology to improve the on-line participation. Life Member Keith Davies claimed that the meeting attendance figures are falling, with less clubs participating than before the combined on-line / face to face meetings started.

DECLINE OF ROAD RACING:

The delegate for Annandale-Leichhardt Club discussed the serious decline in Road Racing events in NSW over the last few years. Annandale- Leichhardt club has most of the Road Racing sidecar riders in NSW as members, and they rely on being invited to solo meetings to compete. The increasing cost of hiring Eastern Creek means that the two Sydney solo road racing clubs have been forced to race at Wakefield Park, Marulan, or interstate. There was some general discussion on the lack of circuits in Sydney, with little hope of the proposed circuit at Bushell's Ridge (north of Wyong) being built. The proposed circuit at Bathurst also seems to have been shelved. The President stated that the board was aware of the problem, and suggested that increased rider participation and getting more sponsorship may reduce costs. Life Member and North Coast Road Racers delegate, Dave Elliott suggested that the clubs should consider using Kart circuits, which NCRR has been using for many years. These circuits are deliberately made tight, with short straights to limit speed. They are not really suitable for larger bikes or sidecars, but for small bikes they can be great fun. There are two Kart circuits at Eastern Creek and one at Kembla Grange which were licenced for bikes.

SUB COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS:

Finance, Audit and Risk; M. Bowditch, C. Cheney, D. Gossling, K. Peck. Policy Review: A. Cawood, D. Cooke, C. Cheney, K. Peck.

COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS:

Nominations for positions on the MNSW Sport Committees close on 30th April. The appointments will be made by the board after considering the candidate's skills and experience and would be from 1st August for one year. The Nomination form is on the MNSW website.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Delegates were reminded that the Annual General Meeting of Motorcycling NSW Ltd. will be held at the Park Royal Hotel, (Marsden Room), 30 Phillip St, Parramatta on 25th May, at 7.00pm.

There will no need for a declaration of the election of Directors, as the February Special General Meeting carried a motion to carry over the present board, which was only elected in December 2021. Delegates attending, either face to face or on-line will be required to register for attendance. A registration form is already on-line, and all registered club delegates and Life Members should have received it by now.Hopefully, the Annual Report and Financial Statements will be circulated to clubs and Life Members in time for the meeting.

_________________

Meeting Closed 8.45pm.

After the closure, delegates were invited to meet the new President and CEO to discuss their club's problems.

Regards ........Dave E

_______________

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