THE Yornup Hall Management Committee has come out swinging at an attack on its performance.
The instrument of appointment for the current Yornup Hall Management Committee should be withdrawn, according to a motion which will be put to the next Bridgetown-Greenbushes Shire Council’s next meeting by Councillor Michael Southwell.
But hall committee members are asking why he did not raise any concerns with then before trying to get the council to strip them of their authority to run the hall.
The current committee was endorsed with a majority vote of eight-three by the council’s November 2009 meeting. Crs Southwell, Wade Simpson and William Moyes voted against the endorsement.
According to Cr Southwell, the committee has failed to meet the council’s stated values of acccountability.
In his recommendation on the agenda for council’s meeting on Thursday, Cr Southwell says the committee appears to have failed in recent years to keep proper records of its meetings or of hall use.
It has also failed to keep proper accounts of income and expenditure.
Cr Southwell also says the committee had been unable to provide these records for 2008 and 2009 despite a request in November by the Shire CEO.
Cr Southwell’s motion says the council should not continue to grant its delegated powers and authority to a committee which does not meet as it is supposed to, and apparently does not adhere to the rules governing its operations set out in the instrument of appointment.
In council minute 20/1109, it was stated that the committee was to consist of one shire councillor, the shire CEO or his representative and four community members. Meetings were to be held at least twice a year, the termination of the committee is to be October 17, 2011, or as specified under the Local Government Act 1995.
The objectives of this committee as set out by council are:
1) to responsibly manage the resources allocated to it by council for the purpose of managing the Yornup Hall;
2) to keep proper records to show the use of the resources allocated by shire for the purposes of managing the Yornup Hall; and
3) bring any matter to the attention of the shire in a timely manner that may affect either the insurance or long-term use of the hall and maintain a suitable record for hall use.
The Yornup Hall management committee meeting on February 16, 2010, expressed disappointment that a shire councillor should advocate terminating the committee without first discussing his concerns with committee members.
The Yornup Hall was built a little over 100 years ago by a new and growing community, and managed by a group of trustees, according newly elected committee chairman, Michael Pearce
To the tiny timber and railway town it was the centre of local life. The railway workers bought a piano for the community that they shared and the hall was used as a school, church, a meeting place, a shelter for sport, and all manner of family celebrations from weddings to funerals, anniversary, birthday and engagement.
There was a period when some of this community interest waned. The local school closed as well.
Yornup people got together and decided to strengthen their community.
So, more than 25 years ago, they began holding dances in the hall and regularly maintaining the building.
At this time the trustees and the local community who owned the hall decided they should vest it in the shire to ensure its long-term survival, Mr Pearce said.
But a committee has managed the hall, over the entire period.
The committee has raised considerable money for local organisations and provided a venue for family entertainment.
This group of volunteers has also maintained a high level of consistent maintenance and management of the hall and still continues to do so.
Mr Pearce said he and the committee were greatly disappointed and found it hard to believe “own council representative, without speaking and explaining to his constituents his reasoning” could put up more than one motion to council to have this management committee removed.
“It seems the days of protocol and integrity have, unfortunately disappeared,” he said.
“This councillor has, to my knowledge, never spoken to any member of our committee or asked about the history or hard work that has gone into the management of the hall. He would not know how much fund-raising has occurred for the greater community or how much effort has gone into looking after the hall over all these years.
“I think you would have to ask yourself why would any one want to put down something that works so well, and takes a lot of concern and effort off the council administration?
“This action, if it succeeds, will also affect the long-term use and condition of the Yornup Hall,” Mr Pearce said.
In addition to running the hall for the past 100 years, the committee and hall users have carried out most of the building’s maintenance.
The committee has sent audited accounts of its income and expenses, together with a list of bookings for the past year, to be presented at the council’s February meeting.
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