AGM Outcomes

On the 26th June our Hall looked amazing with vibrant artwork on display, conversations-a-plenty and locals dropping by to become members of the CPPA and TASNG. The Annual General Meeting was held and a full Committee was elected effortlessly.

Welcome to the new committee members Helen English and Cath Fairs and thanks for the enduring commitment of Tony Dynon (21 years), Ian Dennison (10 years), Harvey Mitchell (5 years), Suzanne Pritchard (27 years), Prue Bedford, Selma Barry and Nico Marcar, who keep the Coal Point Progress Association moving forward.

The Annual Report is available to read online and has been circulated to members. Some of the highlights from the past year include:

The Members

The Progress Association is indebted to all the volunteers who give their time and skills to undertake community projects and the 141 members whose support is vital for the organisation to be able to represent community views.

Sincere thanks to all the volunteers who are the backbone of the CPPA, managing hall bookings, undertaking hall maintenance, distributing newsletters, supporting social events, sharing photographs, analysing data, providing local insights, proffering professional expertise, auditing our accounts and land caring our biodiverse bushland.
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The Committee

The Progress Association Committee met every two months (six times) between July 2021 and June 2022, in a mix of face to face and video conferencing. The expanded Committee benefited from additional voices in discussions and new perspectives. A mission statement was agreed on: “Sustaining our environment, connecting community”.

Progress Hall

The Hall bookings have surged as we’ve emerged from COVID. Our long-term hall users include The Coal Point Art Collective, Trash Bags, Tai chi- Sword and Yoga Circle. New users include Zumba-Latina Body by Jules and Pilates. The Coal Point Jammers gathered for several months but COVID and group capacity eventually led them to shut up shop.

The CPPA also applied for a grant to improve storage, renovate the bathrooms to improve accessibility and address the discovery of a rather significant termite infestation.

Development Applications & Submissions

Updates of current development applications were listed on the back page of each edition of the Chronicle and included Kilaben Bay and Toronto, east of Carey Street, in an effort to better represent the expanded distribution of the Chronicle.

Five submissions were lodged to LMCC on various plans and strategies. Comments were lodged on two DA Applications.

The Chronicle

There were eight editions of The Chronicle produced in the past year (Issues 314-321) which 28 volunteers hand delivered to 2370 residences in the Coal Point, Carey Bay, Kilaben Bay and Toronto.

The Progress Association’s Facebook page has 562 followers (up from 432 last year) and 495 likes (up from 381 last year). The majority of the posts are articles posted from the Chronicle website, making it is another avenue to connect with the community when immediacy and reach is required. The most popular posts throughout the year reflected the community’s interests in wildlife, the Toronto foreshore, local developments and the CPPA, with the most popular post being the sighting of a spotted quoll which reached almost 5000 people.

Sincere thanks to our long term and new Chronicle sponsors who provide support to the CPPA and enable the Chronicle to be produced.

Activities of the Association

Landcare

The Landcare crew numbered 5 to 10 every Thursday and gathered between 8am and noon when it wasn’t COVID-prohibited or raining, to enjoy the company of like-minded locals, engage in physical activity, and regenerate our biodiverse bushland.

During 2021, in spite of COVID, over 38 landcaring sessions with 859 hours (1367hr last year) of on-ground endeavours were provided by the dedicated team of 19 volunteers.

Toronto Area Sustainable Group (TASNG)

The CPPA’s collaborative relationship with the TASNG continues by supporting and promoting our shared values via the Chronicle, collaborating on funding applications and projects and extending the Chronicle distribution to cover most of the TASNG boundaries. A major collaboration will be the Community Car Boot sale event at the end of October.

Toronto Action Group

The CPPA continues to be an active member of the Toronto Action Group (formerly Toronto Foreshore Protection Group), a coalition of local community groups that emerged to champion a community-focussed outcome for the Toronto foreshore.

CPPA’s contribution to the group includes attending regular meetings, provision of Zoom, sharing the group’s activities via the Chronicle, overseeing the Facebook page, assisting with media releases and providing a facility for receiving donations via Give Now’s portal, with the 2022 fundraising campaign contributing $648 towards the expanded Chronicle distribution. The TAG Facebook page has 307 followers and 275 likes and a reach of thousands.

Events

The Local Government Councillors Forum (23/11/21): There were five Councillors and 111 community attendees at the online event and 184 views of the recording.

General feedback was “Thank you TAG for hosting this Forum”. The community was greatly appreciative of having the opportunity to view these potential councillors and hear their views on local issues.

National Tree Day: We did manage to celebrate coming out of COVID with a National Tree Day planting and BBQ at Gurranba Reserve, attended by the Mayor Kay Fraser and 22 locals. A path border planting of Lomandra was created to protect the native foreshore vegetation from exotic grasses spread by mowers.

Financial Report

The CPPA is extremely fortunate to own Progress Hall which greatly enhances the Balance Sheet, but also requires a level of financial and project management to ensure the property is maintained and optimised for community use.

The CPPA is very grateful to have Ian Dennison’s expertise in project and financial management on hand as an active committee member. Ian has clocked up 10 years of service to the CPPA, including five years as Treasurer. Ian has coordinated several grants which have seen both the sustainability and comfort levels of Progress Hall greatly enhanced. He was nominated for Life Membership this year and has accepted.

Hall hire income has bounced back from the COVID slump of $1015 to $3418 in 2021, exceeding 2019 (pre-COVID) hall hire of $2774.

Sponsor’s income has also significantly increased, almost doubling from last year, a result of a full suite of sponsors for each addition of the Chronicle and the ceasing of the COVID subsidies. The production of only 8 of 11 editions however has meant that the full potential of sponsorship income was not realised.