ROBERTSON HERITAGE RAILWAY STATION INC
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2020
PRESIDENT’S REPORT – NEIL HARVEY
Following our last AGM the new membership year started much the same as every other year we have on record. East Coast Heritage Rail (ECHR) operated the well known Cockatoo Run on roughly a monthly basis bringing happy travellers to our station in the usual way. These same travellers dined in the various eateries we have in Robertson and we continued to see pleasing ticket sales to Moss Vale and return, albeit at a lower rate than in the previous year. Nonetheless ticket sales continued to provide welcome funds. What we didn’t know at the time was that an alarming pandemic, called Covid19, would engulf the world and seriously affect almost every aspect of our lives. This is on-going as I write this and I shall touch on this occasionally throughout my report. In the meantime ECHR have suspended all tourist trains for an unknown period.
Station Re-paint Project
On the very day of our last AGM I advised that we had received a Transport Heritage NSW grant of $15,000 to repaint the station building. Whilst very welcome these funds alone would not have covered the costs of repainting the other important heritage structures we have including the signal box, station sign and the so-called lamp room. As such the committee decided to spend another $3,000 from our own funds to cover those additional structures. I contacted one of the contractors who had previously provided an attractive quote and he accepted the job to paint all the structures concerned for $18,000. The work began late 2019 and was completed in mid-January 2020. The contractor IREK Painting did a very good job and now all the important heritage structures look very presentable and of course fresh paint also helps protect these assets for years to come. As it turned out our Treasurer Anne Wilson presented the extra $3,000 bill to ARTC, and this was accepted, which meant the total re-paint costs were not met by RHRS.
Gardens and Grounds
Our gardens and grounds remain well cared for but not without a huge effort by Ian Wallace. The task of maintaining our gardens is constant and on-going. By the end of 2019 our gardens were subjected to the worst drought we have experienced for a very long time and then our area, to some degree, and areas like the South Coast to a disastrous degree, were subject to the worst bushfires in living memory. Fortunately we were not affected by fire but given the magnitude of the fires in a wide range of areas, including nearby, there was concern that we could have been. As a result of these weather and bush fire challenges our gardens were under-watered and suffered as a result. At one time our area was subjected to water restrictions but following a request to the Council by Ian Wallace we were given permission to water our gardens as best we could. Watering our gardens is not an easy task. The water pressure is weak and setting up sprinklers and watering cans is very time consuming. In addition to the climate threats the advent of Covid 19 brought a halt to the assistance we had been receiving from the Berrima Detention Centre who we relied upon to mow the lawns and undertake other gardening duties. The detainees helped until about April 2020 and at the time of writing we have no idea if or when this service will recommence. As a result Ian has had to seek help from other sources including members of the local garden club. Working Bees will still be required to keep our gardens attractive and well presented. In the interim I have mowed the lawns and imagine I will have to do so in the future. I will need help with this though because it is a big job for one person especially in high growth seasons.
Railway Model Group
The railway model group suspended its meetings for several weeks due to the Covid19 restrictions. As restrictions eased in NSW modeller meetings resumed and currently work is being carried out to complete model layouts based on an English setting and a very large layout which will feature NSW railways. The modellers view their interest as very important. The function of creating a model display is an art-form and an excellent diversion during difficult times.
Classic Car Event
As a result of the Covid 19 restrictions the Classic Car Event which was scheduled for April 2020 had to be cancelled. This event has been an important part of our calendar. This annual event was well attended and brought in much needed funds to help keep RHRS running. I shall speak more on this later.
History Group
Our history group has not been able to meet much at all because of the ongoing pandemic. We hope that as the current health crisis eases this work will continue.
Information Signs Project
We received a grant of $2,500 from the Community Grants Programme to help fund the design and installation of information signs. The conditions of such a grant included a requirement that we fund 50% of the project. As such the “Information Signs Project” which is costed at $5,000 in total requires RHRS to fund 50% of this cost. We have already received $2,500 from the office of Federal MP Stephen Jones and work has begun. Ian and I have collated and written the information to be displayed. The boards will be placed near the station building and the lamp shed. The information will include a history of the Unanderra-Moss Vale line, construction methods used, and social interest stories relating to the local railway station and will include a variety of photographs. We have chosen Peter Campbell of Peter Campbell Designs of Moss Vale. Peter is presently “laying-out” the information which Ian and I are currently editing. Hopefully this project will be complete by November 2020.
Proposed Community Garden
In very recent times we have been approached by Robertson Community Gardens Inc, chaired by Ange Clarke, to create a community garden using part of our grounds. This project is designed to provide meaningful, purposeful and recreational facilities including vegetable gardens and places to sit and walk around. It is particularly designed to assist those with intellectual and physical disabilities. It was necessary to get the approval of ARTC and this was received a short time ago. Currently the project is going to be managed by Robertson Community Gardens Inc with a lot of construction help from the Robertson Men’s Shed. The garden will occupy the area immediately east of the ARTC access gate behind the Per-Way Shed and will extend to Meryla Street. This area is not currently used given that beneath a thin layer of soil there is a large volume of railway ballast. The proposed gardens will be raised and organic. Currently Robertson Community Garden is drawing up a plan and will liaise with us throughout the process.
Our Future
This year we had to face not only the pandemic but our own future. At the end of the 2019-2020 year Steve Carey will be reducing his role considerably. Rona Goold and John Hopkins will be resigning altogether. My own involvement will also be substantially reduced. Of course this raises the question about how we continue to exist. Fortunately it is likely we will have enough people to form a committee and it is estimated that our current finances can keep us going for a couple of years without money being raised. The biggest challenge is to keep the gardens in good shape and to this end we expect that help from the Robertson Garden Club will get us over the line. There is a ray of hope for the future though in that the proposed community garden project will provide some help. It is hoped that the new community garden group will be able to assist to some extent with our own gardens. It has been suggested that the community garden also propagate waratah plants as part of their initiative. The community garden will remain primarily a garden for vegetables but it does not mean that no other plants can be grown. Additionally, Ian has found a contractor, Graham Grootmaat who does an excellent job at a very reasonable cost. It is intended that Graham will carry out those tasks which are deemed to be too difficult for ourselves to do.
Cleaning of our station had mostly been done by me but earlier in the year we began using a paid service which will continue. Whilst the cost is $100 per month it does ensure that the station buildings are kept clean, tidy and well stocked with the usual supplies of hand towels, detergent etc.
As briefly discussed above our annual Classic Car Event was cancelled this year due to the restrictions imposed on us by the NSW Department of Health because of the Covid19 pandemic. Unfortunately it is now improbable that we will be unable to run future events like the Classic Car Event, or any activity which requires substantial volunteer work, simply because our very few volunteers are at an age or physical condition which simply won’t allow us to continue with this event. At the time of writing it is unknown what revenue raising projects can be done, if any, and if this continues then RHRS will have to fold up in a few years time when all funds will be exhausted.
I would like to take this opportunity of thanking everyone for their help this year and I wish you all the best for the future.
Kind regards
Neil Harvey
President 2019-2020
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2020
PRESIDENT’S REPORT – NEIL HARVEY
Following our last AGM the new membership year started much the same as every other year we have on record. East Coast Heritage Rail (ECHR) operated the well known Cockatoo Run on roughly a monthly basis bringing happy travellers to our station in the usual way. These same travellers dined in the various eateries we have in Robertson and we continued to see pleasing ticket sales to Moss Vale and return, albeit at a lower rate than in the previous year. Nonetheless ticket sales continued to provide welcome funds. What we didn’t know at the time was that an alarming pandemic, called Covid19, would engulf the world and seriously affect almost every aspect of our lives. This is on-going as I write this and I shall touch on this occasionally throughout my report. In the meantime ECHR have suspended all tourist trains for an unknown period.
Station Re-paint Project
On the very day of our last AGM I advised that we had received a Transport Heritage NSW grant of $15,000 to repaint the station building. Whilst very welcome these funds alone would not have covered the costs of repainting the other important heritage structures we have including the signal box, station sign and the so-called lamp room. As such the committee decided to spend another $3,000 from our own funds to cover those additional structures. I contacted one of the contractors who had previously provided an attractive quote and he accepted the job to paint all the structures concerned for $18,000. The work began late 2019 and was completed in mid-January 2020. The contractor IREK Painting did a very good job and now all the important heritage structures look very presentable and of course fresh paint also helps protect these assets for years to come. As it turned out our Treasurer Anne Wilson presented the extra $3,000 bill to ARTC, and this was accepted, which meant the total re-paint costs were not met by RHRS.
Gardens and Grounds
Our gardens and grounds remain well cared for but not without a huge effort by Ian Wallace. The task of maintaining our gardens is constant and on-going. By the end of 2019 our gardens were subjected to the worst drought we have experienced for a very long time and then our area, to some degree, and areas like the South Coast to a disastrous degree, were subject to the worst bushfires in living memory. Fortunately we were not affected by fire but given the magnitude of the fires in a wide range of areas, including nearby, there was concern that we could have been. As a result of these weather and bush fire challenges our gardens were under-watered and suffered as a result. At one time our area was subjected to water restrictions but following a request to the Council by Ian Wallace we were given permission to water our gardens as best we could. Watering our gardens is not an easy task. The water pressure is weak and setting up sprinklers and watering cans is very time consuming. In addition to the climate threats the advent of Covid 19 brought a halt to the assistance we had been receiving from the Berrima Detention Centre who we relied upon to mow the lawns and undertake other gardening duties. The detainees helped until about April 2020 and at the time of writing we have no idea if or when this service will recommence. As a result Ian has had to seek help from other sources including members of the local garden club. Working Bees will still be required to keep our gardens attractive and well presented. In the interim I have mowed the lawns and imagine I will have to do so in the future. I will need help with this though because it is a big job for one person especially in high growth seasons.
Railway Model Group
The railway model group suspended its meetings for several weeks due to the Covid19 restrictions. As restrictions eased in NSW modeller meetings resumed and currently work is being carried out to complete model layouts based on an English setting and a very large layout which will feature NSW railways. The modellers view their interest as very important. The function of creating a model display is an art-form and an excellent diversion during difficult times.
Classic Car Event
As a result of the Covid 19 restrictions the Classic Car Event which was scheduled for April 2020 had to be cancelled. This event has been an important part of our calendar. This annual event was well attended and brought in much needed funds to help keep RHRS running. I shall speak more on this later.
History Group
Our history group has not been able to meet much at all because of the ongoing pandemic. We hope that as the current health crisis eases this work will continue.
Information Signs Project
We received a grant of $2,500 from the Community Grants Programme to help fund the design and installation of information signs. The conditions of such a grant included a requirement that we fund 50% of the project. As such the “Information Signs Project” which is costed at $5,000 in total requires RHRS to fund 50% of this cost. We have already received $2,500 from the office of Federal MP Stephen Jones and work has begun. Ian and I have collated and written the information to be displayed. The boards will be placed near the station building and the lamp shed. The information will include a history of the Unanderra-Moss Vale line, construction methods used, and social interest stories relating to the local railway station and will include a variety of photographs. We have chosen Peter Campbell of Peter Campbell Designs of Moss Vale. Peter is presently “laying-out” the information which Ian and I are currently editing. Hopefully this project will be complete by November 2020.
Proposed Community Garden
In very recent times we have been approached by Robertson Community Gardens Inc, chaired by Ange Clarke, to create a community garden using part of our grounds. This project is designed to provide meaningful, purposeful and recreational facilities including vegetable gardens and places to sit and walk around. It is particularly designed to assist those with intellectual and physical disabilities. It was necessary to get the approval of ARTC and this was received a short time ago. Currently the project is going to be managed by Robertson Community Gardens Inc with a lot of construction help from the Robertson Men’s Shed. The garden will occupy the area immediately east of the ARTC access gate behind the Per-Way Shed and will extend to Meryla Street. This area is not currently used given that beneath a thin layer of soil there is a large volume of railway ballast. The proposed gardens will be raised and organic. Currently Robertson Community Garden is drawing up a plan and will liaise with us throughout the process.
Our Future
This year we had to face not only the pandemic but our own future. At the end of the 2019-2020 year Steve Carey will be reducing his role considerably. Rona Goold and John Hopkins will be resigning altogether. My own involvement will also be substantially reduced. Of course this raises the question about how we continue to exist. Fortunately it is likely we will have enough people to form a committee and it is estimated that our current finances can keep us going for a couple of years without money being raised. The biggest challenge is to keep the gardens in good shape and to this end we expect that help from the Robertson Garden Club will get us over the line. There is a ray of hope for the future though in that the proposed community garden project will provide some help. It is hoped that the new community garden group will be able to assist to some extent with our own gardens. It has been suggested that the community garden also propagate waratah plants as part of their initiative. The community garden will remain primarily a garden for vegetables but it does not mean that no other plants can be grown. Additionally, Ian has found a contractor, Graham Grootmaat who does an excellent job at a very reasonable cost. It is intended that Graham will carry out those tasks which are deemed to be too difficult for ourselves to do.
Cleaning of our station had mostly been done by me but earlier in the year we began using a paid service which will continue. Whilst the cost is $100 per month it does ensure that the station buildings are kept clean, tidy and well stocked with the usual supplies of hand towels, detergent etc.
As briefly discussed above our annual Classic Car Event was cancelled this year due to the restrictions imposed on us by the NSW Department of Health because of the Covid19 pandemic. Unfortunately it is now improbable that we will be unable to run future events like the Classic Car Event, or any activity which requires substantial volunteer work, simply because our very few volunteers are at an age or physical condition which simply won’t allow us to continue with this event. At the time of writing it is unknown what revenue raising projects can be done, if any, and if this continues then RHRS will have to fold up in a few years time when all funds will be exhausted.
I would like to take this opportunity of thanking everyone for their help this year and I wish you all the best for the future.
Kind regards
Neil Harvey
President 2019-2020