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ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2014
“Brunswick Bridge” by Jose-Antonio Lopez Vieica**
Presented at
The Brunswick Heads Chamber of Commerce Inc. AGM
TUESDAY 17 FEB 2015
at “Bruns Bowlo
Sponsored by
** 2014 Winner of the Simple Pleasures Photography Competition
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ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2014
BRUNSWICK HEADS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AGM
Tuesday 17 February 2015
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Another year has gone representing the Brunswick Heads businesses and the community we live in! My previous
term as President was back in 2006, when I had the pleasure of supporting the birth of the Visitor Centre. And how
things have progressed!
The Chamber has continued to support local business through some very tough times in recent years and this year
has been no different, although the economy now seems to be looking up.
The day to day effort required for the Chamber to thrive and survive is typified by the commitment of but a few who
year after year devote their time, expertise and energy to the betterment of this community.
I sincerely thank the outgoing Executive Committee for their fine work and their efforts to represent you, the
membership. They met every month to progress the many projects, to deal with the issues and to keep the
organisation and the town pumping. It has been a great team! I also thank Mary Hodgson and Bec de Wilde for
their efforts as Executive Officers and welcome Cherie Heale on board in the position this year. Please give her
your support.
I encourage you all to read through this document and appraise yourself of the Chamber’s projects and
achievements in the last year. Give credit where it's is due, support where you can, and most of all, take full
advantage of the benefits the Chamber can provide for your business by continuing your membership and support.
The bang for your buck is unbelievable!
Todd Buckland
2013 Christmas party on the Park St Homemade Pasta Bar deck
Simple Pleasures Photo Comp entry
“Park St Chefs” by Pau; Begg
HIGHLIGHTS OF 2014 INCLUDE:
Events and festivals
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The staging of the fifth and once again even larger Mullum2Bruns Paddle in May with over 1200 entries
making it the largest paddle in Australia. Run as usual by the Visitor Centre, Brunswick Surf Lifesaving Club
and Brunswick Marine Rescue, with over $9K being raised by the VC.
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The 13th Old & Gold Festival in June, with additional activities & over 90 garage sales (a record). This year the
festival won the award!!!!
The return to the rightful home of the Simple Pleasures Photo Competition, including a new instagram
category producing bookmarks for VC merchandise along with the traditional entries producing the calendar.
New Easter Egg Hunt initiative that was welcomed by businesses, locals and visitors alike, bringing lots of
people into town and into our shops.
The hugely successful new Customer Service Awards. This initiative was embraced by the town and visitors
with four luck workers receiving accommodation and cash prizes, with an added bonus of the event bringing
our three local Job Search Agencies together as partners/sponsors.
The band of Chamber elves, once again, assisted Santa (Bob Keers from Whatever) with the distribution of
lollies at the Twilight Christmas celebrations in December. A new approach of setting up a cake stall outside
the Professionals Real Estate was successful and avoided the logistical difficulties with having a market stall.
Business development & advocacy
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Production of the 2014/2015 Business Card Directory
Participation in the quarterly Byron Shire Business Roundtables
Regular breakfast meetings with the new General Manager & meetings with Jane Laverty, the Economic
Development Officer on Brunswick priorities.
The production hard copy newsletters as well as the fortnightly e newsletters.
Major submission for the North Coast Parks ???
Major submission for Holiday Letting.
Visitor Centre growth
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Further streamlining of the admin and financial systems and incorporation of MYOB Payroll.
Substantial support from TURSA through various subsidised and volunteer programs to provide
part-time six month jobs for several people and also through Envitefor a six month placement
Byronbay.com welcomed as a new Corporate Sponsor of the Visitor Centre (total of six sponsors)
Visitor Centre financial sustainability achieved again despite the loss of $13K in back room rent in 2012
Town promotion and Tourism
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Upgrading of website which now receives over ??? hits per week. With over 3000 visits per week. 13300 in
Dec and over 15000 in January.
Production of the Tear Off Maps/Dining Out Guide, 101 Things to Do and Accommodation Guide
Continued high level involvement Destination Byron (Visitor Industry Association) with excellent outcomes,
including the development of various strategic planning, marketing, membership and corporate sponsorship
prospectus document. This resulted in a $900KDNSW funded Beaches to Bush and Food & Art co-operative
marketing campaign specifically for the North Coast for winter 2014.
Projects
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Completion of the first and second seats in the Ten Seat Project –
Other
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The establishment of a Chamber Admin “team” with the engagement of an Admin Assistant as part of the
much needed succession planning strategy for Chamber executive management.
Submission to Council on the new Byron Shire LEP, with critical recommendations for Brunswick
Further positive development on funding for Tweed Street Plan
1.
MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
1.1
The Executive Team
In February 2014 Peter Wotton took on the role of President and a committee of 7. Unfortunately, we had one resign
due to conflicting date issues so we had 6 on the team including two new general members. The team was elected to
implement strategies in line with Chamber’s mission throughout the year. Monthly Executive meetings were reinstated,
with success, to cope with the need for regular discussion and decision making and a combination of regular Chamber
meetings and Business After Hours functions programmed to bring businesses together.
While the Executive Committee focused on the strategic direction and decision making, an incredible amount of work
was done by the Chamber’s various Subcommittees. These volunteer members met regularly throughout the year to
deliver good outcomes, particularly the Tweed St Taskforce and Holiday Let committee, for the business community
and the town as a whole in their specialist areas. They kept the Executive, and in turn our members, regularly updated
on their progress. Each has provided outcome reports as part of this Annual Report.
1.2
Staff
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The Executive Officer (EO) is a pivotal staff member in any non-profit organisation, and because the Chamber role is a
complex one, a good knowledge of the town, its economy and local businesses is needed. This year, for the first time
we have had an EO who has lasted longer than a year and now has the experience to head into this year, without
requiring any training. This year we employed, through Envite, an Admin Assistant for 6 months which proved
extremely useful. The intention was to allow the EO time to focus on the bigger picture of working towards making the
Chamber fully sustainable, this was partly successful, however it was an extremely busy time with the Photo
Competition and new Customer Service Awards being held at the same time.
Cherie Heale
The search began for a replacement, but this time there was no Assistant ready in the wings to take over, and with
Christmas approaching, time was of the essence. Cherie Heale, who had worked in the Visitor Centre as a volunteer
and as a Projects Assistant for six months, was identified as a suitable Acting Admin Officer and was engaged on
contract to assist Bec in her last three weeks in December with the membership invoicing and the Christmas party.
Cheriecommenced in the Acting Admin Officer role on January 7 th. The 12 hour per week Admin or Executive Officer
position will be advertised through the Chamber channels in March for commencement in April. The current Executive
recommends that a similar succession planning model using an Admin Assistant be implemented during 2014.
Implications for the Chamber
As we are only able to offer part-time work, we haven’t had an Executive officer stay for longer than 12 months since
2011, and the huge amount of time and effort required to continually select and train new people is time and effort
taken away from other projects. We need someone with a long–term commitment to part-time work, because it’s most
unlikely that the Chamber will ever be able to offer more than 12 hours per week. There are also financial implications.
Since mid 2010 the total number of hours allocated to Chamber Executive & financial administration has increased by
30% from 12 hours per week (9hrs for EO plus 3hrs for bookkeeping) to 15.5 hours per week (12 hrs for EO + 3.5 hrs
bookkeeping). Theseadditional hours represent a significant additional outlay, especially when you also factor in small
wage rate increases. Yet the Chamber membership fees havenot increased enough to keep up. If we businesses can’t
afford significantly higher membership contributions, we have to find ways to increase existing revenue streams or
create new ones. It would be very difficult to reduce the EO hours, as there is just too much work to do to run the
Chamber and communicate with the Council and the outside world.
1.3
Membership
The well-being and effective operation of our Chamber is dependent on having a healthy membership base. The
membership income offsets part of the admin running costs, and having a large membership base also ensures good
representation and a strong voice and credibility on issues that affect the business community. There are about 130
businesses in town, so a membership of around 100 is very healthy.However, in past years a lot of valuable time has
been spent by the EO chasingup membership renewal payments. So this time the 2014 memberships were sent out at
the end of December, in the hope that most of the memberships would be paid during January, a good trading month
for most businesses. Quite a few came in straight away! But at the time of writing this report, only about 50 had been
received.
Membership peaked at 104 in 2010, dropped back to 95 in 2011 and further to 91 in 2012.It picked up from a poor start
in 2013 to finish at 94 and we are aiming to be up over 100 again in 2014. In addition, the Visitor Centre membership
for 2013 was 74, well above last year, and they are aiming to match or better this number in 2014.
1.4
Newsletters and communication
We have now settled into a happy mixture of hard and soft copy with newsletters, so that non members also hear some
of the news and can find out what the Chamber offers. Last year the EO produced a hard copy newsletter each quarter
and distributed in person and also as a pdf document by email. As well, e-newsletters were produced and distributed
every two to three weeks as required throughout the year to keep members informed of opportunities, events, courses
and issues.
1.5
Meetings and Networking Functions
Several opportunities were provided in 2013 for Chamber members to share their views and ideas, meet other
businesses and be addressed by outside organisations on initiatives or issues.
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The AGM was held in February followed immediately by a general meeting (hosted by Envite)
Chamber general meetings were held – one in in April at the Happy Dolphinandone in September, at the Hotel
Brunswick.
Two Business after Hours were conducted, one in July (hosted by Print Rescue, TURSA and Brunswick
Newsagency) and in November (hosted by Artistic bent and Kristina’s Tasty Kitchen)
A “Big Ideas for little Bruns” Forum was held in October for retailers and other businesses
A Simple Pleasures Photo Comp Award ceremony and celebration was added onto the Chamber general meeting
in September.
An information session for members on the Falls Festival was held on 26 November
An information session on the NR Rail Trail was held at the September Business After Hours function
A hugely successful Christmas Party was held at Park St Homemade Pasta Bar on the deck in December to cap off
a great year and farewell Bec.
Executive meetings were held every month to deal with Chamber business and progress the activities for the year.
Internal Reviews
A number of internal reviews were undertaken during the year:
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Visitor Centre (reviewed by 2012 Exec Committee & considered by the 2013 Executive in March). It was agreed
that the right systems to effectively manage the VC were in place and that they were working.
The Chamber’s Admin and Executive structure with succession planning in mind - the Visitor Centre model to
shadow existing staffwithsubsidised work placements, was adopted.
The Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy was considerably simplified“Any person who believes they have an issue
with harassment or bullying in the workplace should contact the Chamber’s nominated person, Ginny Giorgio”
In addition, several staff performance reviews were conducted.
2.
CHAMBER FINANCE
2.1
Overall financial performance
The financial outcome for 2013 was pleasing overall. We started the year expecting a loss of about $11K, including a
one off $3K loss for Kites & Bikes for the additional cost of co-ordination. However, the result was far better, with only a
$4,171 loss overall.
The Chamber has a great financial team. Lisa, our accounts manager and MYOB bookkeeper, has been with us for
several years and never misses a beat, paying the wages even when she is away on holidays! The VC and event
managers make sure all the bills that come in for their areas are correct. Kim keeps close watch over the actual versus
the budget figures each month, encouraging the various managers and co-ordinators to reach their targets and reports
to the Executive, and Debbie Arndt, the 2013 Treasurer and qualified accountant whoorganises all the super, tax and
workers compensation payments and provides invaluable advice on all financial matters. It’s a tight ship and the
finances are in good hands and in good shape.
Due to the increased workload in 2013, the Executive agreed that Lisa’s bookkeeping hours be increased from 3 hours
to 3.5 hours per week in January 2014. MYOB Payroll was purchased and installed to facilitate the payment of tax and
super.
The Chamber’s finances run on a calendar year. Most of our income comes in in the first half of the year, and that
money is spent down in the second half. The interest bearing reserves of nearly $37K dropped back to $34Kby the
end of the year, as was expected. It was hoped that the additional 12 hours available to the Admin team for 6
monthsfrom April to September would have enabled the instigation of one or more income generating schemes to put
the Chamber back on an annual break even or better (financially sustainable) track. Unfortunately this did not occur
and next year’s Executive Committee will have to address this.
The Chamber (as opposed to the Visitor Centre) has very few income generating sources. Each year they are
approximately made up as follows: Memberships ($11K), events & projects surpluses ($4K), fundraising ($4K) and
interest on reserves ($1K) – totalling about $20K. Yet the basic expenses to run the Chamber with one part-time Admin
Officer is around $24.5K. So we need to find another $4.5K each year to break even. An extra $1,000 from
memberships, $1,500 from events andprojects and $2,000 from fundraising would cover this shortfall. We think this is
achievable, provided we have the people resources.
We need your help!!
The Visitor Centre is, by far, the Chamber’s largest project and will remain so. Of the $164,600 income overall in 2013,
$48,800 was generated by the Chamber and $115,800 by the Visitor Centre. The expenses follow a similar pattern. Of
the $168,800 in overall expenses, about $49K was incurred by the Chamber and $119K by the Visitor Centre. The
Visitor Centre continued to hold its own last year, even without the income from the back room, but this was mainly due
to the huge fundraising efforts made by the staff and volunteer team and the generous Corporate Sponsorship from 6
businesses. (Note that the P&L shows a loss of $3K but $6K expected at the end of December arrived early January,
so it was a good result for the Visitor Centre.)
The Chamberwas very close to the threshold level for GST registration, and the draft budget developed for 2014
indicated that we will be over the threshold. So, unless we divide the organisation into two (Chamber & Visitor Centre),
we will need to register for GST. This will occur straight after the AGM. The Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss
documents are tabled for discussion.
2.2
Grant funding and donations
The Tweed St Taskforce put considerable effort into Northern Rivers Regional Development Australia funding for the
Tweed St upgrade project, which was one of the two projects supported by Council, but our application was
unsuccessful.However the Byron Shire Council did allocate $5K towards the Ten Seat Project and this was matched
with a $5K donation from Brunswick Seaside Holidays to enable the Frank Mills seat to be created. We also received
pledges totalling $1600 with $500 each from the Chamber and Progress Association and $600 from 6 businesses
towards the audio component of the Frank Mills seat.
The Taskforce also applied to North Coast Destination Network for funding in their Destination NSW bid, for our Ten
Seat Project as a tourism trail,however this was taken forward by them.
A FACSHIA equipment grant for nearly $5,000 was not successful, although we have received two grants in the past.
Sam Collyer’sCountry Arts Support Program (CASP) $2K grant for the Torakina Sculpture Nature Walk,(which was
auspiced by the Chamber)was finalised and acquitted during the year. We held this money in trust.
For the third year, the Chamber received a generous donation of nearly $900 from McGregor’s Carnival, in
acknowledgement of the Chamber’s support of the Carnival over many years.
Grant sourcing is a time consuming and often frustrating task and we simply don’t have the experienced manpower
anymore to go after the number of grants we used to. This task has now been taken out of the Executive Officer Job
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Description. What we really need is a small band of people to continuously write grant applications for us. Can you
help?
2.3
Fundraising
2013 was a better year than 2012for fundraising by the Chamber. Almost $4K was raised (as against $2K the year
before) and was made from 3 raffles - the Australia Day Raffle ($1,000) the Old & Gold Raffle ($1,260) and the Byron
Bay Ballooning Raffle ($1,665). Volunteer members to sell raffle tickets are always difficult to find and we should all
collectively be grateful to those few who gave their time to raise the $4K above. If most members could contribute
just 1 hour per year to sell raffle tickets at the pub, we could probably raise half of the additional $4,500
needed next year!Many thanks again to Hotel Brunswick which kindly allocated Friday nights again to the Chamber
and to the VC team who chips in whenever they can to help withChamber raffle ticket selling, as well as their own.
3.
ISSUES AND STRATEGIC PLANNING
One of the Chamber's most important tasks is to address and resolve issues that impact on the business community.
The importance of keeping abreast of local government proposals and changes cannot be stressed highly enough, as
planning and fee changes can have significant impacts on the town and businesses. As usual, it was a challenge to
keep up with all the information and respond to the various issues. Several issues were taken up with Council last year.
The Chamber continued with its co-operative “design outcomes” approach to dealing with issues that arose during the
year and attempted to provide representatives at meetings and workshops wherever possible.
3.1
Representation
Various members of the Executive Committee & the VC Co-ordinator continued to meet with the Byron Shire Council
(BSC) General Manager, Ken Gainger on an informal basis to outline our plans, discuss our issues and make requests.
This has always been a worthwhile learning and partnership building experience andBrunswick businesses have
benefitted fromthis interaction.
We try to represent the business community at local and regional meetings, workshops and strategic planning
sessions, wherever possible, but with Kim’s time now limited, and most Executive Committee members at work during
the day, this has become more difficult. We need to expand the Chamber membership on subcommittees, to ensure
that we are always represented when we need to be. During 2013 we represented the Chamber and the town on the
following committees:
Council & other committees
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BSC Tourism Advisory Committee - Kim Rosen (Peter Wotton also represented Byron VC)
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Byron Shire Visitor Industry Association (VIA Byron) – Kim Rosen,Secretary
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BSC Biodiversity Committee - Robert Rosen, a Chamber member attends, but not as a Chamber rep
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Byron Shire Holiday Letting Organisation (HLO) – Robert Rosen Vice President during 2013
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Memorial Hall S355 Committee – Linda Hibbard (VC Admin Manager) & Stephen Bond both members
Submissions
We took the opportunity to meet with Council staff and submita constructive submission on the draft LEP in the first
quarter of the year. Kate Singleton, Town Planner, kindly gave her time voluntarily to assist us delve into the final detail
and contribute to a Q&A for members in April.
Work began on the Chamber and Brunswick Tourism submissions on the Plans of Management of the Holiday Parks
and Reserves at the very end of December. The final draft submission is being presented at the AGM for lodgement by
21st February. Chamber Executive members attended both POM information sessions and directed many questions to
Jim Bolger and Russell Chaplin. The process to receive feedback from Chamber members was advertised many times
via the newsletter and plans were available in the back room of the Visitor Centre for members to view.
Planning sessions, consultations and workshops
Chamber representatives attended each of the four Council run Business Roundtable sessions for all Chambers in the
Shire during the year. This was a forum to discuss various projects and share some of the issues on our Priorities
Checklist, which was updated at the beginning of the year.
Fortunately, the many strategic documents that we have written over the last thirteen years have provided us with a
good foundation for preparing submissions. Our set of guiding principles and submission writing policy provides the
Executive with clear guidelines for dealing with complex issues. Although time consuming, our tradition of working with
proponents, stakeholders and Council to design outcomes in a non-confrontational way has consolidated our
professional reputation.
The Executive has been working through some of the issues that were identified in the 2012 Business Survey, and the
incoming 2014 Executive still haslots of material to work with.
NSW Business Chamber membership
The decision whether or not to join the NSW Business Chamber was put to the wider membership at the General
Meeting following the AGM last year. The membership voted to take this to the first meeting of the incoming Executive
Committee for a decision. The Executive Committee agreed unanimously that the Chamber would not join as an
organisation (but that membership could be taken up by Individual businesses). Representations from various NSW
Business Chamber people continued sporadically throughout the year.
Continuing issues & projects
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The Business Survey, conducted at the end of 2012, identified several areas for continued attention by the Chamber.
Those that are still on the table include;
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The importance of strengthening our town's fragile economy - the need for co-operative marketing campaigns to
target markets, as well as the support of our businesses by locals and each other during non-peak tourism
periods.
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Maintaining the status quo re holiday letting is critical, not just for the tourism providers, but for all retailers who
depend so heavily on tourism for survival. Brunswick Heads is still at risk and fortunately we have a Holiday
Letting Subcommittee to deal with the complexities and keep us up to date.
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The new Holiday Park Plans of Management with potential positive and/or negative impacts –with a submission
with several constructive suggestions about to be lodged.
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The new Local Environment Plan(LEP), including some beneficial zoning changes
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The development of Stage 2 of Bayside (withthe reduction of the number of lots down to only 162)
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Preparation of a Masterplan for appropriate development of the Boat Harbour Precinct (no word so far)
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The Tweed St Masterplan upgrade, especially around the central “Marketplace” area (no funding allocate as yet),
but a start has been made on the ten seat project, one tiny component.
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The control of overnight camping and vans overnight at the beach
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Grafitti around the town
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The Executive met before the Splendour in the Grass event, to gather responses to questions from the members
and sort out the bus stop arrangements outside the Visitor Centre, and then afterwards to provide feedback from
the business community. During the event there was close communication between the VC staff and the hotline to
deal with the transport delays.
Advocacy
The 2013 Executive continued the practice of meeting with the Byron Shire General Manager (February, May, July &
November). We were thrilled that one of our top priorities, the employment of an Economics Development and Tourism
Co-ordinator, was fulfilled by Council in November, with the engagement of Jane Laverty. We met with Jane on a
couple of occasions to outline Brunswick’s economic direction and seek assistance with our various projects and
issues.
For example: We questioned the large water & sewerage fees for businesses, liaised with BSC Transport & Traffic
Planner Simon Bennett to get a new loading zone in Park St and extend the 2 hour parking down Mullumbimbi St and
liaised with Mark Mekovic successfully organised the “greening” of the blisters at the Fingal/Park & Mullumbimbi/Park
St intersections and some businesses created herb gardens in these spaces. Many other examples of our
communication with Council are outlined in the Projects and issues sections.
The Chamberalso provided assistance and/or advocacy to a number of individual member business throughout the
year, on a variety of issues. Letters of support were also provided for a few businesses seeking grant funding.
4.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
4.1
2013 Business development for Bruns' traders
No business development workshops were organised in Brunswick Heads during the year by the Chamber, due to the
lack of resources. However information on seminars, courses, workshops and relevant on-line webinars of educational
and practical benefit organised by other organisations, continued to be advertised through our newsletter
communications. Nortec is about to launch a program to deliver free business support, and this will be outlined at the
AGM.
4.2
Executive and Manager Professional Development
NSW Industry & Investment seems no longer to be conducting regional or statewide conferences, which provided great
opportunities for professional development. However, our EO, Mary Hodgson was supported to attend all the local
workshops and roundtables to gain practical experience in the field. At her request, Mary was also funded to attend the
Visitor Centre training day, which extensively covered “inspirational customer service.”
From September to December, former EO Kim Rosen, provided Bec de Wilde with one-on-one mentoring on all
aspects of her new role as Admin Officer, plusthe Chamber’s history, background on issues and the economic
landscape.
Linda Hibbard, Visitor Centre Admin & Merchandise Manager and Volunteers Manager, attended a four day
Effectiveness Training course run by AVIC, the accreditation body and was totally inspired.
5.
PROJECTS AND CAMPAIGNS
5.1
2012/2013 Business Card Directory
The production of the 11thedition of the Business Card Directory was co-ordinated in 2013 by Bruce McMaster with
assistance from Bec de Wilde (in her capacity as Chamber Admin Assistant), and also from Linda Hibbard, who had
co-ordinated the Directory the previous year. We had thought that interest in advertising in this hard copy production
might have waned a little, and did not increase the cost to participate. However, were pleasantly surprised and thrilled
at the general enthusiasm to support this very local project. As a result, the directory was fully subscribed and
produced and distributed on time and on budget.
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5.2
All Abilities Park Project
Members of the All Abilities Taskforce (which included one chamber representative) met with Council to discuss this
project for Brunswick Heads, which was identified in the Community Economic Transition Plan 2011-2016. However,
Council decided that they wanted to build one in Byron Bay at the Sports Centre because S94 money was available
there. This was very disappointing as the Chamber was going to get behind the project in 2013, and other groups such
as Rotary had also expressed interest. We heard at the end of the year that the All Abilities Park had been canned
altogether.
6.
EVENTS
The Chamber and Visitor Centre staged three successful large events last year, and despite the challenging financial
climate, our businesses generously contributed sponsorship to ensure they all took place. All the events were held out
of season to create “spikes” and maximise the benefit for businesses and attract money into the community.
6.1
Kites & Bikes Festival
PRINCIPAL SPONSORS
A magnificent Kites & Bikes Festivalwas held on Sunday 24 March. It nearly didn’t get off the ground because of issues
with finding a Co-ordinator. Michelle Kelly agreed to co-ordinate the event for the first 6 weeks from December until her
departure to Sydney mid January and Lanie Laughlin, a former co-ordinator, fortunately agreed to take over in early
February and take the event to the big day. The two week gap, was filled by Bruce McMaster & Kim Rosen. Despite the
tag team effort, and the obvious challenges that came with it, the festival was an outstanding success from the point of
view of showcasing what an amazingly good time the Bruns community is capable of putting on for local and visiting
families, the amazing generosity and commitment to the community by the sponsoring businesses, as a successful
fundraiser for many community groups, and also from the point of view of branding Brunswick Heads as an eco-friendly
family fun destination, offering the best of simple pleasures. Behind the scenes, however, it left a huge team of event
organisers very exhausted. After Lanie finished up, thepost-event work continued well into April, overlapping with the
Mullum2Bruns Paddle organisation by Kim, and nudging very close to the Old & Gold organisation by Linda – so both
were extremely stretched. The Chamber also took a small loss (nowhere near the $3K we had budgeted for), while
several other community groups’ fundraising on the day did well. The Executive Committee concluded that our
resource challenged volunteer organisation could not tackle a Kites & Bikes Festival of this complexity ever again. We
would hate to see the event disappear completely, so have suggested that the Brunswick Heads Public School might
like to stage a smaller version, but in the school grounds, which could be just as sweet.
6.2
Mullum2Bruns Paddle
PRINCIPAL SPONSORS
The fourth Mullum2Bruns Paddle was held on a perfect winter day on Sunday May 26 as a three-way effort between
the Visitor Centre, Brunswick Volunteer Marine Rescue and Brunswick Surf Club, with the Visitor Centre in the coordination role this year (It rotates around the organisations each year). Sponsorship sourced from 50 businesses by
the Visitor Centre covered the running costs of the event and the entry fees were split equally between the 3 groups. In
addition, each group had the opportunity of raising funds from BBQs and the Duck Race, with 100 ducks each. The VC
team (comprising Kim Rosen as Co-ordinator, plus Stephen Bond, Glen Scheithe and Paul Begg) looked after the
admin, minutes, accounting, sponsorship, poster production, feature page and Terrace logistics on the day. Between
Linda and Sonya all the ducks and our raffle ticket quota were sold before and on the day, and Linda co-ordinated the
VC staff and volunteers to put on a breakfast BBQ, which did very well. The event was an overwhelming success
again, with 812 paddle entries, (up from 780 in 2012) and just over $23K raised for the 3 groups in total. This year an
incredible $8,700 was raised by the VC team for the VC. During the debrief it was decided that the M2B paddle would
develop its own website, rather than continue using the www.brunswickheads.org.au site.
6.3
Old and Gold Festival
PRINCIPAL SPONSORS
The twelfth consecutive Old & Gold Festival was held on Sat June 8. Linda Hibbard co-ordinated the event for the
second time, with sponsorship co-ordination assistance from Bruce McMaster. A band of volunteer committee
members met weekly for 8 weeks and included Mary Ashton, Valerie Hardy, Prue Harrington, Siobhan Carlin, Kim
Rosen plus new recruit, Cherie Heale, who organised the Fairbrooke horse and carriage rides, one of the hits of the
day. Allison Rogers helped with the press releases and many VC volunteers helped on the day with the VC fundraising
booksale, cake stall and chocolate wheel. Natalie & Kim from Byron Real Estatehelped out again with the record
number of Garage Sale registrations. Due to policy changes, the Byron News was unable to give us the usual
sponsorship deal, so at the eleventh hour the Echo agreed to come on board as Principal media sponsor. In 2013 the
O&G Committee agreed to work in conjunction with the Byron Shire Council, which staged its World Environment Day
activities and displays on the same day in Banner Park. Despite scattered showers throughout the day, about 7,000
people enjoyed a record number of garage sales (82 registered plus several others), threesecondhand fairs and many
activities in the theme. Many stayed over for the weekend. Old & Gold provides a great economic boost to the town in
the tough winter period. Unlike the festivals focused around the river and the CBD, Old & Gold provides the opportunity
for a boost in trade and/or exposure for the shops in Park, Fingal & Tweed Sts as well as putting money in over 90
household’s pockets, to on-spend in the town.
9
6.4
Simple Pleasures Photo Competition
SPONSORS
2013’s theme, “Brunswick Heads. Simple Pleasures”, was selected to re-emphasise our brand. Council decided to
conduct a photo competition themselves to source images for their “Don’t spoil us, we’ll spoil you” campaign at the
same time as us, with double the prize money ($1000) and no entry fees. Council had a June 30 deadline and were
unable to shift their timeframe, and we certainly couldn’t compete. In the end, it was resolved by Council creating a
Simple Pleasures category within their competition, with prizes, incorporating two of our usual sponsors, and Council
reimbursed us $500. (Our shortfall was $1500). There were about 250 entries in total in the various categories, and we
were thrilled that the overall winner was a Brunswick Heads entry, entitled “Simple Sunset”. We staged a prize giving
ceremony at Hotel Brunswick in September to acknowledge the winners and sponsors. In order to produce our annual
calendar we decided to use 3-5 of the best photos from this competition plus “the best of” from previous years (20072012). Shown over the page are thefirst, second and third place winners.
6.5
Twilight Christmas
Working together with the Twilight Market Organising Committee, Bob Keers took on the role of Santa, an
importantattraction at the twilight Christmas markets. Santa’s capable Chamber elves, Lisa Scheithe, Allison Rogers
and Bec de Wilde,helped Santa distribute bags of lollies. The Visitor Centre team took a stall at the Twilight Markets
together with fellow Chamber member OMG Trading, selling Simple Pleasures merchandise, novelty items, and
offering letters to Santa (with replies) and hair chalk art activities for the children.
6.6
Event sponsorship
The Brunswick business community is very generous indeed when it comes to supporting our Chamber-run community
events. Without sponsorship support, these events could not be staged, so everyone's cash and in-kind donations are
most appreciated. The 2013 sponsorship co-ordinators (Bruce McMaster& Stephen Bond) consciously staggered the
requests for sponsorship over our three main events. It ishoped that businesses will support their favourite event in a
major way, but the others just in a minor way. Bruce McMaster deserves special acknowledgement for his wonderful
work as Sponsorship Co-ordinator last year for both Kites & Bikes and Old & Gold – working significantly longer hours
than he was paid for. He is making himself available again this year, butnot forever, so we need to train up a
successor.
7.
TOURISM, PROMOTION AND MARKETING
Despite there being no promotional budget to speak of for co-ordination or implementation of marketing efforts, the
Chamber was still able to find creative ways to deliver the simple pleasures message and promote the town.
7.1
New Marketing Strategy
As most of the strategies and actions in the 2009-2012 Marketing Plan had been completed, a new Marketing Strategy
was required, especially given that there had been several significant changes. In the second half of the year, Kim and
Allison took on the task of developing a new strategy for 2013-2016. A forum, entitled “Big ideas for little Bruns”, was
held in October to share and gather ideas from the local businesses to incorporate into the draft. The final Marketing
Strategy was presented to the Executive prior to the AGM in February.
7.2
Media and publicity
It is getting increasingly more difficult to get publicity in the local newspapers, however Byron News journalist, Veda
Dante, looked after us whenever possible and Allison Rogers (our 2013 Visitor Centre Membership & Marketing
Manager) assisted with a few stories. Even our events have to secure advertorial space as part of the in-kind event
sponsorship packages.
Country Style Magazine sent a journalist and photographer to Brunswick for the third time in the last few years, and
visited many of our creative businesses. A delightful 7 page feature appeared in the summer edition. Money can’t buy
this excellent promotion, so the town and those featured can thank Valerie Hardy who created the first contact with the
magazine.
10
Our membership of the Legendary Pacific Coast and Summerland Coast has given us extra exposure on their
websites. More and more we are looking to reciprocal links as a cost effective way to get Brunswick Heads on the map.
7.3
The website - www.brunswickheads.org.au
The Brunswick Heads website is maintained by the Visitor Centre Membership & Marketing Manager, with some
updating of Chamber subscribers by the EO. Michelle Kelly relocated to Sydney in January and local communications
expert, Allison Rogers, was welcomed into her role and took over this function.
The Brunswick Heads website (now over 400 pages) is outstanding for a town of its size. Apart from the few paid sites
(with which we can’t compete)we remain consistently high up in the rankings. This can only happen with regular
updating, maintenance and optimisation. Yari McGauley,our web developer, continued to provide back up support and
investigate new features. The graph below shows the increase in number of visitorsfrom when the new website was
built at the end of 2009until August 2013. In January 2013 there were almost 32,000 hits and for the first eight months
of 2013 we averaged just over 25,000 hits per month. In September Yari swapped our statistics recording over from
our own web collected stats to Google Analytics, so a new set of comparisons and graphs are now required.
35000
30000
25000
2010
20000
2011
15000
2012
10000
2013
5000
7.4
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Jul
Aug
Jun
Apr
May
Mar
Feb
Jan
0
E-Marketing package
The number of businesses who took up the package, which includes the website, increased last year and Allison
provided great personalised service to businesses who signed up. Businesses who are not subscribing are really
missing out on great value. Benefits of the package included:





7.5
Tailor made website page design or link to your website
Rotating pop up logo
Inclusion of your latest news on the “What’s on” page of the website
Inclusion of your story and images in the new quarterly village e-newsletter
Basic e-marketing and social media advice – what you need and referrals
Village Voice e-Newsletter
Four editions of the “Brunswick Village Voice” e-newsletter were written and distributed far and wide to friends of
Brunswick. The mailing list is continually expanded with contacts from “friends of Brunswick” collected by our
businesses, with the aim of enticingmore visitors to return.
7.6






7.7
Brochures/publications/maps produced in 2013
Visitor map on the exterior wall of the VC (August)
2013/2014 Business Card Directory (October)
2014 Simple Pleasures calendars (October)
12,000 Tear off maps & "Dining Out Guides" in pads of 100 double sided sheets (October)
5,000 "101 Things to Do in Brunswick" brochures (November)
3,000 "Brunswick Accommodation Guide" brochures (December)
Campaigns and destination marketing
The Chamber and Visitor Centre jointly took out membership of the Legendary Pacific Coast and advised our members
of co-operative marketing opportunities as they arose. A page on Brunswick Heads is featured in the LPC booklet.
Brunswick representatives attended the Legendary Pacific Coast Workshop in March and a small contingent of tourism
operators participated in a Product Development Workshop in October.
VIA Byron was instrumental in putting together a Destination Management Planfor Byron Shire, an important but
mammoth task, with assistance from Joanne McMurtry, BSC Tourism Officer. Brunswick Heads was well represented
by Visitor Centre staff at the DMP Workshop held on 20 Nov and other groups were impressed with Brunswick’s
assessment of its own target markets, product awareness and gap analysis.
No-one took up the offer to participate in the Sydney Weekender campaign, and only a few have just signed up for the
recent big Legendary Pacific Coast “Beaches to Bush Campaign”After having requested more opportunities for cooperative marketing in the 2012 Business Survey, it is hard to understand why very little interest has been shown in
any of the co-operative marketing campaigns that have been organised.
11
7.8
Byron Shire Council “Don’t spoil us, we’ll spoil you” identity initiative
The Byron Shire identity “Don’t spoil us, we’ll spoil you” was given life on the brightly coloured Byron Shire trail maps
created by the Trails Map Committee of the Byron Shire Tourism Advisory Committee (of which Brunswick has
representation). Several Brunswick business featured on the map and brochure, and these are distributed from the
Visitor Centre.
7.9
Tourist Signage
The battle to get “Brunswick Heads” added to the signs on the bypass and at the Ferry Reserve exit, continued.
Belinda Novicky from North Coast Destination Network agreed to take up our cause with the powers that be, but it has
stalled again. We haven’t given up though.
We also successfully lobbied to have the tourist Route 28 extended along from the St Helena Lookout to the end of
Gulgan Rd highway intersection.
7.10 Byron Shire LTO – V.I.A. Byron
The local tourism organisation, VIA Byron, (Visitor Industry Association) was incorporated in April 2012 by a Steering
Committee which then expanded into an Executive Committee. Kim Rosen only ever intended to assist with the
organisation’s establishment until the first AGM in August 2013. However, she continued to represent the Brunswick
Heads Chamber & Visitor Centre and act as VIA Byron Secretary for another year, untila skills based board structure
was in place in July 2014. It was an extremely busy and productive year, with significant achievements and milestones
being made by the volunteer board, including but not limited to;

VIA Byron winter marketing campaign (with a couple of Brunswick Heads participants)

Production and launch of the Membership Prospectus

Production of a Corporate Sponsorship prospectus

Development of a Strategic Plan

Conduct of the inaugural AGM on August 27th

Creation of the Byron’s Golden Ticket (giant winner takes all in a raffle of 7 festivals)

Development of Destination Management Plan for Byron Shire (led by Council staff)

Establishment of numerous Subcommittees

Development of a Marketing Plan (in development stage)

The sign up of three inaugural sponsors – Juno Energy, Electriq and Eagle Insurance Brokers
VIA Byron is looking to oversee visitor services as part of its charter in the near future. Agreement to undertake the
process required to incorporate the Byron Visitor Centre under VIA Byron was given in November, and the financial
assessment required before the process commences is now underway. Whether or not this eventuates will depend on
the outcome of this assessment.
VIA Byron provided leadership with public relations, advocacy and dealing with some difficult and controversial issues,
especially in Byron Bay, throughout 2013. It has an excellent relationship with Council, which is now relying more an
more on its expertise and leadership as the peak visitor industry body in the Shire.
VIA Byron will be moving to a skills based board in 2014, with a reference group in place to ensure geographical
representation. A succession plan for replacing Kim as a representative for Brunswick Heads is required, as she will
not be available to work with VIA Byron beyond 2014.
7.11 Northern Rivers Rail Trail
Representatives of the NR Rail Trail Group were invited to provide our members with a first hand understanding of the
proposed project at a presentation and Q&A evening in September. Government grant funding was secured by this
group to undertake a feasibility study.
8.
BRUNSWICK HEADS VISITOR CENTRE
Although it is the Chamber’s biggest ongoing “project”, the Visitor Centre continued to function in a financially
sustainable way, without drawing on the Chamber’s human and financial resources. The Management Committee,
comprising Peter Wotton and Kim Rosen (with other Executive members assisting with performance reviews as
required), dealt with the strategic and business planning and performance of the Centre, and provided monthly written
reports to the Executive.
The Visitor Centre is open 7 days per week, for a total of 48 hours and maintains Level 2 Accreditation. Over 40,000
people came through the door during 2013 to take advantage of the various services offered by the Visitor Centre
team. This is about the same as in 2012, which is interesting, since the numbers coming through Byron Visitor Centre
decreased considerably last year.
While 2012was a year of change and challenge for the Visitor Centre, 2013 was one of consolidation and strength – a
very different year. Our comprehensive policies and procedures manual served us well. Feedback from the AVIC
workshop attended by Linda during the year attested to the fact that other visitor centres hold ours in high esteem and
are in awe of how we manage to run as a productive and sustainable centre without Council funding. With funding cuts
threatening their operations, they want to pick our brains!
12
Throughout the year Linda demonstrated her outstanding competence, incredible commitment and energy and
inspiring leadership. With Allison as a motivated, capable and attentive manager of Visitor Centre member services and
marketing for all members and the town, and Shirley providing essential admin support, we have an unbeatable staff
combination to deliver best practice visitor services. Having 4 work placements and a superb volunteer team during the
year, meant that we had the human resources necessary to look after our visitors, customers and members extremely
well. Being backed by a supportive Executive Committee and generous sponsors who really care about the Visitor
Centre, providedan environment where everyone was happy to “go the extra mile”. And indeed they did!
8.1
Staffing
We started the year well-staffed. Allison Rogers replaced Michelle Kelly in January as Membership & Marketing
Manager for 12 hours per week and Linda Hibbard moved from the role of Acting Volunteers manager to Volunteers
Manager 8 hours per week in addition to her 12 hour per week role as Admin & Merchandise Manager. Our policy of
having two part-time people rather than one covering all tasks proved again to bemost effective and productive. Shirley
Aston, an 8 pw volunteer, was also paid for 3 hours per fortnight for stats and Admin work.We continued to liaise with
the local employment agencies (TURSA, Envite and Nortec) to recruit volunteers plus staff on subsidies. Sonya
Brookes joined the team as Customer Service Officer for six months. She was a shining star and was dubbed the
“Raffle Queen”. Zoe Walsh finished up her 6 month program assisting Linda mainly with Volunteer Management.
Cherie Heale, who had already been a volunteer for about 6 months came on board as Projects Assistant for 6 months
and provided assistance to Allison, and then Catarina Boschin worked as Customer Service Officer for 3 months.
These positions were all made possible through TURSA. Alan Raabe, who had been with us as a volunteer on and off
for a year, came on board as Projects Assistant through Envite after Cherie finished up, and he is still with us. This
extra paid staffing during 2013 meant that several people had satisfying work experiences in a nurturing environment
and the Visitor Centre operation wasgreatly enhanced. When Cherie finished up her six months, she stayed on as a
volunteer and was then in an ideal position to take up the acting Chamber Admin Officer role with minimal training
when it came up at the end of the year.TURSA also provided 4 people for short term work experience for Bluesfest
raffle ticket selling and another 4 just before Christmas to assist with our Christmas hamper raffle.
8.2
Volunteers
We need at least two personnel on duty each day except Sunday, so a team of about 12 volunteers isideal to support
the staff. For some of the year we only had between 8 and 10 volunteers on the team, but we managed because of the
extra staff. The four hour Saturday and Sunday sessionsare always difficult to fill. Our Level 2 Accreditation requires us
to be open 364 days per year, 7 days a week, so we can’t just close if we are short staffed.Marlene Vermersch, a post
grad SCU student, came on board enthusiastically for marketing work experience, but only stayed a few weeks, as she
lives in Kingscliff.
Volunteers are sought from many sources - some choose the VC to fulfil their Centrelink obligations, some want to
brush up their customer service skills and get back into the workforce and others just donate their time to help out
because they believe in the cause. They are trained and nurtured via workshops and famils. Unfortunately the
opportunities for employment at the VC are very limited but we try to use our networks to find our good volunteers work
if they are looking for it. Volunteers came and went during 2013 – many move on after about a year - but our most
significant loss was long-time volunteer, Kevin Fiitzgerald, who left to concentrate on his massage business.
8.3
Training & acknowledgement
Our volunteers come and go, so training is therefore an ongoing task. Nearly all training is done in-house. Workshop
meetings were held quarterly to update the team on changes, new products and new systems and to provide an
opportunity for them to meet each other. Our volunteers were treated to a morning tea at the Footbridge Café during
Volunteers Week in May (thanks Cameron) and the traditional January dinner. The VC could not operate 7 days per
week without them, so their time and efforts are greatly appreciated, and acknowledgments of their contribution every
now and then by members are always nice.
8.4
Funding & sustainability
The VC had 19 different income generating streams and much effort was put into expansion of each of these. These
are (listed roughly from highest to lowest income)
Merchandise sales
Fundraising raffles
Corporate sponsorship
Mullum2 Bruns Paddle event
VC memberships
E-marketing package subscriptions
Visitor Map on the VC wall
Second hand book sales
Memorial Hall booking fee
Premier & shuttle bus commissions
Events and project space rental
Donations
Bank interest
Tour commissions
Accommodation referrals
Noticeboard poster & flyer display rental
Public internet stations
Photocopying services
Mobile phone charging
A small of amount of income is generated from display space on our own noticeboard on the front wall ($3 per week),
from photocopying and scanning service and from the internet station. We abandoned the fax machine and began
offering a phone charging service. Every little bit helps!
74 businesses signed up as Visitor Centre members last year, several more than in 2012 and the team will be aiming
to look after even more members in 2014. Once again our Corporate Sponsors provided a net total of about $11,500 in
cash and in-kind support for the VC and town events. $8,800 of this went directly towards the running of the Visitor
Centre. We are extremely grateful, as the Visitor Centre could not survive without their contributions. Many thanks to:
13
The Corporate Sponsors for 2014 are not as yet finalised, and we are always on the lookout for another corporate
sponsor for $2,500-$5,000 in return for a generous package of benefits including marketing collateral and event
sponsorship. A Service Level Agreement (SLA), with Council for $5,000 in return for services didn’t eventuate in 2013,
but is on the agenda for 2014.
The VC team raised an incredible $19,000 throughout 2013 from three raffles and fundraising events. This represents
16.5% of the income required. Many thanks to the various fundraising teams for this great result, which ensured that
our part-time paid Managers retained their hours in 2014 and the doors stayed open.
8.5
Brochure and Visitor Map production and distribution
The Visitor Centre takes responsibility for the production and the funding of most of the town’s give-away marketing
collateral at the end of each year, including:

Tear off Maps with Dining Out Guides

Brunswick Accommodation Guide

101 Things to Do Guide
The production of these are big projects in themselves and even with some volunteer co-ordination the VC wears a
loss of about an $800 loss for the set of brochures. The colour Visitor Map on the exterior wall of the VC is still a very
popular advertising medium and the profits from this project cover the brochure production shortfall.
We were thrilled to be invited by Cameron Arnold at Apartments Inn Byron Bay (following Byron@Byron’s lead in 2012)
to put together a brochure for their clientele about Brunswick as a village experience. The Simple Pleasures Design
Team spent many months preparing this brochure for approval last year and it hasbeen distributed. Print Rescue
provided the artwork at no charge and Apartments Inn covered the printing cost. This is an important free marketingtool
for the Chamber and the whole town. Its eclectic collection of interesting retailers, artisans and cafes, is being
promoted to the high-end market, with very little outlay.
An extensive range of maps for sale as well as free maps are available to customers and the Brochure and Map Coordinator (Alan) does a great job of keeping the members’ brochure service up to date.
8.6
Booking services
Accommodation
Unlike the Byron Visitor Centre, the Brunswick Visitor Centre doesn’t take commissions for holiday accommodation
bookings, as this service is already being provided by our real estate agents. A nominal $5 service fee however was
charged to assist walk-in visitors findaccommodation and this fee was deducted from the tariff at the accommodation
end. It doesn't make us much money, but customers are very pleased with this service. We provided many
accommodation referrals, and records of all of these were kept.
Buses
We provided information only on local bus schedules (no bookings or commissions), but also booked interstate and
shuttle buses. The income stream for Premier bus bookings dropped further in 2013 to less than $35 per week. The
booking process is quite time consuming, but we continue with Premier because the service is highly valued by locals
and visitors.
Tours and activities
We do, however, book tours and activities on a commission basis, and make big efforts to showcase these to
customers. Tours and activity bookings improved considerably last year, and while it doesn't bring in much income, we
are keen to encourage visitors to support our local eco-friendly activity operators.
Chamber and VC members are promoted as much as possible, with brochures & cards displayed for free as part of
membership, but no verbal referrals are ever made for non-members.
8.7
Simple Pleasures merchandise
We aim to sell only good quality Brunswick souvenirs. A fewnew items were added to our list –word cards and
postcards about Brunswick Heads in 3 colours were produced and a poem written and donated by Bush Poet Ray
Essery was turned into a card, plus Ray Essery CD’s and indigenous stickers were added. We are always on the look
out for new merchandise products that represent Brunswick Heads well and that visitors want to buy. We try hard not to
replicate other Bruns retailers products, so our scope is limited, and we hope that other retailers do the same. A few
appropriate “novelty” items for children were sourced and sold at the Twilight markets. The holiday book exchange and
secondhand book sales growth continued, and we became more selective with the quality and titles. Our top sellersfor
the year were secondhand books, t-shirts and calendars. Postcards and maps were not far behind. We also made
some modifications to a couple of display shelves donated by Prue at the Newsagent to improve our presentation of
merchandise.
8.8
Online shop
A few online shop sales finally kicked in during the year, and these were mostly historical books. We also established
an affiliation with Global Paddler (kayak books) and look forward to some income from that.
8.9
Famils
Several excellent famils were organised again throughout the year to provide our VC team with first hand experience of
what our various visitor member tourism operators have on offer, so they can promote them with accuracy and
14
enthusiasm. The famils included accommodation providers around town, visitor attractions in the area and some visitor
oriented retailers. In 2013 the famils were “themed”.
8.10 Equipment
The VC purchased a 6x3 marquee with back and sides panelsat a bargain price, and it was used at the Mulum2Bruns
Paddle, Old & Gold and the Twilight Festival. Replacement of some of our computer and other equipment was due last
year, but we didn’t get the equipment grant funding. Throughout the year we had several occasions to have our
computers and software attended to, and had to buy a new printer, resulting in a blow out of our equipment and
maintenance budget.
8.11
Project Office function as an Engine Room
In 2013 the Centre was well used as a base for the conduct of several events and projects, including the Kites & Bike
Festival, Mullum2Bruns Paddle, Old & Gold Festival and the Business Card Directory production, plus the raffles and
the in-house production of all our brochures and publications. The Visitor Centre front desk accepts money, mail and
RSVPs on behalf of the Chamber. The Centre was well used as a Chamber base and the back room was made good
use of for Executive, subcommittee and Brunswick Tourism and Tweed St Taskforce meetings during the year. In
September the Executive Officer workstation was swapped from the front office to the less distracting back room. It
would be difficult for the Chamber to function effectively without this base or the support that the Visitor Centre team
provides. Although the Visitor Centre and Chamber finances are separated, the goodwill and support that the two
teams provide one another by being under the same roof is extensive.
2013 SUB-COMMITTEE REPORTS
SIMPLE PLEASURES DESIGN TEAM
Linda Hibbard from the Visitor Centre joined the Simple Pleasures Design Team after the AGM and Jenny Cornish left
early in the year. Her years on the team were greatly appreciated. The groupmet regularly in 2013 to progress various
projects including:






The design and production of a second Brunswick village experience brochure for the Apartments Inn Byron
Bay at the invitation of the manager, Cameron Arnold, at no cost to us. This plus the 2012 Byron@Byron
brochure encourage high yield visitors to explore and shop in Brunswick Heads.
Judging of the BSC“Don’t Spoil us, We'll Spoil You” SP Photo Competition and the organisation of the Simple
Pleasures category awards ceremony
The production of the 2014 calendar
The repair of the Gulgan Rd billboard
The design of new word art and Ray Essery cards for sale at the Visitor Centre
Selection of the 2014 photo Comp Theme “Brunswick Heads, wish you were here”
The team provided feedback on the proposed Brunswick River Inn footpath paving design and attended the meeting
with Council re the blister plantings. SP Design Team keeps watchful eyes over the use of the SP logos and our
Simple Pleasures branding in general.
Valerie Hardy, Kim Rosen, Michelle Begg and Linda Hibbard
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LEP COMMITTEE
Over the years we have lobbied Council to make some necessary changes to the current zonings and permitted uses
and have made written submissions on our proposals, including the change of Tweed St from residential to mixed use
and the correction of anomalies in Fingal and Mullumbimbi St. The LEP subcommittee had further opportunity to make
a supplementary submission on some of the finer points in the new LEP, particularly to address features still adversely
affecting Brunswick Heads. We met with BSC Planner Ray Darney and local planner Kate Singleton and Kate offered
her time to review our submission to Council and participated in a Q&A at the April Chamber meeting, and clarified
various features for members. To protect the blocks of medium density flats within the proposed low density residential
zone (R2), we requested “spot zoning”be permitted as Ballina Shire has done. We commented on the 9m limit,
requested a change of definition of “shop top housing” to include all shop/resident configurations, gave feedback on
floor space ratios and requested B&Bs be permitted in the B4 zone. We have not heard anything since.
Garden flats
Malcolm Price suggested a better use of laneways with his garden flat proposal as a way to increase the stock of small one and
two bedroom residential housing and made his information available to members.
Bayside Brunswick
The new Bayside development is in the hands of the State Govt and still in doubt. A drain needs to be dug deeper, but the
presence of the Wallumfroglet is an issue. The original plan to have 250 lots was reduced now down to 160 and is in a
much smaller area.
Todd Buckland, Kim Rosen, Russell Siwicki, Robert Rosen
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SAFETY COMMITTEE
15
This year Brunswick Heads has had a relatively quiet year in relation to reported issues and concerns in the community.
The ongoing issues of illegal camping in the parks and reserves, and graffiti (malicious damage/scribble) still need to
be addressed. I had discussions with the carnival operators as they were leaving town and they indicated that this year
had been a trouble free year with no major incidents in the park .This could be as a direct result of increased police
presence during the holiday period and we thank them for their assistance in keeping our village a safe holiday
destination for our many visiting families.I would like to thank the outgoing Chamber Executive for a job well done
during the course of the year.
Russell Siwicki
HOLIDAY LETTING COMMITTEE
A NSW Code of Conduct for Holiday Letting was adopted in early 2013. Participating organisations are Stayz,
TakeABreak, Rentahome, Byron Holiday Letting Organisation (HLO) and the NSW Real Estate Institute. The Code has
been welcomed by the NSW Government.
The proposed new draft Shire Wide Local Environmental Plan (LEP) does not specifically restrict holiday or short-term
letting. However the Council now intends to seek a future amendment to the new still Draft LEP after it comes into
force.
The Council has also been continuing to seek to restrict holiday letting under the current LEP and in 2012 commenced
legal action against a Ewingsdale holiday property owner. However the property owner then decided to cease holiday
letting and not to defend the case. In early February 2013 Council sent a letter to new property owner, in Byron Bay,
requesting that he stop carrying out holiday letting on the his property, because they claimed that the property was
prohibited under the current Byron LEP. However at a Council meeting in late February it was resolved todefer this
matter until “after results of a workshop that is to be convened with HLO, representatives of letting agents, Councillors
and staff to discuss options for regulation of holiday letting.”
The Land and Environment Court handed down a decision in May 2013 about a Terrigal holiday letting property. The
judgement states that under the current Gosford LEP all property owners in areas zoned 2A residential cannot
undertake rentals of less than three months. The relevant provisions of Gosford’s LEP (including the definition of a
“dwelling”) are much the same as in the current Byron 1998 LEP. This decision is of considerable concern and HLO
has expressed its concern on this matter to the Department of Planning and the Minister.
In June 2013 the Council held a holiday letting meeting which included Councillors, representatives from the
Department of Planning, HLO, local real estate agents and other holiday accommodation providers. Russell Siwicki and
Robert Rosen represented Brunswick at the meeting. The meeting considered a range of issues including the current
holiday letting code of conduct, other regulatory or enforcement mechanisms, the current legal position in regards to
holiday letting, the impacts on residential housing availability and affordability, noise impacts, the possible imposition of
holiday rental bonds and the establishment of an ongoing working group to consider holiday letting matters. While no
decisions were made at the meeting, there was a wide discussion of viewpoints and there seemed to be general
consensus that the discussion had been a productive one.
Another Council meeting on holiday letting was held in November. Russell Siwicki and Robert Rosen again attended
this meeting, along with councillors and council staff, as well as representatives from HLO, real estate agents, the
Australian Resident Accommodation Mangers Association, a new group called Victims of Holiday Letting and the
community. At this meeting council staff outlined (and representatives commented on) possible options for future
amendments to the council’s currently Draft LEP together with the preparation of an associated Development Control
Plan.
It is estimated that the process to get through consent for such a Draft LEP amendment would take over 12 months.
Such a plan, if successful, is likely to have major impacts on holiday letting in Brunswick Heads, through possible
restrictions on the residential areas where holiday letting might be permitted, the imposition of some form of Council
planning approval process on effected properties, and further financial imposts being imposed on holiday property
owners.
It is recommended that effected stakeholders in the north of the Shire get together to formulate a strategy about how to
most effectively respond to Council wanting to further control holiday letting by seeking to amend its Draft LEP.
Robert Rosen (Chair), Russell Siwicki, Suzanne Eatwell
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BRUNSWICK TOURISM/TWEED ST TASKFORCE
The Brunswick Tourism Group and Tweed St Taskforce continued to run back to back meetings approximately every
two months throughout 2013. We welcomed Brentyn Schubert (former Byron VC board member) and local resident,
Joylene McNamara on board the group in 2013. Malcolm Price left the Taskforce group to focus on Mullumbimby
projects (he is from upper Main Arm). Colin Woodbry also advised of his resignation from the Brunswick Tourism Group
at the end of the year, and his invaluable contribution will be greatly missed. It is an amazing team comprising many
skilled professionals, so we are very blessed to have people of this calibre working voluntarily on Brunswick’s behalf.
We would welcome couple of additional committee members for 2014.
Kim attended the Green Visitor Economy Conference, with star studded cast of presenters,on13 August in Sydney at
her own expense, with the aim of adapting any ideas for either Brunswick Heads or the shire in general. There was
some take home from the day, especially concerning the positive response that businesses are getting to marketing
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that portrays environmental heroism.
Several tourism related meetings and workshops were attended during the year as usual, and we continue to be
disappointed with the lack of turnout by our own tourism operators at these. More tourism operators are welcomed onto
the Brunswick Tourism Group.
The Brunswick Tourism Group provided advice, direction and assistance on a number of tourism related projects and
issues during the year, including:
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Feedback to the BSC Tourism Advisory Committee (through Kim, rep & Peter Wotton alternate)
Foreshore planning and opportunities
The LEP submission
The direction of VIA Byron
The Byron Shire Destination Management Plan, and gaps in product and infrastructure
The establishment of a Byron Shire Business & Tourism Awards night in 2014 or 2015
VIA Byron
Much of Brunswick Tourism’s time in 2013 was taken up with VIA Byron, as it developed a Membership Prospectus,
series of Subcommittees, Strategic Plan, Corporate Sponsorship guidelines and proposed a plan to incorporate Byron
VC into VIA Byron in 2014. Information was filtered through to our members via the Chamber newsletter. But there was
also much for our group to discuss and provide feedback for Kim Rosen to take back to the VIA Board as our
Brunswick Heads’ representative and conduit.
Tweed St Masterplan
We learned that our RDA funding application through Council was unsuccessful and that no funding for any Tweed St
Masterplan works let alone costings would be forthcoming in 2013. So the Ten Seat Project progressed at a snail’s
pace for the first half of the year, but the discovery that Council had allocated $5K towards the project to match the $5K
donation from Brunswick Seaside Holidays meant that we could commence work on the first seat the Frank Mills seat
in the second half. Frank was consulted and a design brief was written. Suvira McDonald was engaged to create a
sculpture seat, sourcing inspiration from Frank’s life and he presented his proposal (below) to a forum of stakeholders
at the end of November. Discussions and site meetings with Council confirmed the site under the Cypress Pine tree at
the supermarket and work commenced in December. A plaque containing a QR code will be attached to the “fire
hydrant” feature so that Frank’s stories can be accessed on smart phones. The audio component of the seat was
separated out and a fundraising drive to engage a Project Manager has to date secured $1,600 towards the $2,000
needed. $500 each is pledged from the Chamber & Progress Associations and $600 from 6 local businesses. The
project should be completed by April 2014.
An initial discussion with Nortec indicates there could be some funding available for another one or two seats in 2014.
These would probably be the ones requiring community engagement in their creation.
Kim Rosen (Chair), Colin Woodbry, Peter Claydon, Pauline Ross, Angela Brand, Malcolm Price, Brentyn Schubert,
Peter Wotton, Joylene McNamara
Opposite the supermarket under the Cyprus tree
Artist’s impression of Frank Mills seat
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Chamber acknowledge the wonderful contributions during 2013 by a huge number of people:
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The workers - the various Chamber sub-committees & reps on Council & other committees
The Visitor Centre team and our six Visitor Centre Corporate Sponsors
Our partners – Byron Shire Council, TURSA and Nortec
The event and project organisers, their volunteer teams and all the event sponsors
The very hard working and committed Executive team, who gave up their precious time to meet regularly, represent
the membership on issues, oversee the work of the various subcommittees, project and event teams, compile
submissions, organise fundraising and foster relationships with organisations with whom we need to network and
plan for the future.
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All the members who supported the various functions, fundraisers, workshops and projects organised by the
Chamber and who either contributed input and ideas into submissions and strategic planning documents and plans
and/or attended meetings.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2013
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Members (3)
Todd Buckland
Peter Wotton
Kim Rosen
Debbie Arndt
Ginny Giorgio, Valerie Hardy, Michelle Begg
CHAMBER STAFF 2013
Mary Hodgson, Bec de Wilde (Admin Assist April – Sept) then Admin Officer (Sept - Dec)
Lisa Scheithe
Executive Officer
Bookkeeper
CHAMBER SUB-COMMITTEES 2013
COMMITTEE
MEMBERS
Finance
Business & Tourism Group & Tweed St
Task Force
Holiday Letting
Simple Pleasures Design Team
Safety Committee
Kites & Bikes 2013
2013 SP Photo Competition
Debbie Arndt, Kim Rosen, Peter Wotton
Kim Rosen (Chair), Colin Woodbry, Peter Claydon, Angela Brand, Malcolm Price,
Pauline Ross, Brentyn Schubert, Peter Wotton
Robert Rosen (Chair), Russell Siwicki, Suzanne Eatwell
Kim Rosen (Chair), Valerie Hardy, Michelle Begg, Linda Hibbard
Russell Siwicki
Michele Kelly/Lanie Laughlin, (Co-ords), Bruce McMaster, Linda Hibbard. Lisa
Scheithe, Kim Rosen, Leisl Fitzgerald & Siobhan Carlin
VC reps: Kim Rosen (Co-rd), Stephen Bond, Glenn Scheithe, Paul Begg,
plus Linda, Sonya &VC team
Linda Hibbard & Bruce McMaster (Co-ords), Mary Ashton, Valerie Hardy, Prue
Harrington, Siobhan Carlin, Kim Rosen& Cherie Heale
Kim Rosen, Valerie Hardy, Michelle Begg, Linda Hibbard, plus VC volunteers
LEP Committee
Todd Buckland, Kim Rosen, Russell Siwicki, Robert Rosen
Mullum to Bruns Paddle 2013
(VC team on the committee)
Old & Gold 2013
VISITOR CENTRE TEAM 2013
Staff
Admin & Merchandise Manager
Volunteers Manager
Membership & Marketing Manager
Admin Assistant
Customer Service Officer (TURSA)
Customer Service Officer (TURSA)
Projects Assistant
Projects Assistant
VC Co-ordinator
Management Committee
Linda Hibbard
Linda Hibbard
Allison Rogers
Shirley Aston
Sonya Brookes (Jan – July`)
Caterina Boschin (August – November)
Cherie Heale (March- August)
Alan Raabe (Sept - current)
Kim Rosen
Peter Wotton
VolunteersLinda, Shirley, Ros, Kerri-Anne, Lorraine, Bill, Steven, Cherie, Leah, Alan, Suzanne, Irene, Karen, Gaily, Kristy,
Dayna, Kevin, Zoe, Tracy
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Sincere thanks to TURSA for their support with printing of the Annual Report