Greenside Residents Association AGM Feedback
The Greenside Resident’s Association (GRA) held their 2012 Annual General Meeting (AGM)on Wednesday the 28th March. The meeting was opened by the Chair, Adam Sargent, who gave an overview of the committee’s activities over the past year; this was followed by a number of presentations related to urban management, security and finances.
Urban management: There was active audience participation with a number of residents expressing their ongoing difficulties with night time activities in the business node on the basis of the establishments operating with no concern to surrounding residents. Law enforcement agencies have been poor in clamping down on illegal operations, that has fundamentally seen businesses operating with impunity. 5 establishments have been identified as priority for action, but unless there is active cooperation from law enforcement – the situation remains. However, there are initiatives being actively pursued by the urban management portfolio, not least of being attempts to link with responsible business owners who are considerate of residents and respectful of contributing positively to the suburb. An appeal was made to residents to actively pursue issues independently, through logging complaints and if necessary writing to the Rosebank Killarney Gazette to highlight issues.
Security: CSS Tactical were given an opportunity to address the residents with respect to the proactive security initiative launched in 2011. Whilst acknowledging that the uptake had been poor, they also acknowledged their own role due to marketing deficiencies. They remain committed to the initiative, with a renewed marketing campaign due to be launched.
Finances /Membership: The audited financials were presented and accepted. They revealed that the GRA remains solvent with limited operational expenditure incurred. However, the availability of funds for future projects that might contribute positively for the suburb is quite limited. The current membership base is low (< 100) and as such the inflow of funds is poor. This is clearly an issue that needs to be addressed.
Volunteers/committee election: The evening ended with a call for volunteers to assist with GRA matters, as well as noting the resignation of a number of existing committee members with others who have chosen to remain in the short term being proposed and elected.
Public meeting: The evening closed with a commitment to a public meeting for residents in the future to provide a platform for feedback and discussion on specific issues. The details will be distributed following the first meeting of the GRA committee, due to be held in May.