The following notes
on the formation and history of the THY&SC were written by Keith
Lennon with some additional comments in italics
Why was the Club
Formed
The Club started as an ideal. It had its birth in the break-up of
the land for the Kyla Park development. The first Kyla Park public
meeting on 16th April, left no doubt that most people did not want
the type of sub-division that was proposed. This group that fought
so hard to preserve some of the beauty of Tuross has been accused
of many things, but most of these were quite untrue. No member of
the group gained financially for the effort that was given to the
venture. They were always cognizant of the unique area and they
fought for, and obtained, a development that the community should
be proud to preserve.
They should be reminded that about 51 hectares were used for open
space residential purposes, and about 237 hectares were for open
space, such as grazing areas and community access areas, including
the area for sporting facilities known as the Hall Block.
During the period April to October, 1977 the public fight covered
all areas from Local Government to Banking Authorities and Institutions.
The State Government was involved and it was finally determined
by the State Government on 22 December, 1978 altering the Interim
Development Order No.3 of the Shire of Eurobodalla by inserting
special clauses to protect the Kyla Park Area.
The community was fully informed at all times of the moves of the
various parties and gained a strong reputation for their determination
and honesty.
Formation of the Youth and Sports Club
The inaugural public meeting (chaired by John Mount) was held at
Tuross Head on 1 March, 1978.
I have a record of the advice given to that meeting that a constitution
of the Club should be for a Management Group to manage the affairs
of the "Club" and that the various sporting groups should
manage their own affairs. Further, that if the Club should wish
to participate in State and Council Grants then the name of the
Club should cover Sports and Youth activities.
However, at the inaugural meeting a Motion was accepted, perhaps
due to the fact that the majority of people attending the meeting
were tennis players, that the title for the group would be Tuross
Heads Tennis, Youth and Sports Club.
I advised that the title was incorrect - my letter stated that there
was no such place as Tuross Heads the title of the locality is Tuross
Head (in the singular) and should we wish to form a sports club
then any specific name such as tennis was superfluous. The group
did work for a short time with the old title but it did not have
a constitution. A set of rules were drawn up.
The title was then changed to Tuross Head Youth and Sports Club
on 6/2/80 and within 2 years the following sub-clubs had registered
with the club. Tennis, Hockey, Rugby,
Cricket, Touch Football, Basketball (Men's
and Ladies'), Youth Club and Sailing.
The first Tennis
Courts (2) were made possible by the joint efforts of the Eurobodalla
Council and
the Dept. of Local Government funded the construction of the oval.
Local labour (voluntary) painted the Courts.
The next development was to build the Public Toilet Block. Then
the Turf Wicket, the Children's Playground and the Tree Planting.
The next project was the building of the Tennis Clubhouse (The
Kyla Development architects (McIntyre) provided the design of the
Tennis Shelter Shed ) and the Main Clubhouse. Machinery Sheds
were erected and two more Courts were built.
From 1981 to 1986 all forms of fund-raising was in excess of $185,000
and this figure did not include Government and Council Grants. A
specific fund for the building of the Clubhouse raised $18,000 by
September, 1981 when the Minister for Sport approved a grant of
$12,000 for this building.
A government-guaranteed loan was negotiated and arrangements made
with the CBC Bank, Moruya, to provide a loan of $35,000 to complete
the Clubhouse.
( Note: The purpose
of the lease was to satisfy a condition of the loan that was obtained
from the bank. Interest free loans were not available from Council
at that time.)
It should be remembered that the Clubhouse includes showers, toilets,
change rooms, kitchen and servery for outside events, storage space,
auditorium and dance floor. The Clubhouse was started in April,
1982 and was opened to inspection by the public in the following
year in January, 1983.
The first meeting
in the new clubhouse was 2/2/83.
My assessment of the
replacement value of the development undertaken by the community
would be in excess of $1,500,000.
Tuross Youth
and Sports Club and the Community
What made our
Club different?
The main difference is that we were able to negotiate with the Council
a management plan and the joint acceptance of a Council observer
in the form of Mr Guy Bantingham on our Committee. I am not sure
that this position is reviewed annually but the scheme works.
All funds raised were channelled back into the development or for
the provision of equipment or for the training of youth in the various
sports. Most of the work was completed on a voluntary basis which
inevitably provided huge savings. This system was good for the Council
but better still it was good for the community. The Club was able
to achieve better growth at a higher rate. It is a formula that
should be used more often - it is the principle of "getting
off your bottom to do a job not waiting for a government to act
as a provider". I believe that this system should continue.
Communities need to be provided with an incentive to work together
for the common good of the community.
More importantly we attempted the formation of a multi-functional
organization, groups with divergent ideas were welded together into
an amalgam where parochialism was subdued.
Keith Lennon
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