This is a report presented our Chairman, Rick Francis, at the 2025 AGM held on Wednesday 30 April 2025:
LAMPADA SKI CLUB CO-OPERATIVE LIMITED
Welcome to the 2025 Annual General Meeting of Lampada Ski Club, I can confirm that we have a quorum present (11 members), and hence I can formally open the 57th AGM of the Club.
To introduce us firstly, up front we have myself (Rick Francis) as your Chair and John Jamieson who is a Director and also our Company Secretary and responsible for all our corporate reporting obligations and insurance.
Our other Directors are –
- Rob McLelland – who is our Treasurer
- Simon Gates – our legal adviser and School Snowsports Liaison
- Andy Marr – responsible for utilities and environment
- John Kraefft – our primary Booking Officer
- David Francis – website, IT & second Booking Officer
- Rod Proud – Snow Sports and Competitions
- Jeremy Tompson – membership
- Kent Mears – responsible for lodge maintenance.
Rob and Jeremy both live outside Sydney and are apologies for tonight.
Also, Kent is retiring as of tonight, which I will come back to later.
The formal agenda for tonight is to:
- Confirm the Minutes of last year’s AGM held on 24 April 2024
- To approve the Financial Report for the year ended 31 December 2024
- The election of Directors
- To approve a Special Resolution; and
- To address any other general business or questions you may have.
I will first run through my speech for tonight and other formalities, which we will make available on our web-site later for those members who are unable to be here with us tonight.
Firstly, the minutes of the 2024 AGM have been circulated to all members, and John has tabled them in front of you.
- Are there any questions?
- Thank you, we will take them as approved
Secondly, we have the Directors Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. The Reports have been circulated to all members, and John has tabled them in front of you.
I’ll make a few comments and then read a summary from Rob on the financial statements themselves, before we put them to the meeting for discussion and approval.
We have 121 members at present – 1 honoured Life Member; 6 Foundation members; 106 full members; and 8 provisional members. There were no new members in 2024 and 4 resignations. Our level of members using the lodge however remains consistent with last year, which does put pressure on the sharing of costs across the membership base. Having said that, for the first time in two years we are seeking to add a new member and are in the process of discussing membership with those on our waiting list.
I would like to formally acknowledge and thank our departing members, who have been long-time members and great contributors to the Club:
- Sandy Bathgate – who was previously our company secretary for many years;
- Geoff Greenwell – who has been very active in our working weekends; and
- Tim Brighton; while
- Will Gray has lived overseas for many years and is unlikely to return to Australia.
The 2024 winter season saw the lodge well booked initially. We had some good early snow falls and a top-up in late July but unfortunately no further significant snow and Perisher ended up closing early on 25 September. This affected bookings and revenues. Although winter bed nights were down in total, we were able to accommodate more guests in 2024 (43% vs 28% in 2023) which did mean our overall accommodation revenues were higher than 2023. This fact has indicated to the Board that we do have some capacity to take on a new member in 2025.
Well done to our Booking Officers – John and David for their efforts in 2024 and in keeping the peace with our members!
The lodge remains in good condition and this year we have done some minor improvements like upgrading the linen storage area, acquiring a second fridge to deal with the busy periods, installed a new shower recess in the downstairs bathroom, re-gravelled the driveway and changed over all the lodge’s pillows. On the agenda for the near future will be upgrading the deck and remodelling the kitchen…
I thank Kent and Andy for their dedication in ensuring our lodge remains in good order and continues to run safely.
A change that occurred in 2024 was the ATO’s increased focus on the tax exemption for Sporting Organisations. This was a useful reminder to the Board and we were comforted that our constitution and activities remain relevant and consistent with the tax rules, albeit it is a good opportunity to review and refresh some of our activities in supporting skiing competitions.
Our unique relationship with Shore School and their Snowsports programme assists in this area. As set out in the Directors’ Report:
Shore enjoyed some great success in 2024, placing fourth overall at the Interschools Australian Championships behind Scots, King’s and Melbourne Grammar. A superb achievement. Highlights included:
- In Division 4 Cross Country Classic – National Individual Bronze.
- In Division 2 Ski Cross – National Team Bronze
- In Division 1 Snowboard Slopestyle – National Individual Silver
- In Division 1 Snowboard Cross – National Team Silver
- In Division 1 Ski Cross – National Team Gold
Also one student was awarded Australian Champion, Individual Gold in Ski Cross. He also placed 4th individually in Alpine GS the day before he won the Ski Cross. In the past 18 months he has represented Australia in Ski Cross at the Junior World Championships in Italy and the Youth Olympic Games in Korea, and was a Flag Bearer for Australia at the opening ceremony for the Games. This year he was awarded the Shore Honour Award and also received our Lampada Ski Club’s Award for Outstanding Performance.
Whilst Simon will retain the liaison role with the School’s MIC for Snowsports, we have appointed Rod Proud as Director of Snow Sports. Rod will focus on supporting our own members for competitions such as State and National ski race weeks, Perisher and other Cups, our own internal Cups and challenges and for other technical support and training.
I thank Simon and Rob for their considerable efforts in reviewing our compliance with the ATO requirements.
While costs, which are largely outside of our control such as National Parks costs, rent and insurance, continue to rise, we are mindful of the impact on our members. Hence we have left annual subs unchanged in 2025 and only increased accommodation rates modestly. Our research indicates that our accommodation rates are still very competitive with other lodges and substantially cheaper than accommodation available to the general public. We hope this is appreciated by members.
Okay, to the results themselves, I’ll read from a summary from our Treasurer:
2024 was another good year financially, resulting in a $16k profit. This was primarily driven by an increase in accommodation revenue, which at $100k, was $12k higher than 2023. Other income sources were mostly unchanged against previous years and came in at $59k. Total revenue for the club was just shy of $160k.
Despite inflationary impacts, expenses as a whole were lower, resulting in operating expenses of $143k which was a $10k reduction against last year. There were swings and roundabouts but a $7k reduction in Repairs and Maintenance was the main driver. In saying this, it should be noted that the lodge remains well maintained with a lot of repairs and improvements carried out by members each year, volunteering their time and expertise, and without the involvement of Kent and Andy, this expense would have been significantly higher.
Insurance continues to be a large contributor to the running costs of the lodge. During 2024 the club undertook a reassessment of the costs to rebuild the lodge in the event of a total loss, which led to an increase in our premiums, but we can be reassured that we will not be in an under-insured position should there be a major fire or other catastrophe. There is a possibility that premiums may decrease as more competition comes into the market, but the timing and quantum on this remains unknown.
Interest expense is steadily reducing as the debentures are paid back, and it is hoped that this year will also see a reduction in interest rates also contributing to a lower expense for interest in 2025. Debentures were paid down by $37,000 during the year leaving the amount outstanding at the end of 2024 at $123k (originally $275,000) and debentures currently sit at $111k after further repayments. Hopefully we will be able to further reduce these debentures at the end of this year.
Overall, fixed costs for the club remain high and exceed our fixed revenue – which is not ideal. For 2024, our fixed costs, on a cash basis, were circa $65k, which exceeds our fixed revenue by $10k. This shows us the importance of ongoing accommodation revenue to ensure the financial viability of the club. Notwithstanding this, the board has made the conscious decision to maintain annual subscriptions below $500 (for those that pay on time), in order to keep costs down as much as we can for members, especially for those who aren’t regular users of the lodge.
Cash at bank as of today is $120k and overall the Club is in good shape financially, and we are able to operate and maintain the lodge to a high standard to provide for the enjoyment of our members.
So thanks Rob for that summary. Before I put the 2024 financial report to the members for approval.
- Are there any questions?
- I’ll now put them to the meeting for approval – all in favour? / against?
- The Financial Report is approved.
The third item on the agenda is the election of Directors.
You would remember that last year we changed the rules such that we are only required to have a minimum of 8 Directors on the Board, down from a fixed number of 10, to give us flexibility when dealing with retirements of Directors from the Board.
This situation has arisen this year with the planned retirement of Kent from the Board.
Accordingly, in line with our rotational requirements, three Directors retire by rotation and offer themselves for re-election. All of them are well known to you, and therefore I won’t go through them individually, unless anyone wishes me to do so.
The Board supports all the nominations, and no other nominations were received.
I will deal with them collectively – being:
- Jeremy Tompson – our current memberships Director
- Rod Proud – assuming responsibility for Snow Sports; and
- Myself – acting as Chair.
Are there any questions you’d like to ask about Jeremy, Rod or Myself in relation to our re-elections as Directors?
- If not…all in favour? / against?
- The re-election of all 3 Directors is approved
Whilst we are talking about Directors, as previously mentioned, Kent will stepping down from the Board for personal reasons after 18 years of service. He will remain a member. I would like to formally thank him for his invaluable running of the lodge maintenance program and working weekend activities. He was also significantly involved in overseeing the recent Ensuites renovation which has taken the Lodge to the next level. Congratulations Kent and many thanks.
The Board is initiating a process to replace Kent’s responsibilities, and if you or someone else you know might have the right skill set and be interested in taking over, please contact me.
Next we move to the Special Resolution, which requires a two-thirds (67%) majority to be passed.
The proposed resolution, if passed, will be subject to the approval of the NSW Fair Trading Registrar of Co-operatives or “The Registry”.
The proposed resolution is that “The By-Laws of Lampada Ski Club Co-operative Limited are removed from the Rules”.
We currently have Rules and By-Laws which are attached to each other and are registered with The Registry, and as such any changes to either, require changes to be approved at a general meeting of members and subsequent approval and registering by The Registry.
- The Rules cover the membership and running of the Club. These are more statutory obligations similar to what is contained in a company’s constitution, and it is not proposed to change these Rules.
- The By-Laws contain the operations of Lodge (including information about seasons, bookings and staying at the Lodge) and need to be regularly updated.
The Board proposes moving these operating rules for the lodge into a separate Operating Procedures Manual which will be maintained by the Board. A draft of the proposed Operating Procedures Manual is attached – note this is only a draft and will undergo further review and updating.
Hence removing the By-Laws will simplify future changes to the lodge operations, and any changes will not require approval by Special Resolutions in the future nor approval of The Registry. The Co-Ops Registry has not indicated any concern with the proposal being put forward to the members.
Please note that only Foundation and Ordinary members (and not Provisional members) are entitled to vote.
- On that note, I will open up the resolution for any questions – are there any questions?
- I’ll now put it to the meeting for approval – all in favour? / against?
- The resolution has been approved
Thank you, and I will now move to our last item, being any General Business:
I would like to raise the first matter – being participation in the Lodge activities and specifically the working weekend.
This year, we only had 4 members attend the working weekend, including 2 members, two Directors and one family member. As a result Kent was required to conduct a subsequent visit for 4 days to finish off the work program. Participating in the working weekend is a great opportunity to meet members and get a good understanding of how the lodge operates.
We are open to suggestions on how to increase participation and share the workload. Current suggestions are to require all provisional members to attend before they are offered full membership, or to offer priority bookings for regular attendees.
We are also actively considering other forms of memberships, such as summer memberships to try and encourage use of the lodge outside the traditional winter busy period.
We are open to your suggestions on the matters…now or later
Other Matters for consideration/update
- Status of bookings for 2025 winter season – John K
- Updates on Perisher & new 6 chair on Mt P – Simon
- Future meetings on/combined with Zoom? – Rick
On that note, I will open up the meeting to any other business or questions you may have.
- Are there any questions?
Discussion raised from the floor included:
- Participation at/timing of the working weekend & suggestions (reward/priority?)
- How to raise awareness of other members in the Club (to build friendships)
- Circulate names of members, respecting privacy concerns
- Social gatherings
- Identifying the next generation coming through (the 3rd generation) to take Lampada forward, and progressively involving them to take on the responsibilities
No more questions…
Thank you for your attendance tonight, I now close the 57th Annual General Meeting for Lampada Ski Club.
