The Board held its seventh and final Board Meeting for 2022 on Tuesday 6 December 2022.
Annual General Meeting (AGM 2022)
Thank you to those members who joined us at our AGM 2022 on Saturday 26 November 2022.
To catch up on the highlights of AGM 2022 and our Members’ Information Forum held on Saturday 26 November 2022, see below:
Draft Minutes of AGM 2022 are now available for members to review on our THNSW website, go to THNSW AGM page.
The Board determined that AGM 2023 will be held at the NSW Rail Museum, Thirlmere, in line with the previous commitment given to members in 2019 to alternate venues between Thirlmere and Sydney.
Board appointments
I am pleased to advise the following appointments for the year ahead:
Alex Claassens, Deputy Chair
Peter Watters, Volunteer Company Secretary
Sub-committee and Working Group Chairs were confirmed as follows:
Alex Claassens – Safety & Environment Committee
Deanna Varga – Finance, Risk & Audit Committee
Howard Collins OBE – Rail Operations Support Committee
Dale Budd OBE – Collections & Curatorial Committee
John Cowper – Fundraising Working Group
Brett Fitzpatrick, outgoing Director, was confirmed as a continuing member of the Collections & Curatorial Committee.
Review of Board sub-committees and working groups
The Board has determined to undertake a wholistic review of its sub-committees and working groups in 2023. This review aims to ensure that subcommittees and working groups remain up-to-date and are fit for THNSW’s purposes, aligned to our strategy, and reflect best practice guidelines.
Major projects updates
The Board received an update from the CEO on the latest progress of our two major projects.
Heritage Hub – the building works to refurbish and upgrade of the Tank Annex which will be used for long-term storage of heritage rolling stock items are continuing and remain on track.
The Board and I are looking forward to seeing the successful delivery of the Tank Annex refurbishment to meet our future collection storage needs by April next year.
To see a video update of the works so far, go to: {insert link to video}
Loop Line Upgrade Project – the Board reviewed and considered the revised program and budget for this project following the confirmation from Transport for NSW (TfNSW) as to the more extensive environmental submission and approval process that TfNSW will require before we can commence the re-sleepering and other physical construction works.
The field work for the required Biodiversity and Ecology Assessment has now been completed and the resultant report is in preparation. This critical report will inform the subsequent next steps required to meet TfNSW’s requirements.
In the meantime, the architects are progressing the concept plans for the proposed works to the station precincts at Picton Avenue, Thirlmere, Buxton, Hill Top and Colo Vale, and these will be shared in due course.
All stakeholders, including the community, are in the process of being updated as to the revised program which anticipates the return of heritage steam trains to Colo Vale in early 2024.
Next Board meeting
The Board will take a break over the December-January holiday period. The first regular Board meeting for 2023 is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 28 February 2023.
In closing, I again want to thank and congratulate everyone involved in what has been a great year of returning to a ‘new normal’ throughout 2022. I would also like to wish everyone a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year.
I look forward to seeing you all in 2023.
The Hon. Nathan Rees
Chair