Trust adopts a new Constitution and Incorporation
Trust adopts a new Constitution and Incorporation
There will be a vote on a proposed new constitution for the Trust. This will be held at a Special General Meeting, held alongside the Ordinary General Meeting, on Tuesday 15th May.
The Epping Civic Trust has been representing the residents of Epping for 47 years. As a
small community body, it has adapted over time to meet the needs of the area, but it remains
a grass roots community organisation. Locals volunteer their time to serve on the
Committee, organise General Meetings, lobby Council and government bodies, and raise
awareness of issues.
This year, the new Committee has taken time to review the governance of the Trust.
Following this review, it is their opinion that two important steps need to be taken to bring the
Trust up to modern day’s standards for not-for-profit associations of this type. During this
review, the Trust has drawn on the expertise of the Department of Fair Trading (which has
excellent resources for bodies like ours) and neighbouring Civic Trusts in
Beecroft/Cheltenham and Pennant Hills.
UPDATE Incorporation and the new constitution were discussed and voted on at the Special General Meeting on Tuesday 15th May, 2018. They were passed by more than the required two thirds majority.
Special General Meeting
Two matters needed to be addressed in order for this proposal to proceed – a new Constitution for the Trust, and Incorporation as a Not-for-Profit Association. For that reason, the Trust held a Special General Meeting in conjunction with the General Meeting on Tuesday 15th May, 2018, at 7.30 p.m. at Church of Christ hall, Bridge Street, Epping. At that meeting, the members passed two motions:- That the Epping Civic Trust adopts a new Constitution, as distributed to members and amended at the SGM
- That the Epping Civic Trust becomes an incorporated association through the NSW Department of Fair Trading
Constitution
The current Epping Civic Trust constitution was last reviewed in 2007. Since then the Department of Fair Trading have developed model governance protocols for associations like the Trust which they recommend as best practice. Therefore, the committee has reviewed the recommendations of Fair Trading, and the constitution of similar Trusts which are more up to date, and proposes a new Epping Civic Trust Constitution. It does not change the objectives of the Trust but better defines good process for its operation – the AGM, office bearers, roles of Committee members and an Executive Committee, financial management and record keeping. You can view a copy of the new constitution here.Incorporation
The Epping Civic Trust is currently not incorporated. This leaves members and volunteers without due protection if any action was to be taken against the Trust or in the case of financial insolvency leaving outstanding debts. As the Trust is very active in speaking up on behalf of the community in public forums and online, the committee sees this as an unacceptable risk. Incorporation, through the Department of Fair Trading, would progress the Trust to modern governance and allow members to be actively involved without unnecessary personal risk. The process includes some additional annual paperwork, but this is not considered too hard for the committee to undertake each year. With the proposal to incorporate passed at the Special General Meeting, the Trust will now proceed to incorporation.