1. WELCOME:

   Andrew Marshall welcomed everyone and introduced Terry Redmond (Denmark National Party Candidate).

   Attendance:

   Andrew Marshall (President), Graeme Heighton (Treasurer), Graham Wright (Water Corp), Chris Westcott, John Kratochvill, Maurice McCormick (Vice-President), Bart Downe (DoE), Peter Collins (CALM), Terri Harwood, John Blaney-Murphy, Noel Bignell, Dale Holley (Secretary), Terry Redmond

   Apologies:

   Louise Duxbury (Greenskills), Phil Mellon, Lionel Downes, Monty Walker

2. REPORTS:

   2.1 President's report - Andrew Marshall presented his report on the year's events. Maurice McCormick accepted the Presidents report. Phil Mellon's efforts in aquiring the computers as a fund raiser for the TCG was again acknowledged.

   2.2 Secretary Dale Holley read the Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting held on the 17th September, 2003. Minutes were confirmed by Maurice McCormick and seconded by Chris Westcott.

   2.3 Treasurer's report - Graeme Heighton

   John Blaney-Murphy and John Kratochvill accepted the Treasurer's report

   ALL POSITIONS WERE DECLARED VACANT AND TERRI HARWOOD CHAIRED THE MEETING

3. ELECTION OF PRESIDENT:

   Andrew Marshall was nominated by John Blaney-Murphy. Andrew accepted for a further 12 months only. Carried unanimously.

4. ELECTION OF VICE PRESIDENT:

   Graeme Heighton was nominated by Maurice McCormick and Noel Bignell seconded. Graeme accepted. Carried

5. ELECTION OF SECRETARY:

   Maurice McCormick nominated Dale Holley and Andrew Marshall seconded. Dale accepted. Carried

6. ELECTION OF TREASURER:

   Maurice McCormick nominated Graeme Heighton and seconded by Andrew Marshall. Graeme accepted. Carried.

7. ELECTION OF MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE:

   The election of up to four other members to form the Management Committee. Terri Harwood nominated the present committee members, John Blaney-Murphy, Chris Westcott and Phillip Marshall be re-elected. Maurice McCormick seconded. Those present accepted, to be confirmed with Phillip Marshall. Carried.

8. APPOINTMENT OF AUDITOR:

   Terri Harwood nominated Wendy Wason as Auditor. Graeme Heighton seconded. Carried subject to Wendy agreeing.

9. OTHER:

   Subscriptions - Maurice McCormick moved the subscriptions stay at $5.00. Graeme Heighton seconded. Dale Holley to check the TCG's Constitution regarding payment of subscriptions, whether it is in alignment with the AGM or commencement of the calendar year.

AGM closed at 8.00 pm

It has been another busy year!

Dave Rushton, relieving coordinator working with the Department of the Environment, returned to Perth in March and we welcomed back Julie Pech after a year's maternity leave.

The first Envirofund Grant was completed and we are now working through the second grant. Many thanks to the Green Corps team under Terry Davey's excellent leadership for all their hard work in completing fencing of creek lines, construction of stock crossings, tree planting and weed control.

Kevin Hopkinson, our Envirofund coordinator left in August to take up different works in the South Coast region. Bob Gretton has taken his place and is continuing Kevin's good works in applying the Envirofund Grant and working with residents in our catchment.

With Lotteries money, the Green Corps team has recently completed a board walk to the Lake Powell bird hide.

CALM is now working on an Interim Management Plan for the Lake Powell Nature Reserve.

The weed control program is continuing with a steady area of watsonia being sprayed each spring. The best time for spraying unfortunately comes at a busy time of year for volunteer involvement. The City of Albany under the guidance of Sandra Maciejewski and the Department of Justice under Tim Harwood have done some excellent spray work and we really appreciate their help in trying to tackle this huge task.

Bridle creeper fungus was introduced to a rampant infestation of Bridle Creeper adjacent to Torbay Hall in spring 2003. There has been a dramatic effect in the spread of the fungus and consequent control of Bridle Creeper which is very encouraging.

One threat that is hanging over our heads is that the Water Corporation, through lack of forward planning, wants to release more nutrients into our already highly polluted waterways. With plenty of people power I am sure that we can forestall this plan.

The Watershed Torbay Newsletter continues to be very well received. Many thanks to Louise Duxbury for all her efforts and time spent compiling such an important source of community communication. Louise is also in the process of applying for funding to the Federal Department of the Environment & Heritage "Sharing Australia's Stories" project : Torbay - Looking Back Looking forward. Good luck Louise!

It is very pleasing to see the continuing number of people who come along to our meetings and the interaction that happens at those meetings. It is also very heartening to have such a good unified working relationship with all the agencies who are involved with work within the catchment and as part of the Watershed Torbay project.

Thank you to everybody who attends and who is involved - especially Dale for her great secretarial support, Graeme for his financial skills and Maurice for being an endless source of catchment knowledge, wise counsel and a wonderful support in his role as "vice".

Andrew Marshall