With regard to The Substation, our community needs to let Council know that they should not fund an undemocratic, self-elected and self serving organisation that excludes local residents.
Hobsons Bay City Council should not be providing over $1M in funding to an organisation that has taken control of an asset created by volunteers in our community, for the benefit of all citizens of Hobsons Bay.
This self-elected Committee of Management of The Substation restricts membership of the Incorporated Association and limits access to a privileged few.
Let the Council know that The Substation must become more inclusive in both its organisational structure and in the arts based activities it promotes; otherwise it should be stripped of its $1M of ratepayers funding.
Assessment by Local Government Inspectorate (LGI).
Excluded members of The Substation Inc. have raised a complaint to the Victorian Local Government Inspectorate which has completed an preliminary assessment into this matter and referred it to IBAC.
Assessment by Independent Broad-based Anti Corruption Commission (IBAC)
Residents and businesses of Hobsons Bay worked tirelessly over sixteen years and contributed over $2.5 million dollars to restore the Newport Substation and create a welcoming Community Arts Centre for all to enjoy.
This dream was stolen by alleged misconduct and breaches of legislation protecting Members rights.
It is time that the truth be told; for the democratic principals of membership to be restored and for our community to resume its rightful place on the Committee of Management at The Substation Inc.
While everyone is isolating and thinking about what is really important in life (family, friends & community), we thought we would put together a little presentation in words and pictures to remind locals of the journey to create The Substation and the community that made it happen…… please enjoy and share with friends in Hobsons Bay.
Hobsons Bay City Council has again rewarded the exclusion of the membership that created The Substation by providing another $1.05 million (on top of the $1.05 million from 2016-2019 years) to the self elected committee that controls what was meant to be a COMMUNITY arts centre.
It is no
surprise that mediation was a complete waste of time and energy. Council and
the Substation had already come up with a pathetically weak and tokenistic response
to appease community anger over the issues of grass roots community engagement
and the exclusion of those that created The Substation.
According to
the Council funding agreement a “Community Reference Group” is to be
established. The Substation is to appoint a “Community Ambassador” to join the Management
Committee. The self elected management committee gets to choose the “Community
Ambassador” as well as members of the Community Reference Group – potentially an
easily manipulated substitute for real membership engagement, transparency or
accountability.
Hobsons Bay City Council and its officers have worked with the Substation Committee to achieve their aim of disenfranchising the original membership and completely changing the focus of the association to that of an experimental contemporary art space. They did this without any community consultation process or regard for the many years of hard work and millions invested by local residents and business sponsors.
Hobsons Bay
City Council and its officers have, and continue to, support a closed,
exclusive and discriminatory organisational structure. A Hobsons Bay City Council
Officer or Councillor has been part of this self elected Committee for the past
ten years and have been involved in every decision that excludes participation
by our community.
The restoration and redevelopment of the Newport Substation was completed by volunteer local residents to create an asset for ALL our community to enjoy. The original vision has been hijacked by a group intent on excluding the wider community from participating in a meaningful way as members of the organisation.
Membership
of the Incorporated Association is a right that should be returned to all
residents and ratepayers of Hobsons Bay. Since 2013 the current self elected
regime has refused membership rights to anyone but themselves and at the same
time received millions of dollars of ratepayer funds.
It’s up to
residents and ratepayers to keep our local Council and The Substation
accountable, so that our local “community” asset is not lost to the people that
created it forever.
We
finally have confirmation that two committee members from The Substation Inc.
are prepared to enter into mediation with representatives from the excluded
membership group.
Due
to the lengthy delay from The Substation in responding to the invitation made
on our behalf by the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria, the mediation
session could not be scheduled for late September as proposed.
Mediation
is now planned for the week of the 9th December. This is not ideal, but was the
first date that all parties were available to attend.
Following
the postponement of the mediation session, I have written to our Councillors to
request that if Hobsons Bay City Council provides funding to The Substation, it
does so in limited regular instalments until a successful outcome can be
negotiated through mediation.
We
have had the experience over the past three and a half years, that once funding
is secured, no meaningful negotiation is supported by The Substation.
There
are also outstanding questions of the legality of actions taken by The
Substation Inc. Committee to exclude it’s membership that will be pursued
should mediation be unsuccessful.
In
the meantime, we will continue to communicate with the excluded membership
group as well as the hundreds of concerned residents and ratepayers that have
registered through our website.
If you have not done so already, please use this link to confirm that you are happy for me to represent you at the mediation. CONFIRM HERE
Please
remember to keep this issue alive through discussions with friends and
neighbours, it is only through a sustained and broad based action that we will
restore our communities voice at The Substation.
Leaders of the excluded membership group registered the case
for mediation with the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria in July.
We are hoping
that a mediation session will take place by the end is September.
Representatives from The Substation Board have been invited
by the DSCV to participate.
It is only through considered discussion, listening and
understanding by the current Board of The Substation, that our communities
concerns will be addressed.
The focus of mediation will be;
– to address the exclusion of members of the
association.
– to work through a process to reinstate membership rights
to the excluded membership group.
– to work through a process to open membership to the wider
community to ensure good governance practices, transparency and accountability
of The Substation Inc. Board and management.
Please encourage other former members to register their support. It is only through the actions of a large community minded group of people that we will restore our rights.
Thankyou for your interest and support to return The Substation organisation to the community that transformed the Newport Substation and created the incorporated association that governs it.
Write to Council
You can helpby spreading the message and writing to the Mayor Cr Jonathon Marsden jmarsden@hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au conveying our communities concerns and requesting that this organisation be made to be accountable to an open membership group through clauses in the next funding agreement between Hobsons Bay City Council and The Substation Inc.
Meeting Summary
By Darren Williams
I have prepared the following summary of the meeting for the Council and intend to send them the video of what transpired.
The Community Action Meeting was very well attended with
over 150 concerned community members, as well as some members of The Substation
Committee and management.
I provided The Substation Committee an opportunity to read a
statement on behalf of the organisation. That statement did not respond to our
communities concerns regarding the lack of good governance at within the
organisation and confused subsidised venue hire for real community
engagement.
The Substation Committee and Management maintains that a
closed membership structure is standard operating procedure for arts
organisations. That may be so, but it certainly wasn’t the intent or purpose of
the original members that in fact created the Association and restored the
Newport Substation from derelict shell into the wonderful community asset that
stands today. Even in closed organisational structures the Committee is not self
elected and unaccountable, prospective Committee candidates generally nominate
for a position on the Committee and are then appointed by an independent
stakeholder group, generally a level of Government. In The Substations case the
most important stakeholder group is the community that spent tens of thousands
of hours restoring the Newport Substation and establishing the Association.
I am hopeful that The Substation Committee heard the deep
concerns raised at the meeting and acts appropriately to be more inclusive and
accountable.
We now have many hundreds of registrations at www.saveoursubstation.org and a broad cross section of “former” members as well as concerned residents and ratepayers of Hobsons Bay has expressed their disappointment and disgust at what has happened at The Substation with regards to governance and lack of grass roots community engagement. The fact that HBCC is funding a closed non-elected small group of people accountable to no-one is very concerning for all our community.
If The Substation Committee does not willingly admit community membership of the organisation, our group believes that all of our concerns can be addressed through Hobsons Bay City Council’s funding agreement with The Substation. Council will make a decision on this funding agreement in the coming weeks.
The provision of a clause which stipulates that the
Incorporated Association shall return to an open membership organisation before
any funding is provided will bring about incremental change to re-balance the
organisation in terms of meeting its contemporary focus as well as being
relevant and accountable to the community that created the The Substation in
the first place.
All of our community is being encouraged to write to Hobsons
Bay City Councillors to express their concerns and to request that action be
taken to ensure the communities expectations with regards to good governance
are met.
At the meeting I presented the following and then answered questions from the assembled community:
Some context of the history of the project.
I explained why it has become necessary to engage with the wider community regarding this issues of governance and community engagement.
I offered a solution to the current issues that would be acceptable to all ie retaining the contemporary focus, establishing a community engagement strategy and working group and making sure The Substation Committee is accountable to a broad based Association membership as well as the ratepayers of Hobsons Bay.
I believe that if we all work together harmoniously for what
is best for The Substation, it’s membership (including the hundreds of people
that believe they have been excluded) and the residents and ratepayers of
Hobsons Bay, we can come up with a very positive outcome that brings together
the substantial knowledge and skill base that exists in our community. Together
we can empower The Substation to fully realize it’s potential as the premier
iconic arts and culture space in Melbourne.
As part of that solution, we see the provision of an open membership Incorporated Association to be a key pillar of the future Substation Inc. An open, accountable and transparent organisation is an essential and appropriate structure to address the needs of all stakeholders. We would expect that this condition to be a part of any future funding agreement between The Substation Inc. and Hobsons Bay City Council.
Thank you to everyone who attended the community action meeting.
It is time to renew community membership at The Substation. Add your name to the petition.
The fact that a closed self elected group of five people has intentionally or negligently and illegally disengaged from it’s membership, then received over $1 million in ratepayers money is atrocious. Individuals and community groups should express their dismay and outrage that Council funded such an organisation ($1.05 million over the past three years.)
There is a perception in the community that Hobsons Bay City Council Officers worked with The Substation Inc. Committee, to bring about the changes we have witnessed at our community arts centre over the past three years.
Let Hobsons Bay City Council know that the community should have it’s membership rights returned NOW!
