SSAA NSW

13 ISSUE 60 JUNE 2021 Rowell with The Hon. Deputy Premier. There is more to be done in this space and SSAA NSW looks forward to continuing to work with Branches, Clubs and members to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of our Association. COVID-19 prevented the AGM proceeding in 2020 and all Associations in NSW were granted an extension by the Department of Fair Trading to hold them in 2021. After consultation with our Branches as to the best way to proceed, SSAA NSW will go ahead with the AGM later this year, in a regional location, ensuring it can continue regardless of any potential restrictions. RANGE DEVELOPMENT Range Development remains strong with progress on existing projects like Dubbo, which we expect to be built by the end of the year, whilst upgrades are occurring at other ranges. SSAA NSW was pleased to be able to help the Batemans Bay Branch with $110,000 in funding to assist in necessary work, which is required by the local council after the range was burnt down during the bush fires. As President Lance has indicated, work has commenced in investigating new range opportunities in the Sydney basin to cater for our membership. Residential encroachment to existing ranges is a challenge we must address now, to ensure the continued and future access to our sport. This work is vital and we extend a thank you to Sydney Branch who are part of the consultation process in this area. Other regions and Branches are also at various stages of identifying new range opportunities and we are working with many Branches on this important task. We are also working with Branches who are at risk of losing their range to nearby development. As an Association with a large community of Branches, we must focus on this challenge together. Accessing finances to meet every need will be challenging but, we all must tighten our belts, review our financial structure and look at practical ways to ensure we have ranges for the next generations of sporting shooters. DISCIPLINES AND HUNTING Competition shooting amongst our disciplines effectively ceased during 2020 during COVID-19. SSAA NSW has been working hard with our Discipline Chairs at a State and National level and are very excited that State and National Titles are starting to be announced for 2021. I would encourage you to access the SSAA NSW website events page and Facebook page to find out which titles have already been posted. We would love to see you at one or more of these important events. A big thank you to our Discipline Chairs who volunteer their time in running the individual disciplines and of course to the Branches who host the titles. So much work goes into these activities and we are very grateful to our volunteers in this space. If you are new to shooting or would like to try a different shooting discipline, our Discipline Chairs are available to point you in the right direction and assist you. In the hunting space, we continue to advocate for more hunting opportunities across the state and we have been pleased to work with the Department of Primary Industries during COVID-19 to reopen hunting. SSAA NSW is also working with the National Parks and Wildlife Service to potentially expand the Supplementary Pest Control Program for 2021 and beyond. We look forward to making some announcements in this space in the near future. MEMBERSHIP GROWTH SSAA NSW has seen a strong increase in membership with membership growth Rowell with Lynda Voltz Auburn, Shadow Minister for Terrorism, and Shadow and Recreation.

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