ON THE MOVE……..AGAIN

After around 16 great years at our marvellous South Dandenong field behind Jakupi field we found ourselves having to move once more. Our landlord had been saying for some time that he wanted to raise our annual lease fee by a considerable amount. After protracted negotiations in 2019, our lease was extended up until July 2020, but it was accepted that we would have to move soon after that. So, in September 2019 the search for a new field began. Our new site Some time was spent searching within an approximately 5km radius. Fortunately, then Secretary, Len Smerdon, approached John O’Connor, the owner of MulchXpress (MX), on Fernside Drive Bangholme, only a few hundred metres from our Dandenong South site. Len found John was open to hosting SEMAC. He saw benefits in having a tenant on his property, particularly one who would be active on weekends when his business was open to theft and vandalism. Having responsible folk around on weekends would deter thieves, vandals and graffiti artists. Another factor in having SEMAC as a tenant would be to potentially improve John’s standing with the Council and deter continuous approaches from developers wanting to take over his property. SEMAC would also assist by maintaining the property and being able to alert authorities quickly in the event of a fire which is a severe threat to a mulch business and had previously occurred on the property. Len brought John to Jakupi and he could see from our maintenance of the site that were indeed a responsible club. Our discussions with John O'Connor resulted in the club being offered a secure long term lease agreement with MX, on terms very beneficial to SEMAC. The lease was formally signed on 1 July 2020. The land leased had the potential to be a great flying field. A large flat parcel of land, it is located well away from the MX worksite and is free of obstructions. While a great site, it was not without its issues. To reach the land allocated to us meant driving across soft wet land. In addition the site was substantially covered in low height gorse. Throughout the whole process John was very supportive of SEMAC and, with his works foreman Glenn, gave the club a great deal of encouragement and practical assistance.

The paperwork

With the lease agreed the committee set about preparing the formal paperwork and planning the move. Planning included identifying relocation requirements and considering possible problems that could arise during the move. It was accepted from the outset that the work required to set up the new field would be too great for members to undertake, so planning had to include the consideration of costs and identification of possible contactors. Committee member John Julian started the process of securing a Council Permit to fly on the new site. What had been anticipated as a straightforward process of moving the club 450 metres while continuing to operate under our existing Council permit, proved in the end to be a major exercise.

Meetings at the Dandenong Council Chambers between John and Len, Councillor Angela Long, and the city Planning and Engineering officer, revealed that the council required a completely new permit application. This meant the preparation of professionally drawn up plans, contacting adjacent property owners, an exhibition at VCAT and providing an objection process. Plus many meetings with the Council’s planning officers. At the same time, work began on obtaining a Civil Aviation Safety Agency (CASA) permit to fly at the new site. Negotiations with CASA were also more complex and drawn out than expected, as they also required us to go through the full process, including a completely new Risk Analysis, despite having our council permit. And then, just as the whole process was coming along nicely, fate intervened with the arrival of Covid 19. As well as that, the Autumn and Winter rains came, greatly limiting access to the new site. Behind the scenes, however, activity continued.

MOVing in … Moving out

In September 2020 we were asked by our landlord to vacate the site, but after further negotiations he allowed us a few month’s grace to make an orderly move. As part of these negotiations the committee agreed to leave behind for the landlord’s use our old cookhouse, the transmitter pound and one water tank. In return the landlord allowed us extra time required to vacate his land. This left the ATCO hut and its veranda, our other two tanks, all of our fencing, plus minor items to be either disposed of or moved. It was decided to sell the ATCO hut as it would have been quite expensive to move. It sold quickly for a good price and was removed by the buyer. As a replacement for our shedding it had been decided to purchase two shipping containers. One to act as a cookhouse with the other used to store equipment and mowers etc. The first of these containers was delivered in late November 2020. A large skip was placed alongside our old green shed and filled with everything we didn’t need or couldn’t sell. All of our fencing was removed and a number of general clean up working bees were held. During this period, as the new site had largely dried out, we were able to move over some of our plant and equipment. With a final big effort we moved the last of our equipment to the new field, with much of it going into the first of our shipping containers. After a final clean up we vacated our old site in late December 2020. While we had a number of well attended working bees to tackle the big jobs, there were also many smaller tasks that had to be undertaken. For these Secretary Geoff Mulhall was able to call on a smaller group of volunteers who were able devote time, mainly during the working week, whenever needed. All round it had a been a big effort, with committee members and volunteers spending many, many, hard working hours down at the field.

THE FUNDS

The funds SEMAC, and it’s predecessor DKRAC, has long had a healthy (and well protected) “future fund”. It would have been good to hold on to those funds, but the time had certainly come to invest the money into SEMAC’s long term future. There is no doubt that the only alternative would have been to disband the club, causing our funds to most likely be passed on to the VMAA and/or MAAA. While members voted to allow the committee to consider disbandment if necessary, fortunately a move to the MX site became a very achievable option. However, the club’s savings weren’t going to cover the full cost of the move to our new home. This meant the committee had to start thinking about means of raising additional funds. The options considered selling plant and equipment we could do without, seeking MAAA and/or VMAA assistance and seeking state and/or federal grants. As a result of the committee's fund raising actions:

• Sale of the ATCO and our Husqvarna mower raised a combined $8,375

• We received a MAAA/VMAA grant of $6,000; and

• An approach by Geoff Mulhall to local Federal MP Mark Dreyfus resulted in a Commonwealth Grant of $5,500

• Another approach by Geoff to the VMAA resulted in a loan of $10,000

• In addition, a significant and very much appreciated number of members paid their annual membership fee in advance. The fee monies raised would not be spent on the move, but serve as a buffer fund over the following months. 

THE construction contract is let

So there we were; a lovely big paddock with much potential, but needing a lot of work to get it into shape. While everything else was taking place, Committee member David Wheeler was obtaining quotes from multiple sources for the construction of a gravel road down to our flying area and preparation of our runways and carpark. This required a lot of time, initially sourcing likely contractors, then meeting interested ones on site to discuss SEMAC’s needs. These discussions also gave the club an insight into our construction options; for example the type of fill material to be used. They also helped the club to determine what we could reasonably hope to achieve on our available budget. After much discussion around work required and the costs involved, a contract was ultimately let with civil and road contractors, CivilMech Pty Ltd, with work to commence in mid February. Building an airfield is a pretty fair achievement by any standard and David’s expertise with contracts and contractors has helped achieve a great outcome at about half the cost, in today's dollars, of the amount spent setting up our old field.

Member work goes on

In November 2019 we arranged installation of a gate in MX’s back fence to allow access to our site. MX helped us out by building a crushed rock track down to the new gate, which allowed easy car access to our land for the first time. Concerns remained however about access for trucks carrying heavy loads of road material. Our lease required us to build a fence from North to South across our site, a distance of approximately 340 metres. Committee man Brendan Perry had removed all of the posts at our old site, which were then installed at a working bee in late January 2021, with wire installation deferred until the completion of construction works.

the volunteers

Not everyone is able to take part working bees, but for those who can, SEMAC owes a debt of gratitude. Some of the tasks that were necessary to bring about our move took only time - in some cases a lot of it. Other tasks involved hard labour. These photos, together with others shown throughout these pages, show just a few activities and the people that were involved.

Construction completed

Construction work got underway on 20 February 2021, when CivilMech moved the first of their heavy plant onto the site and pegged out the work area. CivilMech’s contract required them to:

• Install drainage at two problem wet areas.

• Construct a 750 metre long and 3.5 metre wide road from the MX works boundary to our carpark.

• Construct two runways, each 160 metres long by 14 metres wide.

• Construct the car park.

Once the top soil was removed and the roadway graded, weed mat was laid and then topped with a mix of crushed rock and bricks. The thick layer of rock and brick should stand up to wear and tear well. The road was watered and rolled to create a solid surface - a big improvement on the old “DIY” track we left behind! The construction work was finished by mid March, with road and carpark completed and the runways ready for us to prepare and seed.

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