Relocating the office...where to?

[turboplanner]

I did Keith

 

 

[DonRamsay]

" I fear she doth protesteth too much . . . ". W Shakespeare

 

 

[DonRamsay]

 

Would Inglewood be better than Warwick?

 

Would either have equivalent facilities to Narromine or Temora.

 

Would either be more member-centric than YNRM or YTEM?

 

Don

 

 

[facthunter]

The requirements for a head office, are not the same as for a Natfly or a holiday. Nev

 

 

[dazza 38]

Would Inglewood be better than Warwick?

 

Would either have equivalent facilities to Narromine or Temora.

 

Would either be more member-centric than YNRM or YTEM?

 

Don

The advantage is that Inglewood and Warwick are a lot closer to CASA in Brisbane

 

 

[greybeard]

I'd have thought that the primary requirements for a head office are:

 

A venue of appropriate size and cost. ( Why waste money )

 

A decent place to live for the employees. ( Keep them and their family happy )

 

A place with reasonable access for board members ( ie cheap short flights ). ( Why have the board spending precious time flying in to meetings ).

 

Having a head office in upper whoop whoop with a nice view and no commercial air access and/or direct flights would be a waste of time and effort. It's a head office not a retirement home for an annual fly in.

 

 

[facthunter]

Proximity to the CASA is not a proven advantage, or a requirement. You need a major airport where JETS fly into REGULARLY. ( Not feeder services). and accommodation and city facilities available nearby, at a good price. You could SHARE office facilities with another organisation and cut some costs. Industrial estates are good places to do this if they are a bit up market, and are prices way below city premises. Nev

 

 

[turboplanner]

The members already own an office with a premium value, or didn't you know?

 

 

[facthunter]

Why would you suggest, I don't know? It was starting to get a bit rough around the edges the last time I saw it. Nev

 

 

[jetjr]

Head office needs to be in big centre no doubt, honestly dont care where, most important is how well staff are sourced and work gets done

 

I suggest what you need in a head office is OPPOSITE to what you want for training, fly in, airshow site. Jet RPT, major centre, NBN, good schools, shops all the stuff good staff require. Airfield site wants no RPT, cheap real estate, stable weather, good transport links nearby

 

How about head office goes to Brisbane, mainly to keep queenslanders happy. They can visit all they like.

 

and the Airfield facilities are developed at Narromine alongside SAAA and Ausfly becomes single RAAO event

 

 

[rankamateur]

The advantage is that Inglewood and Warwick are a lot closer to CASA in Brisbane

So what?, Reduced relocation expenses?

 

 

[rankamateur]

Head office needs to be in big centre no doubt, honestly dont care where, most important is how well staff are sourced and work gets doneI suggest what you need in a head office is OPPOSITE to what you want for training, fly in, airshow site. Jet RPT, major centre, NBN, good schools, shops all the stuff good staff require. Airfield site wants no RPT, cheap real estate, stable weather, good transport links nearby

How about head office goes to Brisbane, mainly to keep queenslanders happy. They can visit all they like.

 

and the Airfield facilities are developed at Narromine alongside SAAA and Ausfly becomes single RAAO event

Maybe RAA could just become the licencing ang registration wing of SAAA and let them organise the training.

 

 

[DonRamsay]

I think we should not under-value having the office located at an airfield. I've worked in businesses that had their Head Offices in Sydney or Melbourne with manufacturing and/or mining activities in regional locations. There is no doubt in my mind that the people resident at the regional locations had a much better focus on the business. Quite often the focus in the head offic was who had the best parking spot or where to have the next posh lunch.

 

Coming to work everyday and hearing aircraft taking off and landing rams home that this is an Association of Aviators. The entire reason for being of the Association is to facilitate inexpensive low regulation aviation. Having the office staff see and smell aviation every working day is of real value.

 

We should also not underestimate the value of being able to conduct NATFLY at the place where RA-Aus is based. It is not an imperative but there is a real advantage.

 

So, no difference between Inglewood and Warwick?

 

 

[M61A1]

HA. Next you'll be saying that it's always warm and comfortable up there. I've left from near Clifton in the early morning to return to civilisation and STILL had ice on the damn (car) windscreen when coming down the last Moonbi hill into Tamworth. You have snakes up there that can kill by just glancing in your direction, spiders that kill the snakes in spido-a-snako disputes, frogs that bark like the hound of the Baskervilles, soil that swallows entire small villages in one gulp when it rains and an electricity supply that shuts down if someone spits within a kilometer of the transformer. At least down here at North Macquarie Island, the climate is predictable and the damn frogs don't bark.

Damn city folk..........got no idea.

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

Even though Inglewood was my suggestion and I like the place very much I do think that it would greatly restrict the staff that the Association to get to work at the Head Office. Inglewood is a very small town and doesn't have a lot to do. I think many people would feel quite isolated living there. And the same applies to Warwick although it is a fair bit larger.

 

Toowoomba should be given serious consideration. It's up on the range and so the weather is clear for more days of the year than on the coastal plain I think, although being right on the escarpment it does get a fair bit of low cloud. It is a bit cold in the winter but usually not as hot as the coast in the summer. And has had sport aviation well and truly entrenched there for many decades. Also has an aviation-friendly Council.

 

Another thought is Ballina. It is a regional RPT hub for easy access and has a lot more things to do (I'm thinking of the office staff and their families again) than any of the inland suggestions so far, and that includes Temora and Narromine etc.

 

Nearby is Lismore, Evans Head and Casino, all worthy of consideration too, particularly Evans Head as a flying facility but it has a hostile Council. Any of these are easy to access by RPT to Ballina and then rent a car, they're only half an hour away.

 

Then there's Caboolture which is close to Brisbane airport and is a sports aviation hub already, and Gympie ...

 

 

[M61A1]

"of criminals" - it used to be consorting, which was an offence then too, until the left wing removed it. Invasion of privacy BS - forget about those victims of crime[until experienced peronally].

All that requires is for them to change the definition of "criminal", bikies this week, school kids with worn pushbike tyres next week.

 

 

[M61A1]

The critical number is 3 for Newman. The police were consulted and a survey found most could count to three. Nev

I was told that's why they travel in threes, one can read, one can write, and the other one brags about his educated mates.

 

 

[dazza 38]

I wonder if somebody here in the know can ask the office staff their thoughts on relocation.

 

 

[rankamateur]

Evans head is tucked under a restricted zone which would be a real PITB on an ongoing basis.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

forget the coastal areas always crap weather

 

 

[Dafydd Llewellyn]

I think we should not under-value having the office located at an airfield. I've worked in businesses that had their Head Offices in Sydney or Melbourne with manufacturing and/or mining activities in regional locations. There is no doubt in my mind that the people resident at the regional locations had a much better focus on the business. Quite often the focus in the head offic was who had the best parking spot or where to have the next posh lunch.Coming to work everyday and hearing aircraft taking off and landing rams home that this is an Association of Aviators. The entire reason for being of the Association is to facilitate inexpensive low regulation aviation. Having the office staff see and smell aviation every working day is of real value.

 

We should also not underestimate the value of being able to conduct NATFLY at the place where RA-Aus is based. It is not an imperative but there is a real advantage.

 

So, no difference between Inglewood and Warwick?

The Warwick strip will be, I predict, comfortably clear of whatever new airspace restrictions evolve from Brisbane West/Wellcamp. Any closer to Toowoomba and that may not be so. Warwick has no cross-strip. It's a lot more than walking distance out of town. There's an active gliding club on the site. I suspect anything other than hangar sites may be difficult to find.

 

 

[DonRamsay]

I wonder if somebody here in the know can ask the office staff their thoughts on relocation.

Dazza,

This will be an important part of the Committee's job - if/when a Committee is commissioned by the Board/GM. It is probably better left to them than give the office staff a scare when the project might never get off the ground.

 

Any Committee will first need to determine the objective criteria by which you would judge a candidate location. They will then need to come up with a shortish list of good prospects. Somehow, I doubt that Charleville will make it to that list .

 

Next will be collecting hard data on all the aspects a location is to be judged on, matters like weather, RPT access, airfield, housing, jobs for partners, education, etc. etc.

 

Once they have chosen one or possibly two for the very short list, they would need to do a comparative cost/benefits analysis of the transition from Canberra to the new location(s).

 

I imagine the Board will make the final choice on the recommendation of the GM.

 

 

[robinsm]

Does the average RAA Aus member really care where the HQ is?. Most of us never go there, contact only by mail or email, and really want to be left alone to fly. Seems that we might be thinking of spending members funds on something that may be better off left lie and have the funds spent on more important things like reducing membership fees, etc etc.

 

 

[DonRamsay]

That's why a Committee should look into it rather than consign us to Fyshwick for all of eternity.

 

I think if you go back over the earlier posts you will find that question has been asked and answered a few times.

 

 

[coljones]

That's why a Committee should look into it rather than consign us to Fyshwick for all of eternity.I think if you go back over the earlier posts you will find that question has been asked and answered a few times.

Surely Don, this is all horse before the cart stuff. Despite anything else we don't even have a clear picture of what RAA will be doing in 5, 10, 20 years and the current board is seemingly stuck, or silent, about its view of the future or what it gages the feelings of the membership.

RAA is at the moment a two headed horse - one part licencing, registration and discipline - the other, advocacy in looking after members entitlements and access to safe, affordable aviation.

 

Your committee may be better off working out what RAA is rather than having a narrow view on one minor aspect of RAA operations.