REGISTRAR’S REPORT, 2006/2007 Membership Year

By Lisa Buckleton

Members

Over the past 12 months, 11 members (and nine partners) have left the R-ROCWA. Three members left the club due to the sale of the eligible vehicle, one member resigned due to time pressures and the remainder did not renew.

We gained 6 members and 5 partners during the year. Although there were membership applications submitted at nearly every committee meeting, there was a slight decrease in total membership comparison with last year.

There are three Life Members: Tom Clarke, Matt Smith and Roger Fry, as well as May Thompson, spouse of deceased Life Member, Harry Thompson. One complimentary
membership is provided to Chellingworth’s. Most members own eligible vehicles, as there are only 14 associate members (with partners), just over 7% of the total membership.

Vehicles

There are currently 169 vehicles registered with the R-ROCWA, (including 6 ineligible WO Bentleys). Rolls-Royces registered with the club range from a 1912 Silver Ghost up to
a1990 Corniche III. The oldest eligible Bentley is 1935 3½ Litre; the newest a 2003 Arnage. Vehicles registered with the R-ROCWA have decreased slightly over the last membership year, down three Rolls-Royce and four Bentleys.

A list of licenced Rolls-Royces and Bentleys was obtained from the Department for Planning and Infrastructure (current as of 1 Jan 2007). Based on that information, the percentage of all WA-registered Rolls-Royces also recorded with the R-ROCWA is currently 29%, with a somewhat higher percentage of Bentleys (30%). The vehicles recorded with R-ROCWA as concessionally licenced is similar, at 32% of all concessionally licensed Rolls-Royces and Bentleys. In addition, 13 vehicles registered with the R-ROC WA are not licenced in WA.

Twenty-eight vehicles were listed as being concessionally licensed prior to the inspection day on June 17th 2006. Twelve vehicles were inspected by the R-ROCWA, 4 are under
restoration, 2 were overseas, 2 vehicles were sold and 8 were inspected by other clubs. No Bentleys were submitted for Concessional License inspection.

Note: It is fairly difficult to match the DPI list and the Club list, as there is apparently often a disagreement between the year listed on the vehicle registration and the year provided to the club. (This has the potential to cause difficulties, particularly with concessionally licenced vehicles.) It would be very helpful to advise the Registrar if the year on your vehicle licence differs from the Club Register information, so this can be noted.

General Observations

• The R-ROCWA is not attracting the owners of newer cars
• The owners of nearly 70% of licenced, eligible vehicles evidently see no value in belonging to the R-ROCWA
• Each year, several members simply do not renew

To ensure the future of the Club, it is crucial that we both attract new members and retain existing members. It would therefore be advisable to better promote the club to owners of eligible Rolls-Royce and Bentley vehicles. We should also endeavour to discover why members do not renew so that, if possible, any shortcomings in the Club activities or attitudes can be addressed.

Lisa Buckleton
Registrar
R-ROCWA