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COMMUNITY
INVOLVEMENT |
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The Club has
always had involvement with the general community and community
issues throughout its history but it has become much more
intense and formalized in the past few years.
Below are some of
the ways in which the Club is contributing towards the general
community. |
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LAND FOR WILDLIFE |
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One of the most
obvious areas in which the Club is contributing towards the general
community is through its care and concern for its property at Mt
Cotton.
In 2005, the Club
applied for, and received, ‘Land for Wildlife’ status for the
hillclimb venue where Club members and their activities have lived
in harmony with the wildlife and nurtured the natural environment
for over forty years. Animals including wallabies, koalas, echidnas,
snakes, goannas, kookaburras, tawny frogmouths inhabit the property
and the dam which was built over forty years ago and has developed
its own ecosystem. |
The needs of all
of the wildlife are kept in mind in any planting that is done on the
property and the advice of groups such as Indigiscapes and Land for
Wildlife is taken in choosing appropriate trees and shrubs for
planting. A major planting took place in 2007 reflecting our
commitment to providing a venue which is compatible both with our
needs and the needs of our resident wildlife.
Following are
photographs of the venue, the wildlife, and the work going into
enhancing the environment for our Club, our sport and our fellow
inhabitants of the property. |
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Overview of the
hillclimb and dam |
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Overview of the track |
View of the dam |
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Koala |
Tawny Frogmouth |
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Land for Wildlife Sign |
Kookaburra |
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Wallabies |
A Wallaby |
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Baza - photo Wayne Reed |
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Goanna - Photo Wayne Reed |
Wallabies on the track |
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Goanna on the track |
Duck on the dam |
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Snake at the sign |
Lizard in a tree |
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Improvements to the surroundings |
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OTHER COMMUNITY
CONTRIBUTIONS |
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1. In 2007, at the instigation of
the Confederation of Australian Motor
Sports (CAMS), AIMSS (The Australian Institute for Motor Sport
Safety) was set up and Clubs and other organizations were invited to become
members in order to contribute towards enhancing safety in motor sport and
also to benefit from the research work done by AIMSS. As the MG Car Club
of Qld has always been conscious of safety in motor sport it became one of
the first clubs to join the new organization.
A task currently being undertaken by AIMSS is an investigation
into the
possibility of extending the legal life of racing harnesses by
testing of a
number of racing harnesses which are older than 10 years of age.
The hypothesis being tested is that currently harnesses need to
be changed every five years adopting the FIA standard and that it might be
possible to recommend a longer period between replacements. The MG Car Club
of Qld is supporting this research as the outcome, if positive, will be of
great benefit to a number of Club members.
2. The Tsunami which
occurred on Dec 26 2004 was of such a magnitude as a natural
disaster that the Club contributed financially to the appeal for
funds to help all those affected.
3. The Club encourages safe driving through example; it also
promotes driver safety and driver education through its 'Come
and Try' days held two or three times a year at Mt Cotton. On
these days, drivers new to the hillclimb are walked around the circuit and advised on correct
lines and braking points and are also driven around by experienced
drivers. These experienced drivers then take the passenger seat and give
instruction to the newcomers for as many rides as necessary. The work done on
these days is then reinforced by the presentation of a trophy for a Most
Improved Driver presented to the best rookie
driver at each hillclimb.
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4. The Club has also made the hillclimb available for special days
for people with special needs as it is a lovely place to go for a
day out, especially if you get a chance to be driven around in some
exceptional cars.
In November 2007,
Brad Kirkness arranged for kids with cancer and their families to be
given a day out at the hillclimb. The Club donated the venue, CAMS (Qld
Office) waived the permit fee as their contribution, and a number of
drivers gave their time and their cars to give these children and
their families a day to remember.
This was followed
in February 2008 with a day for vision impaired people. Club member,
Greg Voltz, and his wife Karen took the initiative in organizing the
day. Once again, the Club provided the venue as its contribution to
the day and also financed the CAMS permit fee.
Greg succeeded in
persuading many people to come along with their cars to help and so
the participants got to experience the hillclimb from the passenger
seat of a Ferrari, Porsche, Toyota MR2, a race-prepared Subaru WRX,
an open sports racing car and, of course, a variety of MGs.
Karen organised a
BBQ for all and the day had a happy picnic atmosphere to it. All
participants came back from their runs with huge smiles on their
faces and, as one of them declared, 'that was awesome'. The Club
thanks Greg for the initiative to hold the day and all others who
contributed to its success.
Photos below: |
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AWARDS & BURSARIES |
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In 2006, the Club
worked with QUT to establish the MG Club of Qld Road Safety Award
which is presented for outstanding achievement in the Graduate
Certificate or Graduate Diploma in Road Safety.
The prize of
$1,000.00 is awarded to the graduating student for outstanding
achievement in the Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma in Road
Safety. The QUT Faculty of health is an international leader in
specialised health education and research, and MG Car Club is proud
to be associated with QUT by providing this annual prize for
outstanding work in this very important field.
The inaugural
winner was Bevan Rowland pictured with David Miles at the
presentation.
Brian Keller was
the 2007 winner of the "MG Car Club of Queensland's Road Safety
Prize," shown here with club president David Miles following the
Award ceremony on Wednesday 20th February 2008.
In late 2005, the
Club decided to would fund a perpetual trophy, an annual personal
trophy and a special tool as a prize for the Student of the Year in
the Diploma of Automotive (Motorsport) course at the SQIT Warwick
Campus . |
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The winners of this award have
been:
2005 – Jarrod Bowles
2006 – Greg McIntyre
2007 – Martin Frenner
Photos below:
Left: Bevan Rowland pictured with David Miles
Right: Brian Keller with David Miles |
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