When last year's committee decided to include a Concession renewal category it was intended to be for only those on Full Commonwealth Pensions and it was anticipated that the take up would be modest. The inability to simply discriminate between Full and Part Commonwealth Pension entitlements has been one factor in a much larger than expected take up of this Concession.
At the same time our preliminary discussions with the Northern Beaches Council have suggested that we will need to contribute financially in order to secure a lease on any adequate premises when our current lease expires in three years. This puts additional priority to building up our retained surpluses.
As a consequence of both these factors, the Committee decided on 22 January to withdraw the Concession membership category immediately for new members and from 31 January for renewing members. We trust members will appreciate our reconsideration of this decision, which was not taken lightly.
