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ALBANY’S chamber of commerce has had four CEOs in 10 months, but is operating on a “business as usual” basis according to the group’s President and its newly appointed interim CEO.

Last week, Graham Foster, who became the chamber’s interim CEO on July 25, resigned from the position.

His departure after less than three months in the job follows the exit of retail journeyman Mark Forrest, who lasted six weeks after relocating from Perth.

The job had been advertised twice, with initial applicants told not to reapply for the position vacated in January by Russ Clark.

Now, onetime tyre retailer Michael Clark has been appointed interim CEO.

Asked if he believed the position to be a poisoned chalice, Mr Clark told The Weekender “no”.

“The reasons for everyone else leaving is for different reasons,” he said.

“I find the position quite a good position; it’s something I take with great respect.

“I very much appreciate the position the board has put me in and I look forward to working in it.”

Mr Clark said Mr Foster had been on a four-month contract and left four weeks early.

“It’s business as usual, nothing’s changed in here at the Chamber,” he said.

“I’m stoked to be here.

“I’m really looking forward to the role.”

Chamber President Caroline Hayes said Russ Clark had been with the Chamber for five years and left at the end of his contract.

She said Mr Foster had departed on amicable terms after reducing his hours to part-time and deciding to re-enter retirement.

“I’d like the members to understand that it’s business as usual,” she said.

“Michael Clark has been very instrumental in the operations of the business for many months now.”

Asked if his initial appointment had resulted from a competitive selection process, Ms Hayes said: “No, Michael was employed only on a contract basis to help us out, so it was not a position that we intended to be permanent but it has actually turned into a great position.

“He’s sunk his teeth into this operation.”

Chamber Board member Russell Hare said Mr Foster’s role was only ever going to be temporary, and the committee was “100 per cent” behind getting some stability back to the CEO position.

“The reason we haven’t rushed out and advertised straight away for another CEO is we believe we need to go through a planning process and do some things on the Board before we advertise and appoint a CEO again,” he said.

“We recognise it is not a good look for the Chamber, but we don’t think it’s due to any lack of thorough process.

“It is not a good circumstance and we recognise that we’re looking to get that stability, and we will in time once we find the right person to fill that job.”

Asked if the turnover in the CEO position was a good look for the Chamber, Lyn Welsh, who retired from the Board this year, said: “As a private citizen or a person interested in what’s happening in Albany, I don’t think so, no.”

Disclosure: The Weekender is a member and creditor of the Chamber. A non-editorial staff member is on the ACCI board.

Image: Interim Chamber CEO Michael Clark. Photo: Chris Thomson

URBAN Albany recorded a massive $90,000 rise in its median house price in the past three months, even though not one more house was sold than in the previous quarter.

Real Estate Industry Association of Western Australia President Damian Collins has told The Weekender that prices rose more in urban Albany during the September quarter than in any other of Western Australia’s largest regional centres.

“Albany was the top performing regional centre during the quarter, with its median lifting from $339,000 to $430,000 – a 26.8 per cent increase,” he said.

“It also experienced an improvement on an annual basis, with its median price now 17.5 per cent higher than last year’s September quarter median.”

The next highest quarterly price rise was in urban Busselton, which recorded a hike of 9.8 per cent, well below that of Albany.

But Mr Collins warned readers against taking action on the back of a single quarter’s stats, with Albany’s remarkable performance coming even though the volume of sales across the City was static – at 69 both this quarter and last.

“There was a shift in the composition of sales in Albany during the September 2018 quarter, with significantly more activity occurring above $350,000 than there previously has been, and fewer sales occurring below $350,000, which is where the bulk of activity has typically occurred in this region,” he said.

“I would just be cautious, because with median prices sometimes what you can see, if there’s a lot of sales at the higher end, that could mean that the median price rockets up.

“But look, even over the year, the trend is 17 per cent up, so there’s certainly signs that the [Albany] market is improving albeit on low volume numbers.”

In good news for sellers, it took 93 days on average to sell an Albany house in the September quarter, compared to 111 days the quarter before.

“Compared to the rest of regional WA, that’s pretty standard,” Mr Collins reflected.

“So, it’s still not like they’re coming on to the market and getting snapped up.

“It’s more at this stage a shift in composition of the prices of properties that are selling.”

Across the state, the overall regional median increased 7.8 per cent to $345,000 and overall sales were up 1.2 per cent.

“I think there’s an overall improvement in the level of confidence across the Western Australian market,” Mr Collins said.

“The mining sector is back to rehiring.

“It varies between regions the extent to which mining influences the economy, but in terms of the overall WA economy and confidence it has a big impact that eventually filters through to all regions to varying degrees.”

The REIWA analysis was for detached dwellings only, in urban areas of the state’s 11 largest centres, excluding Carnarvon, where there were not enough sales to extract meaningful data.

FOUR Great Southern vineyards picked up nine of 24 trophies at the prestigious Wine Show of Western Australia held in Mount Barker last week.

Denmark’s Rockcliffe, Castle Rock Estate in Porongurup, Ferngrove Frankland River Wines and Frankland River’s Alkoomi Wines won gold across the Riesling, Rosé and Pinot Noir categories and event coordinator Marie O’Dea said it was a great effort.

“We had more than 115 wineries competing,” she said.

“Our Singaporean judge, Lim Hwee Peng was quite impressed…it’s an indication of the strength of the Great Southern.”

Rockcliffe won best Rosé of show with its 2018 Third Reef Rosé and Rockcliffe owner Steve Hall said it was a “very special” wine.

“At last year’s show, I purposely went through the rosés with Antony [winemaker] and the winners were very dry and grey, and I thought that was a French style,” he said.

“I said to Antony, ‘I need this, it’s a fabulous wine’ and so a lot of hassle, debate and work went into it.

“I thought Antony should make it, and he did, because he is from Provence and we made it in true Provence style.”

Mr Hall said Rockcliffe also won the Neale Warneford Trophy for best red blend with the Ironcloud Wines 2017 Rock of Solitude Purple Patch GSM, as Rockcliffe also makes Ironcloud products.

“Winning a trophy is the pinnacle, really,” he said.

“We’ve effectively made the best Rosé in WA.

“It’s a massive accolade for us.”

Castle Rock Estate won the Winequip Trophy for most successful exhibitor processing under 250 tonnes, best Great Southern white and best Riesling with the 2018 Porongurup Riesling, and best Pinot Noir with the 2017 Porongurup Pinot Noir.

Winemaker and owner Rob Diletti said the vineyard had competed in the wine show since 1986 and winning kept the Castle Rock name fresh in people’s minds.

“We’ve done well in Perth and other capital city shows, so it’s a continual indication showing how our whites are going,” he said.

“For Riesling and Pinot Noir, Porongurup is up there creating the best in Australia.

“It’s amazing to get it [trophies].”

Mr Diletti said the location of the vineyard at the base of the Porongurup – which has a good balance between being not too rigorous and not too lean in its soil – the elevation of the land, and the easterly sea breeze from the Great Australian Bight all contributed to creating the ideal growing conditions for his grapes.

Ferngrove Frankland River Wines won the title of best Great Southern red and best red varietal for its 2017 Black Label Malbec and vineyard manager Chris Zur said it was earned by a big team effort.

“It’s always good news to be recognised for hard work,” he said.

“We’ve been a champion for Malbec in the region for a long time, and it’s because of a lot of work from the whole team.”

Mr Zur said despite Frankland River being “probably” the most isolated of the five sub-regions in the Great Southern, its low disease pressure, Mediterranean climate and the cooling influence of the Southern Ocean in the afternoon were desirable for making Malbec.

Alkoomi Wines won best aged Riesling for their 2010 Black Label Riesling.

Owner Sandy Hallett said the vineyard had supported the Wine Show for many years, with Ms Hallett’s father being one of the founding members of the prominent event.

“This [trophy] shows that Riesling from our region, whilst delicious young, also has tremendous ageing potential,” she said.