Stepping out of the chamber

HELPING to secure a commercial airport for Ballina was one of Bryan Marriott's proudest moments during his time with the Ballina Chamber of Commerce.

Bryan Marriott is retiring from the Ballina Chamber of Commerce after 30 years of involvement.

HELPING to secure a commercial airport for Ballina was one of Bryan Marriott’s proudest moments during his time with the Ballina Chamber of Commerce.

“We were very active in that during the 1960s and 1970s,” he said.

“So it was a pretty good feeling when it finally happened.”

Mr Marriott has been involved with the chamber for 30 years.

He has been on the executive for much of that time, mainly holding the positions of secretary and treasurer simultaneously.

Mr Marriott counts the merging of the Ballina and Tintenbar councils amongst the chamber’s achievements, and is looking forward to the day when Ballina finally has a commercial marina.

But it was the end of an era this week when Mr Marriott announced he was stepping down from the chamber board.

“I’m busy now as chairman of the board of directors of Richmond Mortgage Fund, and I’m a consultant for several private companies. And I’ve got my own financial planning business,” he said.

But Mr Marriott is already finding it difficult to take a step back.

He has volunteered to be on the chamber’s committees, including one which has been set up to identify potential issues in the council’s new local environmental plan.

The chamber’s executive officer, Nadia Eliott-Burgess, said Mr Marriott’s expertise would be missed.

Originally published as Stepping out of the chamber