I was curious about what would
happen at the third clubhouse forum – who would come and what would they think.
It was quite well attended, interestingly mostly by older members, but not by as
many people as the first two. My sense is that people accept the need for the
work – certainly all those who replied to say they couldn’t come raised no
problems with it. Notes of the forum will be on the website soon.
Originally we’d wanted agreement
to move forward as we’ve outlined previously. However, we’ve had a couple of
setbacks: it’s taken longer to get the specifications and tenders than we
hoped, the year has started disappointingly in financial terms and most
importantly the tenders have come in at more than we hoped – not a ridiculous
amount more, but more. However, the committee felt that given the benefits of
doing the work and the momentum shown by offers of loans and donations we
should still try to start the project this year. We therefore suggested more
aggressively phasing the project to build the new extension this year,
finishing the demolition of the flat roofed areas and extending the bar next
year. And before then, we are working with the builders and the QS to reduce
the costs.
The plan was enthusiastically received
by the meeting. We will therefore consider the costs at a committee meeting at
the end of June and if they are satisfactory call an Extraordinary General
Meeting on 2 August to approve the overall plan and then to approve the proposed
work in 2013, together with the necessary financing arrangements (HSBC loan, loans
from members and a limited number of life memberships).
One of the main points is that we
must never reduce focus on the course because of work on the clubhouse. This is
shown by the investment in new machinery like the rough cutter and turf iron even
as we’ve been saving up money for the development. People have said we should
spend money on the course not the clubhouse - but I would genuinely like to
know where, if so, we should spend more money on the course. This year’s issues
have been more about weather than resources.
So it was good to see the course
looking excellent for the 150 or so people who played on Invitation Day.
