Member Information Night Overview
Dear Members,
Last night our Board of Directors held a planned briefing session for members as part of an ongoing effort to keep you up to date with the performance of the club, and any relevant developments as they occur.
A copy of the presentation can be found here
The key messages delivered by our President Geoff Charnley during the course of the meeting were:
- Land Sale (2400sqm) –the Kingston Council approved the rezoning of the parcel of land sold for $2.8m +GST along 6th Avenue at a council meeting on 19 September, and this was submitted to the State Government for Ministerial approval the following day. The estimated lead time for this final stage of the approval process is between 5-8 weeks from date of submission, and the club is following this up on a daily basis. On completion of the re-zoning we estimate receipt of the funds from the sale somewhere between November 2016 and February 2017.
- Patterson River Merger Update –as per previous correspondence from the Board, the exclusive merger discussions with Patterson River have now ended. The Board will continue discussions with Patterson River on a non-exclusive basis to ensure future options for the club are available should they be required.
- Unsolicited offer from Sandhurst –Following the ending of the Memorandum of Understanding for merger talks with Patterson River, The Sandhurst Golf Club provided Rossdale with an unsolicited offer for a merger between our clubs. Given the positive appetite of some members towards merger shown in the recent member survey results, combined with the current financial position of the club, the Board will continue to explore all options presented to the club, and will communicate these options to members at the appropriate time. Given the well-publicised state of the golf industry in general at the moment, it is quite normal for clubs to be discussing future options at a Board level. There is no intention for the Board to pursue this as an option at present, but they will complete the necessary due diligence to fully understand the terms of the offer.
- Financial Status and Board position –Once funds are received from the land sale along 6th Avenue, it is estimated based on nothing changing from today, that the club will be financially stable (i.e. without debt) through until approximately mid-2019. The Boards stated position is to focus on doing everything within its power to retain Rossdale at Aspendale for the long term. A review of progress will need to be completed in approximately December 2017 to assess progress, and the ongoing due diligence on a number of alternatives will be considered by the Board to ensure the club has a number of viable options should the trading environment not improve. The Board is not actively pursuing any other agenda or outcome other than the stated goal of ensuring Rossdale returns to the happy and healthy club that it once was right here at Aspendale. The Board’s aim is to turn the dial on memberships by focussing on providing the best products and services that we can in order to attract and retain more members and increase revenue.
- Unauthorised use of our Club database –it is with regret that the Board acknowledges the unauthorised use of the clubs email database, by a person who chose to remain anonymous, to distribute some negative and false information to our members. The club is currently investigating the illegal use of this information, and is reviewing security measures to ensure that your private information remains safe in the future. Please note that until this review is completed, all email addresses will be removed from our Members directory.
- How can you help? – The last year or so has been a very disruptive period, full of emotions and people picking sides, we need to change the story from now to one where all members get involved in the club, and start to think about how we get the club back to its best. There are many people at the club doing their very best to make a difference and we should get behind them and with them as they make their contributions. So we ask that you get involved in the club in any way that you can, enjoy your golf, bring your friends down for a game, socialise and hopefully that will be the start of good things to come…
If you have any concerns about anything that you may hear with regards to the clubs financial position or direction, please feel free to ask any of the current Directors to clarify the information, and provide you with progress reports.
Your current Board has only one desire, and that is to ensure Rossdale flourishes in the future here at Aspendale, and that it returns to the friendly club that it once was. With the course in arguably its best condition ever, it’s time to get out there and enjoy your golf!
From The Board of Directors.