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Clive Bartle (CB) Committee Owner Representative- Chairman
Glenn Bourne (GB) Committee Owner Representative- Disposal of Delinquent weeks
Diane Bartle (DB) Committee Owner Representative- Treasurer
David Clarke (DC)- Seasons’ Finance Manager and Nominated Member of Seasons Holidays PLC
Anne Marie James and Leela Tracy -Meeting Administration – Membership Services Seasons PLC
68 Club Members
Invited guests
Christine Gregory (CG)- Hutchinsons and Co- Trustees
Sharon Clement (SC)- Hutchinsons and Co.- Trustees
Anne-Marie James (AJ)- in her capacity as Manager Membership Services
1. Welcome, personal announcements and introduction
The Chairman opened the meeting by introducing the committee and invited guests. He followed with the routine fire safety information, toilet directions and a request to keep mobile phones switched off. He explained the meeting was to be in two parts, the formal AGM followed by the customary Question and Answers session, which was where the issues relating to the Seasons offer to LPOC members could be fully debated. He added that although there would be references to the Seasons offer, no questions or comments would be taken from the floor during the AGM relating to the offer itself.
2. To receive apologies for absence
Apologies were received from 49 members, the chairman did add that over 370 of the remaining members of the club had not made contact of any kind.
3. To approve the Minutes of the 2007 AGM
Proposer Mr Bowyer and Seconder Mr Garin Davies, 2007 minutes are approved.
4. To consider matters arising
There were no matters arising
5. To receive the Chairman’s Report
CB informed the meeting that one formal meeting had been held in September 2007-
·To finalise agreement on the expenditure and reconcile the figures for 2007
·To receive a verbal report on the half year finance situation for 2008
·To set the Management fees, Sinking Fund and Utility fees for 2009
He then stated DB would cover these items in her financial report, supported by DC.
He went on to say that there was further discussion on the Seasons offer, the results of which will come out in the discussion following the AGM.
CB continued by stating that most of this years business was conducted via telephone or email.
The first part of the year mainly involving the identification and disposal of Delinquent certificates. As had been agreed at the last AGM the 2008 certificates were disposed of along with the 2007 certificates.
The deadline for the first week in March for placing the certificates on the website, proved too ambitious, but were eventually posted by the third week in April and remained there for three weeks rather than two because of the delay. None of the certificates were purchased by members/families or friends and were therefore passed on to Seasons who covered the entire shortfall that resulted from the non-payment of the Management fees.
CB expressed the committees continued disappointment in the fact that whatever the committee does to try and stem the tide of delinquency it seems to have no effect. It is the club’s greatest problem.
At the beginning of 2003 LPO ordinary owners held 1462 certificates. For 2008 863 members were invoiced- 699 actually paid their Management fees, which equates to approximately 720 certificates.
The most recent figures from the Trustees gives 476 members, which puts us under 500 certificates owned. This latest drop in the figures are due directly to the Seasons offer, but CB went on to point out that the committee did dispose of over 170 certificates in April of this year. He then went on to state that from the communications that he has been receiving that a number of members are intending to move over to Seasons but are waiting for the outcome of this meeting to make the decision as to when.
CB concluded this part of his report by saying that Glenn would cover the details of the disposal of delinquent weeks in his report.
CB-reported that the latter part of the year had been mainly concerned with responding to the Seasons offer. He stated that it had generated a considerable amount of traffic. There was a meeting with the Seasons Chairman Mr Barry Hurley in the Seasons Bristol office at CB’s request in early July. The objectives of the meeting was to get an extension on the deadline in order to give members the opportunity to discuss the offer after the AGM and also secure a special agreement for fixed week owners, concerns of which had been raised by many members when they have contacted the committee. These agreements were obtained from the Seasons Chairman. The offer from Seasons will be outlined by DC after the AGM.
A routine annual site inspection visit was carried out in September accompanied by Mark Owen who is the resort manager. There has been no major refurbishment work undertaken during the year, which will be commented in more detail within the finance report. As part of the agreed rolling programme a few more Dylan bathrooms have been tiled, some new TVs have been put in the units and some of the Dylan windows have been replaced due to either insulation breakdown or safety issues. Similarly but more seriously there have been ongoing problems with the Dylan roofs, which the resort manager constantly administers patch up repairs but will need re-roofing in the not too distant future. This will be referred to in the finance report.
Unit inventory has been an issue for a number of years so was targeted for this year and the committee have been assured that this has been addressed. The units we visited during the visit confirmed that the inventory is now up to specification and that a checklist is in every unit and members and guests are required to report all shortages. We understand that these shortages are followed up diligently.
During a recent site visit by the insurance company the resort was praised for the way in which H&S issues have been addressed which has been reflected in the downward adjustment of the premiums. Well done to the resort manager Mark Owen.
During our site inspection we visited the Clubhouse, which has been recently refurbished. We had lunch there and found the quality of the food to be very good, generous helpings and reasonably priced. A number of members who have contacted us have stated that the managers of the clubhouse are making a real effort to provide an enjoyable experience for both adults and children and urged more visitors to use the facilities.
End of Chairman’s report questions requested from the floor relating to issues raised in the report.
Mr Wells-3521- reminded the meeting that he along with other volunteers undertook work three years ago to identify shortfalls at the site and had been prepared to carry on but had not been called upon. He congratulated the committee for allowing that to happen and stated that in his opinion things had gone so much better since that happened.
CB-thanked all those who had been involved in the team and informed the meeting that Seasons had taken on Jane Thompson as a Resort Operational Director who had implemented many of the suggestions made by the team and they now were very much part of the day to day running of the site.
Mrs Palmer-3930- asked whether three weeks was the legal requirement for notifying members of the weeks on offer for members.
CB informed the members that during the last AGM there had been a great deal of discussion on the new method of disposal of delinquent weeks (Document 8 was included in the 2007AGM minutes that went out to all members last year). Members were informed that if they had an interest to purchase a defaulting week that they could contact the committee any time and they would be informed of the full list either when the weeks went up on the website or sent a hard copy.
G B- reminded the members that he had obtained agreement from Seasons that if members missed the web page offer they would be willing to extend the offer. The committee had hoped that the new method of disposal, cost of outstanding membership fees plus the transfer fee would attract more interest than an auction but over the years no matter what method has been adopted no more than 5/6 weeks have been sold.
A member asked how much was the transfer fee
GB- informed the floor was approximately £50.
A member asked whether a list could be circulated to all members.
CB- explained that the method used this year was an experiment however the committee were happy to take on any suggestions, which would help to increase the potential number of sales. He reminded the floor that a great deal of effort had been undertaken in the past by GB to set up the auctions which resulted in very few sales and we then past the weeks over to Seasons when the weeks were in some cases two years in arrears. Some organisations take the weeks but do not cover the overdue fees however we have been fortunate that Seasons are willing to cover the shortfall. We therefore have an obligation to ensure that the weeks are past over in a timely manner in order that Seasons can either use the weeks or sell them.
CB called on Diane Bartle to start the Finance Report to be followed by David Clark
5. To receive the Finance Report
DB introduced herself and informed the meeting that she had been a LPOC member since 1994, had volunteered as a committee member at the 2002 AGM and had been the club’s treasurer since January 2003. She asked the meeting to bear two things in mind – the first that nothing ever stays the same and secondly that a realistic attitude is the best approach.
There is one constant at LP and that is the 71 units of which a maximum of 50 weeks can be sold. This gives a total of 3550 weeks which makes up the Laugharne Park Owners Club (LPOC ). The club is divided into two parts those weeks owned by LP members and those owned by Seasons. It should be noted that when Seasons joined up with the original developer there were unsold weeks which they took over under Seasons Title.
DB informed the meeting that the finance report was going to be delivered under three headings PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE. In the past LP members owned 2000 weeks 60% and Seasons Title owned 1550 weeks 40%. The most recent situation is LP members 498 14% and Seasons Title 3052 weeks 86%. There are two main reasons why the membership has decreased, firstly over the years LP members have moved over to Seasons and secondly defaulting members. She reinforced the efforts made by the committee over the years however these efforts have failed to reduce the number which is running at approximately 100 members per year. DB stated that the members should be grateful that Seasons were willing to take over these weeks and cover the shortfall as financially the club would not have been able to carry on. What does the future hold for the present membership of 498, at 100 defaulting members a year it wont be long until there are no members left possibly 4/5 years.
The annual cost of being a member can be divided into three parts – Management Fee, Sinking Fund and Utility Charge. The first part is the Management Fee. In 2002 under the terms of the Management Agreement the second charging was implemented which meant that the management fee would be based on the actual cost of running the resort. This resulted in annual accounts being produced by David Clarke (see Document 1) that shows an itemized list of all the costs. As the management fee went up in 2002/3 the committee was concerned to keep the membership stable and for several years no increase was implemented. In hindsight this was a poor decision, as we were still experiencing 100 defaulting members a year. The fee should have been increased in 2006 as at December 2007 even after the defaulting members had been taken over by Seasons and the shortfall in collection covered we were left with a £28K shortfall which had to be covered from the club accounts (See Document 3 LPOC Payment Sept 07).
The present – as a result of this oversight we decided to increase the fee by £15 for 2008. DB stated that she would expand on 2 items in Document 1, which might help to explain the reasons for the £28K shortfall. Firstly Site Management (which is the second item under Operating Costs) this is the salaries costs for the staff on the site and includes the cleaners and laundry staff. Also Cleaning (see the fifth item under Operating Costs), which includes the cost of Casual Cleaners and relates to staff taken on to cover busy periods on the site. The cost of cleaning has risen by 40% over the past 3 years. Partly due to the complaints received by members which resulted in an increase in the number of cleaners to enable a ‘deep clean’ of the units and also to the other resorts in the area (Kiln Park and Bluestone etc.) offering higher rates per hour which had to be matched by LP. Secondly (see Electricity/Gas/Oil/Water under Utilities on Document 1) the utilities shortfall has increased from £7289 in 2004 to £38000 in 2007. This will be covered in more detail under Utility Charges. It is not all bad news as when the cost of Insurance is compared to previous years (See Document 1 under Misc. Costs) DB could report a decrease in costs. This reduction is partly due to the reduction of risks on the site as a result of H&S improvements but also the improved buying power of Seasons as an organisation.
What about the future – DB advised the committee that it would be prudent to raise the 2009 Management Fee by a least the current inflation rate of 4½ % (£265 to £277 and £275 to £288) She asked the meeting to consider whether that now an offer has been made to the membership to move over to Seasons they realistically thought Seasons would be willing to cover the shortfall incurred as a result of the 2009 defaulting members. What would that mean to the remaining membership? Supposing 100 members default, the average of £277 and £288 is £282.50 times that by 100 which totals £28250.00. This shortfall in collection would either have to be covered by the remaining 389 members at a cost of £72.62 each or be paid from the club accounts. What would happen in 2010, 2011 and 2012.?
The second part of the annual cost to members is the Sinking Fund. It is an important part of the responsibility of the committee to look after the membership’s long-term interest and to ensure that funds continue to provide for this growing demand. The Sinking Fund was raised to £20 in 2000 and to £30 in 2005. In 2004 the Dylans were refurbished and the Pembrokes followed in 2005/6. Even though the refurbishment programme was restricted (the kitchens and bathrooms were not included) the club was left with a large debt, which won’t be paid off until the end of 2008. This has resulted in very little work being undertaken during 2007/8. A site visit identified that the tiling of the Dylan bathrooms is continuing and wherever necessary ie. due to safety issues and break down of double-glazing, the windows are being replaced.
DC is to present proposed plans for major redevelopment of the site but realistically this development will not happen for quite some time. In the mean time the inventory is getting older and in particular the Dylans are in need of major repairs. During the site visit the resort manager highlighted problems with the roofs that have been patched over but consideration will have to be made to replace some of the worse cases. There are 23 Dylans. Also 5 of the Pembrokes have felt roofs which are not going to last much longer. What is the cost of a new roof? A rough estimate of £15K times 28 gives a total of £420K. Divide this total by 3550 and the figure is £118.31 each week, which at £30 per member would mean the work would have to be spread over 4 years. During these four years no other refurbishment work could be undertaken. If we raise the Sinking Fund to £50 per week we would raise £177500 per year and the work could be carried out in a much shorter time.
The third cost to members who decide to visit LP is the Utility Charge. In the past there were electric metres, which were removed in 2002 and a fee of £21 for Summer and £36 Winter was introduced. Many resorts include the utility charge in with the Management Fee however the committee decided not to do this. The reason for this was for those members who do not visit LP but exchange their week for another resort. Often they incur utility charges at these resorts, which would effectively mean they would be paying twice. The charge includes the cost of water, gas, electricity and oil and a lot of work was undertaken in 2003 to establish what proportion of the bills at the site were the responsibility of LPOC and the actual occupancy which was found to be 94% in the summer and 81% in the winter. LPOC are liable to 86% of the electricity bills, 100% of the water rates and oil bills and all but £1000 of the gas bill (estimated cost of the Clubhouse gas bill). The resulting calculations established that the collection of charges from all visitors to the resort should total £87.466.42. Any shortfall is included in the Management Fee under utilities (see Document 1)
In recent years we have seen a rise in gas and electricity charges, which has led to the utilities shortfall increasing from £7289 in 2004 to £38000 in 2007. If we divide the £38000 shortfall by 3550 the result is £10.70. It would be prudent to anticipate that future gas and electricity charges are unlikely to come down and to avoid further increases on the utilities shortfall the committee have been advised that a £5 increase should be made on the utility charge for 2009. This would mean that the Summer charge of £21 would be increased to £26 and the Winter charge of £36 would be increased to £41. This would result in an income from charges of £102,951.42.
Seasons have been in negotiations with a company who have secured good utility rates and it is hoped that this together with the increase in utility charges will prevent an increase in the utility shortfall in 2009.
At the meeting in September DC and DB were in discussion regarding the 2008 accounts and an agreement has been made that whatever the situation when the final accounts are prepared at the end of the year a line will be drawn which will mean that LP members will owe nothing to Seasons and they will owe nothing to LP members. This zero balance can be seen on Document 4. This means that we will go into 2009 with a clean slate.
To summarise the 2009 Fee is as follows:-
Sleep 4 Sleep 6
Management Fee 277 288
Sinking Fund 50 50
Total 327 338
Utility Charge
Summer £26 353 364
Winter £41 368 379
It is hoped that with the implementation of these increases that by the end of 2009 there will no shortfall on the Management Fee that Sinking Fund collections will ensure that refurbishment work on the site can be carried out without incurring a large debt and the increase in the Utility Charges will cover the major part of the utility bills.
In summing up DB expressed the hope that the proposed plans for LP would not prevent Seasons from continuing with the essential maintenance work on the site. This was their first resort and whenever a visit is carried out it is noted that the sales team are taking prospective members around the resort. The location is fantastic and it is essential that the standard of the site is at least the same as other Seasons resorts.
David Clarke was asked to give his report
DC- introduced himself to the meeting, he has been the Finance Manager of Seasons since 2002. One of the tasks given to him by the Chairman of Seasons was to get involved with the fixed clubs of which there are five/six in the Seasons organisation. At the time, 2002, the LP committee had reached an impasse with Seasons where neither side were communicating. In 2002 a new committee chaired by Nigel Spring Beynon was formed and included Diane, Glenn and Eileen Williams together with DC and the ex M.D. Michael Foundly. It was decided to draw a line at this time and move things forward. Another line has been drawn in the 2008, when the accounts were prepared it was decided that Seasons would owe nothing to LP members and LP members would owe nothing to Seasons. This means that whatever is in the club accounts is surplus funds belonging to the private LPOC membership.
There has been a lot of discussion today regarding defaulting weeks and the cost of purchasing a week. Seasons took defaulting weeks in order to eliminate the LP members shortfall. However if anyone contacted Seasons with an interest to take on a week or a defaulting member wished to come back to the club every effort was made by Seasons to take a sympathetic approach and to try and meet that members wishes and there have been instances of this happening in the past.
Year on year Seasons tries to achieve economies of scale by looking at the entire Seasons package, for example Insurance premiums did drop slightly in 2007/8 as a result. What cannot be stopped is expenditure on ever tightening Health and Safety. These are legal requirements involving a wide range of elements that have to be implimented. In 2008 savings have been made on such things as TV licensing, where instead of having to buy a licence for every TV, Seasons have been able to secure what is called a Hotel Licensing system, which results in a much lower cost for the resort.
Season do look on LP compassionately, and whatever the cost is for running the site Seasons do cover the bills as and when they arise, not withstanding that there is traditionally a shortfall from the income produced by LP owners- around £44,000 for 2007 (see Document 1), which is largely as a result of delinquencies. (There is a reconciliation following the production of theses figures, but to date Seasons have cover that portion which is as a direct result of delinquent non-payment by taking over those weeks).
DC- asked the meeting how many members used LP in 2007. The show of hands indicated that most didn’t. He used that to illustrate that in any given year there is around 50% non-occupancy by LPOC independent members, which means that the Utility fee, which does not form part of the LPOC Management fee, is not paid in these cases. The cost is lower because energy is not used in those units during that week, but there still is a cost, and that cost has to be built back into the Management fee for the following year.
One of the hardest tasks has been Glenn’s, dealing with delinquency. He has tried many different ways to move on those weeks. DC reiterated that although Seasons are more than happy to take those weeks, every opportunity to move these on has been supported by Seasons even down to returning weeks to delinquent members wishing to come back to the club.
DC concluded by stating that prior to 2002 Seasons did not always work in the best interests of the club and that Laugharne Park, being the first of the Seasons resorts, should again become the best resort and that needs to be the target for the future. Since joining this committee in 2002, which also included Nigel Spring-Benyon and Eileen Williams, it has taken 6 years to get to the point where we have reached a line in the sand where Seasons owes LP members nothing and LP members owes Seasons nothing however this has been at the sacrifice of very little being spent on the resort for over a year.
He also wished to remind the meeting that whatever fee LPOC private members pay, Seasons have to pay the same for every week that Seasons hold and that whatever people paid for their LP weeks it was not to Seasons that this money was paid.
DC then asked for questions from the floor.
Mr Taylor- Dylan15 Wk 24- Referring to Document 1 asked for clarification as to why in some instances the sums are taken over with only a proportion going to LPOC and in others the whole cost goes to LPOC.
DC- explained that not everything that goes on at the resort is to do directly with LPOC, so everything that is not a timeshare element is taken out, those elements that are only partially attributed to LPOC are proportioned as a percentage and those that are all to do with the independent owners at resort are attributed in full.
As an illustration he stated that in 2004, based on a 2002 review by DB and EW it was established what the real cost of printing, postage, stationary etc should be just for independent LPOC owners. (Document 1 Misc. Costs) and so only that proportion of the overall cost is shown. Regarding the Rates however, the figure (left hand column) is for the total of the 71 units at the site but the true known independent membership at the time gave a percentage of 25.97%, so the figure in the right hand column is that percentage of the whole.
Mr Ivil- 3867- Has the committee looked for any forms of renewable energy at the site?
DC- Since 2005 there has been a borehole on the site. As the water from it is used for drinking it has to be regularly tested and in the summer months there is often some salt seepage that consequently restricts its use.
Seasons are actively looking to the green footprint and are building one environmentally friendly lodge as an experiment at Clowance where planning permission is in place. The company being used is Swedish called Eco-Tec. Any future development at Laugharne will be done along these lines.
Mr Wells-3312- Regarding the re-roofing at LP will who ever is responsible consider installing the new solar panel system, which is highly efficient and can make the resort money by selling back the surplus electricity generated to the National Grid?
DC- A good idea which he promised he will take on board for consideration.
Mrs Webb-267- Why is there still a utility cost even when a lodge is not occupied.
DC- there is a standing charge and in the winter a low level of heating is maintained.
CB- added that you do have to take such things as street lighting and the general site usage into that costing.
Mrs Webb-267-Commented that for those who don’t normally use Laugharne it could result in having to pay 2 utility charges i.e. the one at the resort visited and covering the shortfall at Laugharne.
DC-Responded by saying that he would prefer that the utility charge be included as part of the Management charge and therefore charged to all. That is what Seasons and the vast majority of Timeshare companies do, except in the States.
Mr Barbato-1145- said that he was surprised to hear during his stay at Laugharne this year that there was to be a lot of future development at the resort and that many of the Dylans were to be demolished as part of that development. Was there any truth in this?
DC- stated that for the last 3 years Seasons has been trying to get planning permission to replace the 28 ‘Tenkos’. There are now new plans that are in the very early stages of discussion that DC will go into greater detail in the second part of the meeting, but he did add that at present the reality is that nothing will happen in the foreseeable future and indeed might never happen. However this would have to be taken into consideration in the guarantees that Seasons make in their offer, particularly to Fixed Week owners.
Mr Wells- suggested that if solar panels were to form part of the plans for re-development that the local council may well look more favourably on the plans and even offer grants towards the cost as well as saving on the cost of utility charges to owners.
DC- replied that all Timeshare companies must now look at all issues concerned with the Green Footprint and actively work towards reducing carbon emissions and this point will be taken on board.
Mr Harper-2938- Several previous items were related to levels of occupancy. Could some indication be given to how well the site is used?
DC- The occupancy level is generally very high, Laugharne is a popular resort.
AMJ- stated that the level is about 95% on average and enjoys a higher level of occupancy than Brunston.
DC- added that occupancy was a problem 4 years ago when LPOC private membership was 2000+ with the previously reported problem of no show, but now with that membership so much lower and with repeat tripage of Seasons members it is no longer an issue.
Mrs Wells-3312- pointed out that in the II brochure the graph showing general availability in the UK indicates that getting in anywhere is almost impossible and perhaps discourages II users from requesting exchanges into Laugharne. Considering the number of weeks that go un-occupied could II members not be encouraged to request at Laugharne?
DC- stated that with 95% occupancy we do not have any real problem with lack of occupancy. Regarding any ‘no shows’ we will not know about these until the day usually and then it is too late to do anything. However that is now a minor problem for the resort as a whole.
Mrs Thomas-95- stated that she is always rung up about 5 days before she is due to come to confirm.
DC- replied that even then people do not turn up.
Mr Marlow-145- said that there used to be a facility for letting owners’ weeks out. This was done through contact with the staff at the resort who would then let it out and give a proportion of the Management fee back. So is this problem a result of the letting facility being dropped?
DC- stated that Seasons would not re-introduce such a facility, although the committee could set something up independently.
CB-reminded members that such a facility does exist through the members website.
Mrs Webb-267-stated that this was an agreement made when she bought, when Michael Wood-Power was the developer and it was linked to Hoseasons.
CB-pointed out that the ‘Tenkos’ were then owned by Hoseasons and this was probably where the link was, but this is no longer the case.
6. To report on 2008 Delinquent Payers and to approve actions by the Committee to cancel membership and disposal of the weeks for 2009.
Glenn informed the meeting that he had been a Floating Pembroke member since 1998.
He reported to the meeting that the committee followed the Document 8 procedure detailed in the 2007 AGM minutes.
The disposal of the members defaulting week is necessary to ensure that a new owner is found who will pay the agreed Maintenance charge as it becomes due on the 1st. January each year. If this plan is not achieved the remaining membership will have to pay the additional outstanding debt. What that additional amount might be has been identified today.
Seasons Holidays issued invoices to all members in November 2007 for payment by 1st. January 2008. By the end of March a listing of the defaulting members was issued to the committee by Seasons and subsequent to that the list of those weeks was displayed for 3 weeks on the LPOC website, together with the actual price of the outstanding debt plus the transfer charges. No offers were received and the weeks were handed over to Seasons Holidays who paid the outstanding debt on these weeks.
As agreed at the last AGM Seasons will consider bids from members wishing to increase the number of weeks that they hold. This option was given in case members missed the issue of the defaulting weeks on the website.
Glenn stated that he was very sorry not to have achieved the selling of any of the defaulting weeks this time. It was a new procedure that was tried by the committee, which did not attract the hoped for response from the members.
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7. The proposed Management Fee for 2009 together with Sinking Fund.
CB reminded the meeting of the figures already given by DB in item 5.
He also used this opportunity to remind the meeting of the other members, along with Nigel Spring-Benyon and Frank Wells, who gave a great deal of their time and expertise for the greater benefit of the club over the last 6 years, namely Roger Evans and Mike Williams.
8. Appointment of Committee member
CB suggested that as it is now very likely that a merger will take place in the near future between LPOC members and Seasons Title that there be a proposal that the serving members of the committee remain in office to see this merger through to the end.
Mr Sneary-2165 proposed the motion, Mr Thomas-550 seconded. The motion was carried.
9. To transact any other business.
A member asked- assuming the merger goes through but after the start of 2009 will Seasons cover any outstanding monies owing?
CB stated that the target, if the merger was agreed, was to complete the process before the end of 2008.
DC reminded the meeting that in DB’s presentation she stated that it had been agreed that any shortfall for 2008, which is predicted, would be met by Seasons.
CB stated that if the merger is not finalised by the end of 2008 that this will present problems which are at this time difficult to predict. He added that the club does have independent funds which will be distributed amongst the membership after the merger and the committee will shortly be meeting with the Trustees for legal guidance and advice as to how to go about this. This cannot be undertaken at this point. The distribution will not happen until well after December.
Mr Sneary called for a round of applause in recognition of the achievement of the committee and management team present for the way in which they have moved the club forward since 2002.
The AGM ended at 12.40 pm
A Buffet lunch of sandwiches, crisps and refreshments was provided by the Hotel and paid for out of the LP member’s funds. For those members who were disappointed by what was on offer please note that we ordered food for 90 of which approximately 75 members and committee attended. The cost was £2.75 for tea/coffee per person and £5.95 per person for the food. A complaint regarding the quantity of food provided and the quality of the coffee was made at the end of the meeting which resulted in a refund of £250 being given.
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