Surf Coast Shire has now given its approval to an amendment to the club’s planning permit for a revised design for the clubhouse, following the pre-Christmas approval of that design by the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE).
With this approval the club has decided to hold a clubhouse farewell party for members on the evening of Saturday, February 25.
We’ll tell you more about the event later, but at this stage lock the date in your diary! It will be a night to reflect on the great job done by the club and to acknowledge those pioneers who got the club up and running 50 years ago ... and all the others who joined in over the years to keep it going.
Before the event, all club equipment, honour boards and historic photos will be cleared from the building, catalogued and stored at various sites around the community so when you arrive, the clubhouse will be empty. This clearing project is being managed by our vice presidents.
All systems go! The site will be secured on Monday February 27 so site works can commence. Our Building Committee is currently supervising the final stages of preparation of the technical building documentation to take account of the changes to the design approved by DSE and the council. Those documents will then be used in the tender process for the imminent appointment of a builder. In the meantime, demolition of the building will occur and the site prepared for construction.
Weekend patrols will continue as scheduled until April 9, operating from a "container office" alongside the existing boat ramp.
$440,000 thus far
Our Public Appeal launched during the holidays has raised $440,000 thus far, which has been added to the $900,000 donated/pledged by members when the project was proposed early last year.
The flow of donations and pledges received since the holiday weeks has been steady, with over $100,000 coming in.
While the response has been terrific, it appears only 30% of our members list of "families/individuals" are currently involved in making a donation or pledge.
In our call to "Spread the load", a big favourite has been the $2000 Family Brick. Most paid that amount up front while others took advantage of the payment options over two or three years. We hope that more members can become involved and thereby truly spread the load ... and as soon as possible as we are moving into payment of consultants and suppliers who have guided us so well to this stage.
Jump on to www.fairhavenslsc.org to get involved.
For those that have contributed you will soon receive letters of acknowledgement and for those who have pledged you will be asked to confirm with a contribution and preferred payment method as well as agreeing on a timetable for any following contributions, bearing in mind June 30 tax deduction provisions. For our management processes, we’re setting that deadline at June 15.
Great news here too. Four suppliers have offered to supply their goods or service free or at a discount. There are some truly great people linked to this club. Obviously, if any members have a contact in the building materials industry who might be interested in helping too, please let us know.
Hope you are free on February 25 to bid farewell to our faithful clubhouse!
PAUL SHANNON
President