Communiqué from Mount Edgecombe Country Club & Estates
Dear Members
Communiqué from our three Chairmen: Pani Dam Development & the Common Interest Council (CIC)
The Common Interest Council (CIC), as outlined in the Club Six-Monthly Report, has met regularly over the past few months and communication between the Club and the Estates has improved significantly. The focus has been on achieving greater synergy and co-operation in pursuing matters where there is common interest and to seek outcomes that are in the best interests of the members of all three bodies concerned.
As part of this exercise the CIC decided to hold a ‘Bosberaad’, on 3rd and 4th November, where representatives of each body, under the guidance of an independent facilitator explored and brainstormed options for achieving the goal of working more closely together. The facilitator was Jeff Gilmour the President of ARC (the Association of Residential Communities).
Consensus was soon reached that the complete autonomy of the 3 entities had resulted in disadvantages including additional costs, lack of co-operation, poor understanding of the others operations, poor synergy and an unfortunate degree of parochial thinking of ‘them and us’.
After discussion it was unanimously accepted that much more could be achieved by working more closely together. These advantages included greater alignment in terms of a common vision for the future, greater synergies in the provision of facilities and amenities, better utilisation of the combined estate assets, harmonisation of things such as conservation and landscaping, development of cross estate walking and cycling trails and leveraging off the greater muscle that the combined entities would bring to bear. It was agreed that ‘together we would be stronger’ and recommendations on a workable way forward were ironed out and agreed.
Jeff Gilmour subsequently presented these proposals to the Boards of all three bodies at a feedback session held at the Club on the 10th of November 2016 and there was general acceptance by all three bodies.
Key to the success of this new initiative is that all three bodies start actively promoting, marketing and building a new brand being the ‘Mount Edgecombe Country Club Estate’ and that we all use our best endeavours to create a culture amongst us where we all ‘think and act as one’ in the best interests of us all.
A merger of the three bodies into one entity was considered but on further exploration it was accepted that the legal complexities and the obstacles to be over-come were such this was unlikely to be achieved in the short term.
This possibility could be re-visited in the future.
The best alternative was considered to be a mandated CIC, with the committed support of the Boards, Residents and Members of all three bodies to achieve the same objectives as a single body.
The CIC’s role would be primarily an advisory one, which would consider matters of common interest, resulting in a more positive outcome than could be achieved by any one entity independently.
The CIC will select matters of common interest and call upon qualified teams to assess and report back on these initiatives. Ad hoc committees may be formed from within membership resources to compliment the effectiveness of these teams. Proposals will then be reviewed by the CIC and once agreed will be passed to the respective Boards for final approval.
The CIC, through its appointed teams, will be accountable to Members for the implementation of these mutually agreed actions.
The following is the proposed framework for the CIC, agreed by the three Boards. The CIC will, as before, comprise the Chair (or delegated Board Member) and General Manager of each of the three entities but to ensure continuity and proper representation each Chair will have an Alternative selected by the respective Boards that will be the represent the Relevant Body in the absence of the Chair.
PANI DAM DEVELOPMENT
We are pleased to announce that after an appropriate consultative process, we have finally approved the plans for a refurbished Pani Dam facility.
In the recent Members Survey just over 80% of Members noted their preference for a multi-purpose venue comprising a family style restaurant and function venue. A children’s play area was also a common request. One of our major considerations was the financial viability and long term sustainability of the venue and a single purpose facility such as a restaurant carries risks in this regard.
The main focus of the new facility will be a family style Bistro/Restaurant and Coffee Shop with a children’s play area immediately adjacent to the seating area. Seating on the new enlarged deck will offer great views down the dam and adjacent golf holes. Early morning coffees and breakfasts will be served and thereafter snacks and light lunches will be available throughout the day. In the early evenings a wine bar will offer various sun-downers, wines and cocktails and become a favourite hub for all to meet and relax. The restaurant will offer a wide range of family type meals and a large pizza oven will be a feature. Braai facilities will also be available on the water’s edge.
We will have Wi-Fi facilities at the venue and are investigating a printing, scanning type facility for those that want to work away from the home or office or just allow the traffic to thin out a bit whilst enjoying a coffee or snack.
The half-way house will be incorporated into the coffee shop/restaurant and will offer both “grab and go” and sit down options.
Currently the Clubhouse has limited function rooms and often we are forced to turn away lucrative functions and meetings because of lack of space. In addition many in-house and member functions are held in the Clubhouse and compound the lack of space issue. There will be two refurbished function rooms at Pani Dam. Sliding doors between the two will allow for flexibility in the case of larger functions. These rooms will be available for functions, small meetings and member functions. We feel that by having this facility we are going a long way to ensuring financial sustainability of the whole venue.
The revamp will have a theme depicting the history of the sugar industry in KZN and the part we played in the industry. Any Resident who could contribute to assist our designer making the them interesting for generations to come would be welcome. Please contact Desiree Stone – desiree@mountecc.co.za
The Estate 2 Board have kindly agreed to allocate additional funds to ensure that the kiddies playground area includes various jungle gyms, climbing facilities, a trampoline and other features ensuring it will be one of the best in the city.
Access, noise and security controls have been given a lot of attention and by working closely with Estate 2 Management we are confident that these areas will not prove problematic.
The building plans will be on display in the Club Reception, and at both Estate offices by Friday this week.
The refurbishment will commence in early January 2016 with completion expected by April. We trust that Members and Residents will be happy with this new facility and trust that it will enjoy your support thereby ensuring its long term sustainability.
Wishing you the very best over the Festive Season and may 2017 be a good one for our Estate.
Kind regards
TONY DIXONTON VD HEIJDENRODNEY GOULD
Chairman: Country Club Chairman: Estate 1 Chairman: Estate 2
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