IMPORTANT NOTICE

Membership Fees and Categories 2020 - 2021

2020 may prove to be the most challenging of times we have ever seen as a Club.

Members would be aware that the Club has been facing challenging times even prior to the declaration of a pandemic in March 2020. As referenced in the Club’s most recent Annual Report (2018-2019), our Strategic Plan and regular messages to Members, many registered and licensed clubs across Australia are facing severe financial challenges.

A key challenge for clubs has been the decreased ability to rely on gaming as a source of revenue to subsidise other aspects of the business. For our Club, this has been highlighted by the sharp downturn in gaming revenue during 2019. The Club has adopted improved practices and efficiencies nevertheless, these initiatives can only go so far to offset increasing costs of maintaining the Club’s facilities.

In addition, from late 2019 we have experienced periods of drought followed by severe storms that further impacted on the Club's financial performance. More recently, the forced shutdown of the Club from 23 March 2020 has placed an additional burden on the Club's financial resources. As mentioned in the April 2020 Seahorse message to Members, the Board has developed a strategy including making full use of all available government initiatives, which will best position the Club to weather the shutdown period and beyond.

We have now arrived at the time of year for Membership Renewals. Noting that there has not been any fee increases to Golf and Bowls memberships since 2017, the Board established a Committee in early 2019 to review Membership Fees and Categories. Over the past year the Committee has undertaken an extremely comprehensive review process and discussed widely with Members.

The Board has now very carefully considered the recommendations and has agreed to increased Membership Fees and some changes in Membership Categories.

In the coming week, you will be invited to renew your Membership.

When considering your Membership renewal you are asked to consider the following:

• Extensive member consultation and consideration has been undertaken to develop these revised fees and membership categories.
• There have been no Membership fee increases since 2017.
• The increases in fees have been applied as an equal percentage increase across all Membership categories.
• The increase for a Full Golf Member (7 day week) represents an additional $4.52 a week.
• The increase for a Full Bowling Member (7 day week) represents an additional 48 cents a week.
• The Club’s fees remain competitive with other clubs in the region offering comparable facilities.
• To ensure financial stability the Club must offset rising expenses and reduced income.
• The forced unexpected closure of the Club has placed an increased financial burden on the Club.
• Permanent employees have accepted reduced work hours and salary and wage reductions ranging from 20 to 30%.

The Board is keenly aware of the difficulties facing many of our Members in the current situation and the Club is extremely grateful for your continued support of the Club.

Kind regards,

Board of Directors
Ocean Shores Country Club Ltd