The Captain's Letter accompanying the 2005/6 Annual Report and Accounts contains a description of the Committee's proposals to upgrade the gentlemen's ablutions and locker room and the ladies' facilities. The total cost of the improvements is £162,000 which includes £10,000 for the upgrade of the ladies' facilities and £10,000 non-recoverable VAT.

"In view of the level of expenditure" writes the Captain, "the Committee believes this project should be approved by the membership at the AGM. A resolultion to this effect will therefore be moved and voted on at the meeting and the decision will be based on a simple majority of those present. As you can see from the detailed Questions and Answers, the Committee has stated: "The capital cost of the option recommended would be funded entirely from the club?s internal cash resources. No borrowing would be required nor would any levy from members be needed." The architect's drawing, below, shows the proposed layout compared with the present locker-room. The plan, below, shows more detail of the lockers and the ablutions.

Gordon Musk writes: "Our Club house is a traditional one which has been improved with the addition of the entrance hall, lounge and dining room extension, staff room and a modern up-dated kitchen. In each case, cheap short-term options were avoided in favour of designs tailored to meet existing and longer-term needs. Each project was completed within budget and without the need to resort to levies or bank loans.”

Frequently Asked Questions

What is wrong with the men’s ablutions and changing room?

The fundamental problem lies with the ablutions. In particular, the area is too cramped. The number of showers is insufficient and the drying area inadequate in size. The committee received representation several years ago from members concerning this. There is little natural light or ventilation in the showers and this creates mould growth every year, which in turn creates a hygiene problem. The floor is difficult to clean and water ponds on the floor because of incorrect falls. Windows, ceilings, wall and floor tiling, sanitary ware and fittings throughout the whole ablutions area all need replacing, lighting needs to be improved and radiators replaced. For reasons expanded upon below, correcting the above inadequacies in the ablutions has the additional bonus of creating extra space to enable a proper refurbishment of the changing room. The windows, ceilings, carpets and fixtures and fittings in the present changing room all need replacing. Ventilation and lighting need to be improved. The increased space in the changing room would offset the crowding experienced on a significant number of times per year when larger golf events, including two LGC ladies meetings, take place.

A proper changing room refurbishment would become ever more important in future as people’s expectations of modern standards increase. Current facilities are inferior both to those of other golf clubs in the area and to the provision made for LGC lady members. A golf club with such a superb course and excellent reputation should have facilities in keeping with its status.

What proposals are there to improve things?

Greatly improved ablutions are proposed through a resiting of the area within a new extension. The whole area would become more spacious with increased facilities. In particular the extra space provided would give the ablutions a much improved quality of ventilation and would give far greater scope to introduce fresh air and natural light. Modern wall and floor tiling, fixtures and fittings would be easier to maintain and would reflect the standards expected of a club with our reputation. Modern energy systems would improve efficiency. The extra changing room space would help provide a much better equipped facility with new ceilings, carpets, modern lockers, seating, hanging and storage space, proper towel storage and disposal, more mirrors, better lighting and ventilation. The present ablutions area would become an integral part of the main changing room with some space given over to the provision of lockers. Area Old New Increase Ablutions area 336 sq ft 448 sq ft 33% Changing Rooms 616 sq ft 1176 sq ft 90% Locker numbers 49 63 27% Hanging Spaces 50 100 100% WC cubicles 2 3 33% Urinals 4 4 0% Wash basins 3 4 25% Showers 4 6 50% Footbath 0 1 100%

What improvements would be made to ladies’ facilities?

Various improvements are proposed. These include the lengthening of the toilets, the introduction of borrowed light and extract ventilation from the toilets, the opening up of the vanity units, the screening of the front of the shower area for greater privacy and new floor and wall tiling throughout the whole of the ablutions area.

Where will the men be able to change and wash in the meantime?

Temporary accommodation would be made available for the period when the changing room and extension were being fitted out. This would involve the hiring of Portakabins to provide adequate changing and ablution facilities for approximately two months.

Why not just carry out an upgrade to current changing and ablution facilities without increasing their size?

Consideration was given to merely refurbishing the existing ablutions and changing room without increasing their size. This would at best only be a costly, short term solution, which would NOT solve the key problems associated with these areas and is therefore not feasible. Consideration was also given to enlarging only the existing ablutions area, but this would mean encroaching into the present changing room. This would limit access to a space already restricted in size, make a proper changing room refurbishment impossible to achieve and is therefore not feasible. Consideration was also given to replacing the present individual shower units with a communal shower area, but the space available would be inadequate in size. Looking ahead, it is worth noting that Child Protection issues mean that it may become obligatory in the future for Golf Clubs to provide separate changing and ablution facilities for adult and junior members. We would have the flexibility to be able to do this with the proposed new changing room lay out, but not with the existing one. The proposals include the provision of a toilet facility for the disabled, which again would not be possible, if the existing layout was maintained. Health and Safety regulations may well make it obligatory to provide such a facility in the future.

How many more large capital projects can we expect?

This is the last major project concerning the club house facilities. Within the next five years the only major project foreseen is the replacement of the existing course watering system, which is beginning to show signs of wear and tear. The present five year plan suggests that this can be funded within the club?s future cash resources without recourse to borrowing from banks or members.

How can you be certain of the cost?

We would enter into a lump sum, fixed price contract based on a completed design following the receipt of competitive tenders. There would therefore be no exposure to cost overrun. We employed this method with the lounge, dining room, staff room and kitchen projects and the contracts were all completed within budget.

Can the club afford it?

The capital cost of the option recommended would be funded entirely from the club?s internal cash resources. No borrowing would be required nor would any levy from members be needed. After the project completion the club?s cash resources would not be expected to fall below £100,000 at June 30th 2007, which is the low point of the annual cash flow cycle.

What are the financial consequences?

Annual expenses would increase by about £15k to cover depreciation, insurance, rates, heating, cleaning and non recoverable VAT. As the project would be completed within the winter months we would not expect any significant reduction in visitor or society income. There might be some small reduction in bar and catering income, if members stayed away. In the longer term we would expect that the improved facilities would add to the attraction of Liphook GC, which would protect, if not improve, our third party income.

Does the budget include a contingency reserve? Yes.

What can go wrong with the project?

There is a risk that between the publication of this document and the AGM, firms tendering successfully might procure other work that would prevent them from taking on this commission. This might have time and cost implications. The risk or otherwise would be identified just prior to the AGM.

Costs

Option 1 * The total cost of limited refurbishing without increasing the size of the men?s ablutions and changing room would be £80,000, i.e £65,000 for the limited upgrade of the men?s ablutions and changing room, £10,000 to be spent on improving the ladies? facilities and £5,000 on non recoverable VAT.

Option 2  The total cost of full refurbishing together with increasing the size of the men?s ablutions and changing room would be £162,000 i.e. £142,000 for the upgrade of the men?s ablutions and locker room, £10,000 to be spent on improving the ladies? facilities and £10,000 on non recoverable VAT.

Programme Target dates

4th November 2006 AGM 10th November 2006 Signing of contracts 20th November 2006 Construction starts 29th January 2007 Provision of temporary changing accommodation 29th January 2007 Refurbishment of Ladies’ ablutions area begins 26th February 2007 Completion of Ladies’ ablutions area 26th February 2007 Internal work begins on Men’s ablutions and changing rooms 23rd April 2007 Completion of project.

/-- Liphook Archive Information --/
#Medium:Document#
#Location:Website#
#Date Of Event:2006#
#Date Item Created:#
#Author:Sir John Dunt#
#Copyright:#