St Mellion Time Share Owners’ Association
Minutes of the 31st Annual Meeting held at St Mellion resort at 1100 on Friday 24 March 2023, also via Microsoft Teams
Present
Committee members:
Andy Martin (AM) Chairman
John Dalglish (JD) Secretary
Joyce Bloom (JB)
Colin Rayson (CR)
Sarah Yardley (SY)
St Mellion Management:
Matthew Pressman (MP) Resort Director
Kirstine Hitchcock (KH) Operations Manager
Andrew Merritt (AMe) Finance Director, Crown Golf – attending via MS Teams
Time Owners Attending in Person:
Jenny Martin
Louise Dalglish
Lynn Rayson
Roger Bloom
Tony Laurillard
Rob Blake
Peter Barnes
Bobbie Yardley
Roger Edwards
Venus Ortega
Mr and Mrs A Beer
Time Owners Attending via MS Teams:
Michael Luntley
John Pounsford – unable to connect
Apologies for Absence:
Alan Dick
Alan Mace
John Jones
Pat and Mike Heritage
Ian and Paula Wheeler
John Boardman
Agenda Items 1 – 3
The Chairman opened the meeting, welcoming all those able to attend either in person or ‘virtually’. The full list of attendees and apologies for absence are recorded in the minutes.
Agenda Item 4 – Matter Arising
There were 2 outstanding items from last year’s Annual Meeting, concerning Leases and Debtors, both falling to the Resort Director. The issue around leases and any changes that should be made to them following any changes of ownership (note: the original leases were specific to lodges and relevant weeks) has been something of a minefield for St Mellion, according to MP, who added that it is St Mellion’s responsibility to resolve and it is still in progress.
As for debtors, the action has in effect been overtaken by events, since St Mellion have now hired the services of a debt collection agency on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis to recover bad debts.
The minutes were then signed by the Chairman.
Agenda Item 5 – Chairman’s Report
AM presented his report to the meeting and a copy is attached to the draft minutes.
Agenda Item 6 – Statutory Accounts of SMPM Ltd
There was only one question regarding the accounts. Roger Edwards asked if the figure at page 13 of £41,318 (other debtors) reflected fees unpaid by some owners – AMe confirmed that this was the case.
Agenda Item 7 – St Mellion Management Report, Occupancy Grid and 10-Year Financial Review
MP outlined the challenges facing Time Share over the coming months. The 2 big questions on collectiveminds are the future of the scheme and how to make the reduced numbers work. Although Time Share is not formally part of the Resort Director’s remit, MP acknowledges a way has to be found to enable it to continue in agreement with owners, despite the decline in owner numbers over the past couple of years.
MP explained that St Mellion Estate had received an investment of £2m over the past 18 months – approx. £1.5m had been spent on improving hotel accommodation, including hotel-owned lodges, with the remaining £500k being used to improve the spa facilities.
On the subject of the 10-Year Review, which must be completed by 31 December 2023, this year is a break year in Time Share, so future numbers for the next 5 years will become known later in the year. The new baseline will take effect from 2024.
KH introduced the topic of the Occupancy Grid (latest version was provided with documents for the Annual Meeting). This generated some discussion. JB pointed out that a challenge will be to persuade owners to move (potentially) from the more expensive weeks (weeks 22-36) to a cheaper week – in terms of original purchase price. CR suggested that re-marketing of some weeks could bring in new business, as had been discussed previously at meetings between the committee and St Mellionmanagement. Similarly, JB had proposed the idea of short-term leases of 3 or 5 years, payable with a lump sum and aiming at a specific market. MP noted these suggestions but added that this would be part of the review conversation.
Agenda Item 8 – Election of Committee
AM and CR having served on the committee for over 3 years each, were up for re-election, as per the constitution. JB proposed that they be re-elected, seconded by Jenny Martin. Both were reappointed.
Peter Barnes has put himself forward for membership of the committee. Peter addressed the meeting to explain briefly his background. He was unanimously elected by attendees.
Agenda Item 9 – Questions and Answers from Owners
Several questions were sent to the secretary before the meeting and answered by St Mellion. Please refer to the documents issued prior to the meeting.
Future plans for Time Share at St Mellion was a question posed by several owners, both through questions submitted before and at the meeting. The Resort Director explained that Covid had severely affected planning; development costs have doubled and lodge purchase costs increased by 40%. The domestic market for holidaying in the UK has also declined recently, as more people are travelling abroad again. St Mellion have still got planning permission for the 27 lodges to be built near the existing lodges; that permission expires in May, so some cleaning up of the area around the lodges will be carried out shortly in order to protect the planning permission. The hotel cottages are doing well at peak times.
On the issue of exchange through Time Share platforms (see question from Alan Mace), KH explained that next year’s fees could not yet be determined, because they were dependent on the outcome of the pending 10-Year Review.
Rob Blake (Lodge 6 Week 2) raised a couple of issues. Firstly, Maintenance. He had noticed a few slates missing from his lodge roof, initially in 2021 and these had not been attended to. MP replied that this should not have been left unattended, there were no problems in engaging roofers to fix such an issue and the resort would see that repairs were carried out. In this context, all owners are encouraged to report any defects, or missing items, to St Mellion reception staff as soon as possible.
Secondly, Electricity Bills. Rob Blake recounted his experience before Christmas, when he received a bill for £450 for a few days’ stay. KH and MP explained that St Mellion had been out of contract for the supply of electricity at the time of Mr Blake’s stay. A refund of £320 was paid when a contract was in place and backdated. Everyone had been charged the same emergency rate during the period when the resort was out of contract. The new contract is at a competitive rate of 21 pence per Kwh.
A related question concerned the valid functionalityof the electricity meters in the lodges. KH assured the meeting that all meters were subject to an annual electrical PAT (Portable Appliance Test). Any meter irregularities would be looked at by St Mellion. KH agreed to have the meter in Lodge 6 checked.
Action: St Mellion
Post Meeting Note
The Secretary asked the Operations Manager to compare electricity bills over the period in question. KH reviewed several owners’ bills (all of which had been subject to refunds, like Rob Blake’s in Lodge 6) and the ratio was similar – e.g. one owner incurred a bill of £900 over 2 weeks, reduced by a refund of £669; another had a bill of £370, with a refund of £264. The majority of users received bills, after refunds, of between £80 and £140 per week. Consumption will of course depend on individual usage.
Separately SY has pointed out that a PAT will not determine the accuracy of a meter, which is correct. However, the above evidence suggests that the meters are consistent with each other. KH agreed also during our phone call to ask Steve Moss, on his return after Easter, to check with the electricians if anything untoward has been observed with the meters. No concerns have been raised. Any independent testing of meter accuracy would have to be arranged with the utility provider and the Office for Products and Services, a government body.
Action: St Mellion to check status of meters
Agenda Item 10 – AOB
As noted in the Chairman’s report, AM thanked Joyce Bloom for her significant contribution to the committee, having served on it for a total period of 12 years, the last 9 consecutively. A presentation was made to Joyce, who thanked everyone and expressed her fondness for St Mellion, having enjoyed 37 years of vacations at the resort in 7 time share weeks.
It was agreed that the committee should meet in early May, after future numbers of time share weeks will be known at the end of April.
Action: Secretary
Post Meeting Note
The Operations Manager (KH) has provided the table below, which lists corresponding time share week numbers to arrival dates. There have been a few recent enquiries regarding arrival dates, so the attached information is provided for clarity.
| WEEK | DATE |
| 14 | 08/04/2023 |
| 15 | 15/04/2023 |
| 16 | 22/04/2023 |
| 17 | 29/04/2023 |
| 18 | 06/05/2023 |
| 19 | 13/05/2023 |
| 20 | 20/05/2023 |
| 21 | 27/05/2023 |
| 22 | 03/06/2023 |
| 23 | 10/06/2023 |
| 24 | 17/06/2023 |
| 25 | 24/06/2023 |
| 26 | 01/07/2023 |
| 27 | 08/07/2023 |
| 28 | 15/07/2023 |
| 29 | 22/07/2023 |
| 30 | 29/07/2023 |
| 31 | 05/08/2023 |
| 32 | 12/08/2023 |
| 33 | 19/08/2023 |
| 34 | 26/08/2023 |
| 35 | 02/09/2023 |
| 36 | 09/09/2023 |
| 37 | 16/09/2023 |
| 38 | 23/09/2023 |
| 39 | 30/09/2023 |
| 40 | 07/10/2023 |
| 41 | 14/10/2023 |
| 42 | 21/10/2023 |
| 43 | 28/10/2023 |
| 44 | 04/11/2023 |
| 45 | 11/11/2023 |
| 46 | 18/11/2023 |
| 47 | 25/11/2023 |
| 48 | 02/12/2023 |
| 49 | 09/12/2023 |
| 50 | |
| 51 | 16/12/2023 |
| 52 | 23/12/2023 |
| 1 | 30/12/2023 |
| 7th – 13th Maintenance Week | |
| 2 | 13/01/2024 |
| 3 | 20/01/2024 |
| 4 | 27/01/2024 |
| 5 | 03/02/2024 |
| 6 | 10/02/2024 |
| 7 | 17/02/2024 |
| 8 | 24/02/2024 |
| 9 | 02/03/2024 |
| 10 | 09/03/2024 |
| 11 | 16/03/2024 |
| 12 | 23/03/2024 |
| 13 | 30/03/2024 |
Agenda Item 11 – Closure of Meeting
The meeting was formally closed at around 1210.
John Dalglish
Secretary
Appendix A
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT to ANNUAL MEETING
ST. MELLION TIME OWNERS COMMITTEE
Conducted face to face at St Mellion Estate and via Microsoft Teams
Friday 24th March 2023 at 11am
Last year was about getting back to the new norm following the pandemic with staycations still proving popular and working from home becoming part of the working week.
The objective of the timeshare owners Association is to represent the interests of the Owners as a whole. The Association is managed by the Committee, it makes decisions that are appropriate and consistent with the Constitution, the Leases and its objective.
With this in mind since my last report in April 2022, the major change has been the reduction in timeshare owners from 289 to 145 timeshare weeks in the last year which means our Association has halved. Matt Pressman St Mellion’s Resort Director will go through the occupancy grid later in the meeting but we feel a further consolidation will be necessary after
the latest exit opportunity this year. Your committee has met with St Mellion management four times during the year and on each occasion our main focus has been sustainability plus continuance of Timeshares but inevitably some compromises will have to be made.
We continue to get reassurance that St Mellion wants the scheme to work and with the 10 year review due this year, that is an opportunity to set down the future vision, with a timetable, to ensure the continued viability of the scheme. More on this later from Matt
As reported last year St Mellion has invested with the newly refurbished Hotel Lodges and the recent upgrade of the swimming changing rooms. Timeshares continue to be good value and as St Mellion continues to invest in the facilities they provide an ideal place for a staycation.
The next stage, as part of the 10 year review, is to see how timeshares can be marketed to bring new owners in and make the scheme viable. I am confident this can be achieved and your committee will work closely with Matt and the management team to see this is done.
Committee Changes
As Chairman I would like to thank all the hard work of your committee during the last 12 months and especially Joyce Bloom who is leaving at this Annual Meeting. Joyce was on the original Committee in the early 1990’s for 3 years then the whole Committee resigned ….. I am sure Joyce will let you know the story around this. Elected again in 2014 until now so she has served in total 12 years which will be the longest serving committee member. Roger, her husband served 6 years so in total the Bloom’s have served 18 years on the committee.
There is nothing Joyce doesn’t know about St Mellion and she has been invaluable in keeping all the archive information for reference.
I have pleasure in presenting a small gift to Joyce in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the committee and wish her and Roger further enjoyment in the next life adventures.
Therefore, we now have a vacancy on the committee so if anyone is interested in finding out more, please speak to me or John Dalglish and we will go through what’s involved.
Finally, I can confidently say St Mellion is now stronger with the investment that has been made and the committee look forward to working with Matt and the management team during the 10 year review to make Timeshares equally as strong.
Andy Martin Chairman,
St Mellion Time Owners Committee
4 Green Farm Close Castor Peterborough Cambs PE5 7BE
andy.martin@btinternet.com