Conducted via ZOOM on 7th May 2021
Little did I know at the last Annual Meeting in November 2019, that the world would completely change. Zoom meetings would become the norm and lockdown a way of life.
Covid 19 challenged our way of life however with the vaccine now nearly covering 50% of the UK population there is light at the end of the tunnel with St Mellion lodges reopening from 12th April.
Firstly, my thanks to John Boardman, our previous Chairman, for his stewardship and support as secretary for my first year as Chairman.
To remind everyone, the Committee’s principle responsibility is to represent the views of current Owners at St Mellion so it has been a very busy year with you communicating through our website www.smtoa.co.uk (Please register if you haven’t already for the latest news).
We have been very proactive on your behalf and at every committee meeting requesting resolution to the following outstanding financial issues with Crown Golf.
- Reconciliation of the Deed of Variation monies
- Access and report on fee arrears
- Justifying administration costs attributed to St Mellion Property Management Ltd
We also took the decision to double the Committee meetings during the pandemic so that Timeshare owner’s views are constantly put forward. This did prove difficult with three senior management changes during 2020 and the fight against covid.
I am pleased to say we are in a much better place for the following reasons: –
- On 1st July 2020, St Mellion Estate separated from Crown Golf and the central control of Pine Ridge so St Mellion has complete control of its own destiny.
- The new senior management team under Howard Jones, the Managing Director of St Mellion has overall responsibility for everything that involves the St Mellion property and development. He reports directly to the Australian parent company and is not involved with the Crown Golf operation.
Iain Wylie is the new Head of Destination, responsible for all aspects of day-to-day operations and involved in the development of the property. He has effectively replaced Mark Webster who resigned in September 2020.
The new Finance Manager is Hanna Garraghan, recently recruited. Your Committee is delighted that St Mellion now has full autonomy over its own finances, rather than relying on the systems and people at Crown Golf head office. She faces a huge task in bringing together the accounting and reporting of the business so that it provides regular reliable financial information.
- All the timeshare owners’ leases have been transferred to St Mellion and a review of completeness and accuracy of the database was well underway. There remain c 350-400 Timeshare weeks under ownership and if you have any outstanding issues regarding your lease, please contact Iain Wylie i.wylie@st-mellion.co.uk
Impact of Latest Lockdown.
This is a difficult topic for Owners and St Mellion. Owners may have “lost” weeks or not be able to have weeks in the same season or have weeks without full restaurant/bar facilities. St Mellion only have 80 spare weeks in the Timeshare lodges.
Approx. 50 “lost” weeks from 2020 need to be resolved. St Mellion are not willing or in a position to grant refunds or other compensation. A case-by-case approach was agreed, although the Time Owners Committee members remain very concerned about the timeliness of communication from St Mellion. Iain and Hanna agreed to communicate their plan for dealing with this issue very soon.
Property Development.
The planning application Phase 1 passed in the early part of 2020 was going to be radically amended and most of the changes were in line with the Committee’s thinking and objections to the original scheme. However due to Covid, there was a complete re-think, and this approved development was shelved.
A new retirement village was proposed instead, at the entrance to St Mellion, however this was rejected by Cornwall CC on 2nd March 2021.
Following the rejection, plans are to be revised and resubmitted to Crown Golf’s owners in Australia. Given the impact of the lock downs, it is likely that future investment will be delayed and /or scaled back.
Committee Changes
As Chairman I would like to thank all the hard work of your committee during these challenging times and especially Paul Oliphant who is leaving at the Annual Meeting after 5 years of giving valuable input and always asking the right questions.
Joyce Bloom and Colin Rayson have also been doing sterling work on your behalf and agreed to continue serving on the committee with the passion for St Mellion they both bring.
I am pleased to say that John Dalglish and Sarah Yardley are formally joining the committee at the Annual Meeting after being co-opted during the year. John will take over the role of secretary with John Boardman promising to stay on another year to ensure a smooth transition.
Annual Meeting
The formal notice of the Annual Meeting together with the Statutory Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2020 are included in this communication. As the pandemic has meant this will be a virtual meeting on 7th May 2021, please could you submit your questions/comments for St Mellion Senior Management to John Boardman onboardjohn@aol.com by 30th April 2021 so we can raise these on your behalf.
Finally, I can confidently say this has been a year like no other and I hope that we can put lockdowns behind us. I hope we can start enjoying St Mellion as we have all loved over a number of years and the new team make our stays as special as they have been in the past.
Wishing you and your families all the best and look forward to seeing you again when we can do face to face meetings.
Andy Martin
Chairman,
St Mellion Time Owners Committee
4 Green Farm Close
Castor
Peterborough
Cambs
PE5 7BE
andy.martin@btinternet.com