A message to RGYC members from Commodore Ian Murray in response to todays Geelong Advertiser article claiming a Convention Centre will be built at our location. Dear Members Today’s Geelong Advertiser features a front and third page article “Big Plan for Yacht Club Site”. The article refers to a City of Greater Geelong plan to build a Convention Centre on the RGYC site. Let me reassure our members, this is simply not the case. The article is inaccurate, premature and misleading. The Council, many months ago, informally outlined to the club the potential to redevelop the waterfront including a Convention Centre to include the RGYC and adjoining parks and restaurants. That informal approach included the RGYC in the development and certainly did not feature the RGYC being removed from its present site. There has never been a formal approach or consultation with the club. I reassure members that the Board will be open and transparent with all members if a proposal is put to the club to be included in this very major project proposal. There are many not negotiable elements in regards to any proposal that the Board and members will identify. The first of which is that the RGYC will remain in its present location. Members should be aware that we have applied for a further 21 year lease on our land lease. The current land lease expires in July 2015. This application has been lodged in parallel with our planning application to undertake a significant clubhouse redevelopment – a clear indicator that the club is here to stay at its current location for generations to come. Significantly, the club’s seabed lease expires in 2046! The article in today’s Geelong Advertiser is seriously premature and there is a massive amount of consultation and information sharing before we are anywhere near receiving a firm proposal from the City of Greater Geelong. I reassure members that the RGYC is here to stay in its current location and that the Board will keep you informed if and when anything concrete is presented to us. In the meantime we are earnestly pursuing our planning and lease applications for the redevelopment of the existing clubhouse. Ian Murray, Commodore
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 02:24:38 +0000