Joe Wahbe Elected as Life Member 

Oatlands member, Joe Wahbe was elected a Life Member of the Club at the 91st Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 23rd October. Joe has contributed an immense amount to Oatlands Golf Club during his 30 year tenure which is best summarised by fellow Life Member John Carey, who spoke for Joe’s nomination at the AGM, excerpts of which are included below:

Clubhouse Development Update

Levande have completed their due diligence, and their Board met on Wednesday 23^rd October and have approved the novation of the Clubhouse Development Project. 

The form of the development will be as per the existing Development Consent which will remain at 127 apartments, and 13 terraces, with the Club to receive a new clubhouse that includes; a gym, café, Pro Shop, 200 car spaces, along with retained ownership of 7 apartments.

Now that we have confirmation that Levande are proceeding, OGC will commence work on upgrading the practice fairway green and 19^th hole to ensure the commitment to members of a continuous 18-holes with no temporary tees or greens is available for play during construction.

This work has been scheduled to commence on 18^th November. The upgrade to our practice fairway green will see disruption to the practice range access for members and our coaching staff, and to mitigate this disruption we have commenced building simulator studios in the south wing of the existing Pro Shop. It is expected that the studios will be completed by mid-late November.

A specific start date for development construction will be subject to the timing of a number of standard administrative and operational matters that come with a project of this size and that are to be undertaken by Levande, however, we remain on-track for a mid to late 2025 commencement as per the initial member information session timeline provided to members in late 2021.

Further information as provided at the Clubs Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 23rd October is provided in the article below.

History of the Clubhouse Development Project

At Wednesday’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), members were provided an update on the history, and progress to date, of the Clubhouse Development Project. A copy of that update is provided below for members who were unable to attend the AGM. 

For many years the Clubs Annual Report has had a stated long-term objective to; Review the range of options available to improve the quality of the clubhouse facilities, subject to the limitations of financial constraints.

In 2017-18, the Club started discussions with a range of potential development partners to undertake a joint Clubhouse and Residential development that would achieve this objective. 

During those discussions, one of the clear non-negotiable items for the Club was, that any development partner must be able to undertake the project without any borrowing over Club land.  Security of the golf club has always been at the forefront of planning.

As such, of the prospective developers who we had discussions with, only Mirvac was able to move forward considering our clear criteria.

To move forward with Mirvac, the Club entered into a Non-binding Heads of Agreement in September 2021, with progression contingent upon member approval at a General Meeting.

At this point things moved very quickly, as the NSW Government was planning changes to the SEPP legislation.  We acknowledge that the initial member approval was somewhat rushed, however membership approval was required to enable an application prior to the change in legislation.

From here, member information sessions were organised, 11 in total, during which a preliminary timeline for the entire project was communicated, with the plan to put the proposal to members at a General Meeting at the end of 2021.

A quick timeline of the key milestones relating directly to the development is as follows;

• September 2021: The Club enter into a Non-binding Heads of Agreement with Mirvac.
• March 2022: A Site Compatibility Certificate (SCC) was Issued by the Department of Planning.
• April 2022: The Development was put to the members at a General Meeting and was approved by a narrow majority.
• December 2022: The Club entered into a Project Delivery Agreement with Mirvac.
• October 2023: A Development Consent was granted by Parramatta Council

While there have been a number of twists and turns as the journey of this project has progressed, the preliminary timeline outlined to members in the 2021 Information Sessions remains on track for construction commencement in mid to late 2025, subject to finalising the novation of the project from Mirvac to Levande, which I will discuss in more detail.

Unfortunately, along the path to where we are now, we have encountered a number of hurdles that could not have been foreseen and have been costly to the Club and its members.

• In late 2021 a member requisition was made to call an Extraordinary General Meeting, with the intent to change the Clubs Constitution and raise the approval majority for the development from 50% to 75%. This EGM was held in February 2022 where the requisitioned proposal was rejected by the membership, but not before it cost the Club just under $20k.
• In April 2022, the Development was put to the members at a General Meeting for the first time and was approved by majority.
• This approval was then challenged by an anonymous complaint to LGNSW in June 2022 which was eventually dismissed by LGNSW, but not before the Board decided to put the fate of the Clubs future back in the hands of its members with another General Meeting and vote in October 2022. The resolutions required to proceed with the development were once again approved by the Clubs members.
• Shortly thereafter, in December 2022, a Supreme Court claim was made against the member approval by 4 Club members. This claim was eventually discontinued in November 2023 after the membership were once again asked to provide their approval via a General Meeting. The defence of this action, conducting additional meetings, and settlement of the matter, combined with legal costs associated with the LGNSW anonymous complaint cost the Club $220k across FY23 and FY24.

I do not revisit these series of challenges to bring the resulting division back into focus for members, but to provide some context and insight into the environment in which we have been operating for the last 2-3 years.

The Board, and I as the Clubs GM, are acutely aware of our memberships desire for information relating to the Clubhouse Development. Unfortunately, the background of constant uncertainty, combined with the commercial confidentiality of a partnership with a large developer such as Mirvac, and more recently Levande, have made communication on the positive progress related to the development difficult.

With these challenges behind us, it is good to be able to focus on moving forward and the positive outcomes that will be delivered with the development.

So where are we now.

Mirvac have been a fantastic partner to work with, and we would not be where we are today, with an approved Development Consent, without their considerable resources and expertise. However, as the process for lodging and gaining the development consent evolved, the world started to experience significant economic pressure and a rise in the rate of inflation not seen in many, many decades. As such, the cost of doing business at all levels, and particularly in the building industry, rose at an unprecedented rate. This, combined with a reduced number of residential units in the Development Consent, down from 193 in the Site Compatibility Certificate to 140 in the Development Consent, meant the project became unfeasible for Mirvac, who are a traditional build to sell developer.

In collaboration with the Club, Mirvac made the decision to look at options for novating the development to an alternate developer. While this has been disappointing, the imperative for this development to secure the Clubs future is more real than ever in the current operating environment, and the fact we find ourselves with a high quality and reputable developer as an alternate option, is a blessing for the clubs future.

Mirvac and OGC met with three alternate developers, with the same non-negotiable previously mentioned being; that no borrowing over Club land could be taken to undertake the project, and with the additional requirement that any change in development partner must produce outcomes for the Club equal to or greater than those that the members were assured of when approving the development.

Of the three developers the Club and Mirvac met with, only one was able to satisfy the requirements, that being Levande.

Levande are able to make this project work when Mirvac can’t as they are not a traditional build to sell developer, rather, they are a build to keep developer who manage the properties they develop under a Retirement Village model. Importantly, our development with Levande is not aged care or assisted living and is simply an alternate model for buying into over 55s living as approved under the SCC.

So where are we up to with Levande and where to from here.

Levande have completed their due diligence, and their Board met on Wednesday 23^rd October and have approved the novation of the Clubhouse Development Project. 

The form of the development will be as per the existing Development Consent which will remain at 127 apartments, and 13 terraces, with the Club to receive a new clubhouse that includes; a gym, café, Pro Shop, 200 car spaces, along with retained ownership of 7 apartments.

Now that we have confirmation that Levande are proceeding, OGC will commence work on upgrading the practice fairway green and 19^th hole to ensure the commitment to members of a continuous 18-holes with no temporary tees or greens is available for play during construction.

This work has been scheduled to commence on 18^th November. The upgrade to our practice fairway green will see disruption to the practice range access for members and our coaching staff, and to mitigate this disruption we have commenced building simulator studios in the south wing of the existing Pro Shop. It is expected that the studios will be completed by mid-late November.

A specific start date for development construction will be subject to the timing of a number of standard administrative and operational matters that come with a project of this size and that are to be undertaken by Levande, however, we remain on-track for a mid to late 2025 commencement as per the initial member information session timeline provided to members in late 2021.

Prior to construction commencement, Levande will build a temporary carpark for 200 cars on our existing 12^th hole, and the Club will build temporary Clubhouse facilities. Concepts for the temporary clubhouse are being explored with the frontrunner being to use the existing Pro Shop to ensure that the developer contribution of $400k doesn’t go to waste after the development is complete.  Again, we look forward to sharing these plans with members once approvals are finalised.

The duration of construction is expected to be 18-30 months; however, the staging will see the carpark, Clubhouse building and connected residential units completed first, giving the club and its members our new Clubhouse at the front end of the construction window.

Projects of this size by their nature take time, however the progress on this development to date has been significant. The Board have undertaken to provide members with monthly updates, and while I appreciate that a number of these updates since the Development Consent was granted have been placeholders, this is only because the progress is slow. I can assure you though, that the Board and I are eager to provide you as much information as possible, and as the development continues to progress over the next 6-months the amount of information that can be disseminated will grow considerably.

I hope this has given members a little more insight into the project, we are happy to answer questions within the constraints of commercial confidentiality and what has been confirmed in General Business.

Delivered by OGC General Manager, Sam Howe, at the Clubs AGM on Wednesday 23rd October 2024.

From the Course