Dear Members,
Long Term plans for the Club
The Inner West Courier newspaper recently published an article disclosing information regarding some of the club’s future long term plans. This was obviously not authorized by the Club as it was intended to inform Club members prior to public release of the plans.
The existing RSL Club premise was constructed during 1995/96. At this time extensions to the club trebled its size and many people thought the plans were too ambitious. However, membership and patronage of the Club surged and by the early 2000’s it became evident the Club needed to expand again. The Club’s Board and Management worked on expansion plans to expand all existing areas of the Club plus incorporate a fitness centre and hotel style accommodation. Unfortunately Burwood Council refused to support the plans.
Over the past few years the NSW State Government has required Local Councils to define Central Business Districts (CBD) and update zonings of Council areas. During this process Management endeavoured to have the RSL site included in the CBD of Burwood which would allow for further expansion. Once again Council refused the Club’s applications and excluded the site from the CBD. Furthermore, Council has been considering a conservation zone in close proximity to the Club which would further inhibit the Club’s expansion.
Due to the above encumbrances the Club’s Board and Management have explored alternative sites for the Club within the CBD which would allow for substantial expansion and be incorporated in the retail and commercial district and be adjacent to the public transport network (rail, bus, taxis and proposed Metro) of Burwood.
A number of sites have been appraised and the chosen site is the precinct close to Burwood Central Library. This is immediately adjacent to Burwood Railway Station, taxi rank, centrally located in retail and business area and retains access from Shaftesbury Road. The Club has acquired numerous properties in Deane and Waimea Streets including Burwood Central Library, Waimea Street (scheduled to be closed between Shaftesbury Road and Marmaduke Street).
The long term plan is to construct a new ‘Super Club’ including numerous food outlets, large entertainment complex and function centre, fitness/well being centre, 4 or 5 star hotel and possibly some commercial and residential accommodation.
When this proposal comes to fruition the existing RSL Club site will most likely be sold. Club Burwood will probably be transferred to the new site and merged with the ‘Super Club’ or the other option is to retain as a boutique style Club.
The Club has already acquired sufficient land for this project to proceed. The time lines will depend on future trading results of the Club, any changes to gaming laws and / or taxation, general economic conditions etc. The approximate time line is in the order of a decade.
Community Support by your Club
The Club has continued it’s tradition to serve all Members’ of the Club, the Burwood community and neighbouring suburbs the best it possibly can. In addition to providing a welcoming, friendly and secure environment for citizens, particularly the elderly, subsidised amenities such as entertainment, sporting facilities, meeting rooms, function accommodation and affordable dining, the Club has contributed enormously with direct financial support.
For the 12 months ended 31st August 2009, the Club provided direct Community support to a record value of $651,674.
The support is focused on local charitable, amateur sport or community organisations who do not receive any government funding. Particular emphasis is placed on assisting people with disabilities, aged, people from non-English speaking backgrounds, women and young children.
Productivity Commission Report
The Federal Government commissioned the Productivity Commission to complete a study of electronic gaming with an emphasis on poker machines. The recently released draft report recommended a number invasive and absurdly restrictive conditions for gaming machines including:
- Limiting the maximum bet on gaming machines at $1
- Limiting ATM machine withdrawals for gamming venues to $200 per day
- Requiring venues to pay gaming prizes over $250 by cheque
- Introduction of a universal pre-commitment system to enable players to play gaming machines by 2016. This would require every player to have a card enabling play, this would be equivalent to the defunct Australia card idea.
If these types of conditions are imposed it will have a severe impact on your Club’s ability to continue to provide the numerous free or low cost community amenities, services and financial support to the community as indicated above. These recommendations are aimed to minimise problem gambling and despite the fact the Commission acknowledges a major decrease in problem gaming they have put forward these recommendations. The latest analysis of the problem gambling rate in NSW was 0.8% of the adult population, approximately half of what it was 10 years previous. This study also indicated problem gambling in Western Australia, where clubs and pubs do not have gaming machines, was 0.7%, only 0.1% less than NSW. This indicates other forms of gambling comprise a large proportion of problem gambling.
The Productivity Commission astonishingly recommended the liberalisation of internet gambling. The internet gambling sites licensed in Australia are located in the Northern Territory and Tasmania and have reportedly created $6 billion in gambling turnover. These sites, and numerous overseas sites are virtually unregulated, provide little or no tax to the Government, provide no return to their community and have far higher incidence of problem gambling.
Gambling has always been the responsibility of State Governments and this foray by the Federal Government into gambling hopefully will be overlooked by the NSW State Government as they have previously examined most of these proposals and ascertained that it would not meet the objectives of reducing problem gambling. If the measures are adopted people who wish to gamble will continue to do so and most likely via the internet, which will result in a massive loss to local community infrastructure that is provided by clubs and taxation losses to the Government.
Christmas Activities
To assist members in forward planning for the festive season the following information is provided:
1. Burwood RSL Club will be open from 11am to 1.30am on Christmas Day with the Heritage Restaurant, Café and Function centre all open for Christmas lunch feast. The Café will remain open all day. Club Burwood will be closed on Christmas day, normal trading all other days.
2. All the RSL Club raffles will include a minimum of 20 hams plus other Christmas fare of the 55 prizes per raffle, with the exception of Mondays, being held from 24th November to 24th December, 2009.
3. All Club promotions over the Christmas festive period will continue as normal except for Christmas day all promotions will be cancelled. Refer to separate advertisement for dining and entertainment on Christmas day.
Promotions
The Club conducts many great promotions, some of which are detailed in this magazine. There are many Christmas and school holiday activities including family Bingo and Movies during January.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, Management and Staff, I wish all members a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Additionally I extend thanks to all members for your continued support and contribution to the Club.
Kind regards |
