tim vince 985 Report post Posted June 16, 2019 It was. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
john legend 743 Report post Posted June 16, 2019 When the previous CEO was explaining how well she wasdoing it did not ring true with me knowing a little about failed trotting clubs.!! All of the comments here are valid and many of us sounded warnings many months ago on this forum. TO SELL OFF land with great tenants as you say is short term desperation and can only be detrimental to the Club in the long term. ATC needs assistance as can not be permitted to collapse. HRNZ must seek Govt. help if necessary to keep the club solvent and may need to put in place a crisis management structure acceptable to them and the bank. I believe it is time for head out of sand for the present Board as any further" shocks" could see the Bank put the Club into receivership. I warned of this possibility at another Club and the only real response from many board Members , 'hrnz would never let it happen " I personally was having weekly meetings with the Bank as to cash flow and with Council to seek relief . ATC is Harness Racing in the North and must survive for the future of harness racing. Hunter the punter and westview 1 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 11 979 Report post Posted June 16, 2019 15 minutes ago, john legend said: When the previous CEO was explaining how well she wasdoing it did not ring true with me knowing a little about failed trotting clubs.!! All of the comments here are valid and many of us sounded warnings many months ago on this forum. TO SELL OFF land with great tenants as you say is short term desperation and can only be detrimental to the Club in the long term. ATC needs assistance as can not be permitted to collapse. HRNZ must seek Govt. help if necessary to keep the club solvent and may need to put in place a crisis management structure acceptable to them and the bank. I believe it is time for head out of sand for the present Board as any further" shocks" could see the Bank put the Club into receivership. I warned of this possibility at another Club and the only real response from many board Members , 'hrnz would never let it happen " I personally was having weekly meetings with the Bank as to cash flow and with Council to seek relief . ATC is Harness Racing in the North and must survive for the future of harness racing. Good points john.........there were doubters from day 1 and obviously bad decisions were made early on with the project and particularly the choice of contractors etc. IMO its important to start with a 'clean slate ' on future plan and not get bogged down with the past , except not to repeat it. Desperate situations need urgent action and the major banker involved will be looking for significant monies to reduce its exposure. Collaboration from stakeholders is crucial and this not always evident in the Harness Industry....it seems . john legend and JJ Flash 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim vince 985 Report post Posted June 16, 2019 The last 2 posts right on the button westview 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 11 979 Report post Posted June 16, 2019 1 hour ago, tim vince said: The last 2 posts right on the button Well Tim , you and I have been discussing this situation most Fridays for past 4 years.......I even asked for a regular amateur race at an AGM to cater for the slower horses ! When possible savings are looked at to add a few pennies to the coffers ,maybe they/we [ its the member's club ] will cut down on some security folk e.g. the 3 who rallied around to move us from the stairs where we watch every race from ! Today relax by the pool and recharge those batteries , the club needs you and SW to be fighting fit to help put on the show / action . Bula Vinaka ! Hunter the punter 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
beef 74 Report post Posted June 16, 2019 Tim why don’t you and Tasman man just get a motel room together? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim vince 985 Report post Posted June 19, 2019 Hotel more like Glen. Bruce J Hadley 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 11 979 Report post Posted June 19, 2019 1 hour ago, tim vince said: Hotel more like Glen. "And I was thinking to myself, This could be heaven or this could be Hell , Then Tim lit up a candle and showed me the way "...............it's a lovely place ! And in the room we will invite all the big hitters ,especially those with the big ideas and money.....the NZRB ,Local Government , NZ Harness , even Auckland Racing Club etc , folk who should see it in their best interest to make ATC great again. But most of all the participants ,those who put the show on ....and many younger folk who will continue to put the big dance on long into the future ! Are they out there ? Hermione and john legend 1 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermione 77 Report post Posted June 19, 2019 I was unable to attend the meeting last night unfortunately and am surprised at the lack of comment or feedback anywhere? Has everyone been sworn to secrecy? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue 1,095 Report post Posted June 19, 2019 16 hours ago, tasman man 11 said: "And I was thinking to myself, This could be heaven or this could be Hell , Then Tim lit up a candle and showed me the way "...............it's a lovely place ! And in the room we will invite all the big hitters ,especially those with the big ideas and money.....the NZRB ,Local Government , NZ Harness , even Auckland Racing Club etc , folk who should see it in their best interest to make ATC great again. Did anyone think to invite D Trump? Seem to be pretty good at this type of thing, at least according to himself. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce J Hadley 15 Report post Posted June 20, 2019 4 hours ago, Hermione said: I was unable to attend the meeting last night unfortunately and am surprised at the lack of comment or feedback anywhere? Has everyone been sworn to secrecy? The motion to give the board the authority to negotiate the sale of the front land was passed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
john legend 743 Report post Posted June 20, 2019 As mentioned , short term gain obviously forced by the Bank .lets all hope it is worth as much as mr Croon believes.and enables some of the apartments and shops to be completed..Of course the future income from the front land say 1.5 million pa. will now no longer exist. and is a trade off. Good Luck ATC. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 11 979 Report post Posted June 20, 2019 5 hours ago, Bruce J Hadley said: The motion to give the board the authority to negotiate the sale of the front land was passed. I attended Bruce . Even though a relatively new member I sensed a certain humility amongst the Board which one would imagine after the recent/current messy venture into construction. It also obvious that many members have a strong allegiance to the club built up over many years and really do care about the club....a source of pride. There clearly is a desire for the club to be great again and the comments re the recent years accounts/disclosures etc suggest there will be greater scrutiny into the future. Will this lead to greater attendance and more horses in the area ? More horses needed ,pronto ! I'm confident that there will be more strategic planning ,more attention to detail and certainly more collaboration . Obviously there is a real need for some younger blood to learn off the 'old dogs' ,some of whom still have plenty to offer . Lets hope so. I look forward to more collaboration on the racing side ,after all it is a racing club .....the main reason it exists ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohokaman 5,831 Report post Posted June 20, 2019 28 minutes ago, tasman man 11 said: I attended Bruce . Even though a relatively new member I sensed a certain humility amongst the Board which one would imagine after the recent/current messy venture into construction. It also obvious that many members have a strong allegiance to the club built up over many years and really do care about the club....a source of pride. There clearly is a desire for the club to be great again and the comments re the recent years accounts/disclosures etc suggest there will be greater scrutiny into the future. Will this lead to greater attendance and more horses in the area ? More horses needed ,pronto ! I'm confident that there will be more strategic planning ,more attention to detail and certainly more collaboration . Obviously there is a real need for some younger blood to learn off the 'old dogs' ,some of whom still have plenty to offer . Lets hope so. I look forward to more collaboration on the racing side ,after all it is a racing club .....the main reason it exists ! You are certainly optimistic TM...there are obviously some loyal members, it has been around a while, but loyalty doesn't necessarily translate into good decision making. I seem to recall great opposition to selling the Campbell St site and leasing the Manukau Road sites ( they are now wanting to sell ) despite the obvious benefits to the Club. Seeing it all pissed up the wall by people totally out of their depth is bloody frustrating to many, particularly those of us involved in getting it back on a viable commercial footing years ago. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim vince 985 Report post Posted June 20, 2019 As us say bloody frustrating.the original question was will the atc survive.i think so and hope so.some of the problems were beyond the boards control.some they must take the blame.personally I would like all the board to stand down next election put their names up again.new people wanted.i don't think any current board member should put thhemselv3s up for president.new direction and most of the present board have had more than one term and have failed to make a difference.the problem is where is the new blood. I have heard a name mentioned.couple of terms on board and has been invisible.as u know I'm a great fan of Gary Williams.nelson giants and table tennis amongst his c.v..races a million horses.successfull business man and huge passion.hardest part will be to convince him and a team to complement him. Hunter the punter 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 11 979 Report post Posted June 20, 2019 Haha Tim , there seems a real resolve among all stakeholders to get this project and the club back on track . A few more hurdles in the way then real progress should be made. But we need no more old buggers on Board to 'have a go".There are some strong ones there who now fully understand how to progress and importantly the pitfalls ! The lawyer on Board seems a key and if the right others can shoulder tap some younger types with a passion for success and racing along with a grip on governance and compliance then we be OK. I saw GW yesterday as they wheeled him into a home for the bewildered and he asked me if Young Quinn was racing Friday !! Methinks all stakeholders are going to pull together on this one . Ohoka expresses some dismay as most do ,but the clubs net assets continue to increase , cash flow is the biggest challenge as it is in most businesses. Keep up the good fight to improve the racing side of the business. I'm away for a couple of weeks ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljay 1,719 Report post Posted June 21, 2019 19 hours ago, tasman man 11 said: Obviously there is a real need for some younger blood to learn off the 'old dogs' ,some of whom still have plenty to offer . Lets hope so. This really is "Tooth Fairy" stuff. I was at the meeting too, and looking around the attendance (about 85/90 at a guess) younger blood was very scarce. Some "middle agers" but I would think (well) over 50 pct were like me - gold card carriers! This is, and has been, a very real problem to Clubs and the Industry for the last one or two generations. Sorry, I don't have the answers and I suspect the board doesn't either. But someone has to at least try and find a solution. My suggestion is over the winter months condense the programme - half an hour between races is just too long and this is just not my singular opinion, I have heard this said many times by many people. In the winter on a shitty night, can you blame joe public for not attending. Yes, I know they can get on their new fangled phones and have a bet if they so desire but I am sure the same people on course would bet a little more - not to mention the loss of revenue for the club through the bars and food outlets. For 10 races by reducing the gap between races by just 5 minutes means people could get home and out of the wet/cold 50 minutes earlier. That's nearly an hour and on the usual park starting/finishing times they should be away by 9-30. Start the races an hour earlier and you further reduce peoples time in the gloom. Yes, I know some people work through till 5 pm but looking at present attendances I don't think they even contemplate running the gauntlet in the Auckland 5 o'clock snarl up - and also earlier start and earlier finish would be welcome by many/most trainers. Really, attendances can hardly get smaller than they presently are, so nothing should be lost at least giving this a go and see if any improvement to attendances. Also the club would need to make this well publicised so that people would be aware, not just leave it to word of mouth. Hey, I'm not saying this would work or be an answer but unless people come up with suggestions, we will remain in dodosville. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivanthegreat 1,123 Report post Posted June 22, 2019 Come up with some decent racing and stop fussing over the fortunes of the " Flippers " They used to have more exiting equalizator meetings years ago. Hunter the punter 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...