Scout lodge may be sold - if the price is right

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 595, 18 July 1995, Page 5

Scout lodge may be sold - if the price is right

Ohakune Scouts' lodge in Lee Street, Ohakune, may be sold, if the price is right, because the revenue from it is not covering expenses. At a special meeting next week Scout parents will be asked to discuss whether they should sell the lodge. The committee wants to have the option of selling the lodge, but only if a good offer is made so that the troop can realise a capital gain which would then be invested for the good of the troop. The 25-bed lodge was built four years ago with the aim being to make it available to visiting groups for accommodation with the profits then used to fund local Scouts activities, reducing the never-ending need to go to the community for funds. However, costs incurred in building, equipping and running the lodge were higher than anticipated. The committee has tried various means to increase the occupancy rates of the lodge and last

year placed bookings in the hands of a local property management agency which provided better results but there was still a shortfall of $2200. They offer bunkhouse accommodation at $20 per person per night. The bunks are in 4-bunk cubicles and a custodian lives on the premises. Alpine Property Management handles bookings for the group, and bookings can also be made through the custodian at the lodge or one of the committee members. In the past they have mainly taken group bookings but now smaller groups are also welcome. Committee chairman Brent Bishop said they plan to run it again this winter, aiming to get a better return on it, but they want the okay to sell it if appropriate. Also to be discussed is whether they would subdivide and sell just the lodge, or sell the hall as well. Mr Bishop said the hall was not totally suitable for their needs and that they may be better off using another venue or buying another building.

He said raising funds to run the lodge was proving difficult with just five or six people doing most of the work. Mr Bishop said it was hard enough to get parents' support for fund-raising for current Scout activities let alone for the lodge when the benefits of it won't be realised for around five years — by which time the children of those parents who did the work will have moved on to other things. He said they have had other problems making things difficult. Due to a lack of contact with the Ruapehu District Council about a rates payment problem, the lodge' s rate bill was now double what it had been because of late payment penalties. Mr Bishop said the council had agreed to waive future penalty payments if the group entered into a payment plan, but that they could" not write off the penalties incurred prior to when the council was contacted. Also, the group had set up a caravan on the section next door for the custodian but the land was sold almost straight away and the caravan had to be

moved, leading to extra costs for wiring. The Bulletin understands that the caravan was initially offered rent-free but that once on-site a weekly rent of $50 was being charged. Contrary to other reports, the National Scouts Association has offered to help. The Bulletin had been told that the Association had encouraged the group to build the lodge as their lodge at Whakapapa could not cope with current demand but that the association had not followed through with booking assistance. Mr Bishop said he had contacted the association to discuss such matters and found that they were willing to help but that not contact from Ohakune had been made with them. He said a ballot system was run for bookings for the Whakapapa lodge and that groups that were unsuccessful would be directed to the Ohakune lodge. No such bookings had yet been made but they were hopeful of now getting some action from that quarter. "They say they're keen to help," he said.