With my thanks to Phil Tann for all his hard work on half of the community I enclose below notes from his recent meetings with Milenium and IRM - makes interesting reading !!
Al Kasar
Over the past year or so there have been many rumours regarding the possible leasing of units within Al Kasar, there has been talk of new restaurants, bars and a Bakery etc. IRM have confirmed that the only unit that has a concrete lease is the Clover, the new lease holders are expected to exchange contracts this month and hopefully open for business before Easter. There has been a lot of interest in other units but at the moment none are at the stage where IRM are prepared to make public that there will definitely be a new business opening.
Golf club house
IRM have no current plans to build a new permanent club house, architect plans have been drawn up for this but in the current climate no timescale have been set. As others in the know have already stated there are plans to move the old show room building over to the area between the driving range and the 1st tee. Enrique has confirmed that this is the case and that IRM are awaiting approval from Alhama council. Approval is expected within the next few weeks and once this comes through work will commence. IRM are hoping to have the building moved during February and completely refitted to provide a Pro-shop, changing facilities and a bar and cafe for opening before Easter. The temporary club house will be open during course times and a number of local businesses have already tendered to run the bar.
Golf Buggies
A number of owners have raised concerns regarding golf buggies being driven on the road ways between Al Kasar and the course, some have been driven on the wrong side of the road and have resulted in some near misses with cars. Whilst this problem will be resolved once the Pro Shop and buggy store has been relocated to the temporary club house, IRM have confirmed that they have full insurance, it was also stated that due to this problem no private buggies would be allowed to be used on the course. Buggies are for use on the course only and should not be used on the public roadways.
Visitor Access
IRM and their agents raised the issue of the difficulty that their customers were experiencing in gaining access to the resort. Enrique stated that Condado was the must difficult resort to access, all other resort had number plate recognition systems that allowed quick access and that the level of security at Condado was putting people off coming. He also stated that the commercial units within the resort could not survive on residents alone and relied on outside visitors. The situation with the recognition system was explained, we are still awaiting Polaris World to fully repair the system as it had never been fully operational. Whilst the community understood his concerns the level of security at the resort is that expected by the owners and that we would not allow open access. Until the number plate recognition system was fully operational all visitors would need to undergo security checks.
To speed up this process it was agreed that the old temporary card system would be resurrected for visitors to the commercial areas within the resort. Security will take the vehicle details of all visitors and issue them with a numbered Visitors yellow card to display in the windscreen, a note would be taken of the area being visited ( golf, Al Kasar, Sports etc ) and the number of visitors. These cards would be returned on exit. Security staff, with the vehicle registration details, would perform checks to ensure that all visitors remained within the public areas of the resort.
Landscaping of un-built plots.
The success of the commercial units within the resort relies on both being able to attract return customers to the existing facilities and to attract new businesses in. First impressions count and currently the state of the barren plots around Al Kasar and the Golf course entrance will not give that required positive first impression. IRM were asked if these plots could be tidied up and possibly screened with hedging in the same way as they are on the inner road around through the Jardines. IRM agreed that this is something that they could do and will liaison with Mileniun on this.
Festivals
Last years summer festivals brought over 4000 people into the resort and resulted in much interest in the commercial units. The community are planning to hold similar festivities this year , so we asked IRM is they would like to sponsor events or contribute towards the running costs. Enrique replied favourably to this and requested that Mileniun contact him nearer the time when specific details had been arranged.
