RFI Responses - CYC 1 to 8

2 November 2022


Dear Nadine

Central to the operation of the site, and supporting our fundamental philosophy of experiential sustainability, are a few
guiding principles:
     •   Operational efficiency through good design and quality building materials
     •   Maximum occupancy – this means removing or reframing many of the barriers/issues teachers have which may
         prevent them from booking a school camp.
     •   Authenticity. All aspects of the operation (site, facilities, staff etc) have a genuine and demonstrable reason for
         existence.
Each of these principles will contribute to a financially sustainable operation, with no need for external sources of income
such as government funding.
Responses to each of the questions are below:


1.   Clarify the operational aspects of the development in terms of use of the communal dining and communal sport
     halls when each of the villages have their own dining facilities. Concerns are raised as to the need and size of the
     communal facilities as they are not considered small scale or consistent with existing rural character.
The communal dining hall is designed to accommodate larger groups who wish to book the whole site. Schools are
growing in size and we regularly field enquiries for cohorts of 250+ students. One of the requirements for schools is that
they have a central place to meet and eat together. The dining hall is located in the middle of the site and not visible
from any neighbours.


2. Provide further information as to the how the golf course operations are to be function in conjunction with the
   new uses (Group Farm Stay Accommodation). Please note that the expansion of Golf Course clubhouse facilities
   and use of the communal buildings for golfing purposes is not supported.
The golf course will not be open to the public. It will become one of our activity offerings, in the same way that we offer
canoeing on the dam. It is expected the golf course to be a major attraction for community groups who will book for
group weekend stays.


3.   Provide further information as to whether the site will be used for special events or competitions.
Special events or competitions are not core business of CYC, so it is not expected the site to be used for such things.
Currently, schools book our other sites for 40 weeks of the year with the remaining weeks booked by holiday camps. As
such there is limited to no availability for special events or competitions.


4. Provide further information as to the use of the cooking area shown on Plan A-DA-ca-03.02 – 03. The use of this
   area as a cooking school/ experience tourist activity is not supported.
These rooms are fundamental to the vision and the philosophy behind the site, in that students are able to participate in
the food production process. Programs are experiential in nature to the extent that students will learn about water
quality and ways to improve it while canoeing, so too will they learn where their food comes from and how to harvest or
collect it and how it can be turned into scones and jam, for example. Programs such as the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen
Garden Foundation are where we have drawn inspiration from in this instance.


5. Provide further information as to the use of the communal dining hall and whether this will be available to school
   groups only or open to the general public and other groups.
The communal dining hall will be available to all groups staying onsite depending on their size. Any group which is too
large to dine at their Village, will have the opportunity to dine in the communal dining hall.