Please see the link below for an important survey about Bisley accommodation options.
Lots of cadets & staff, either as part of sqn / ACF shooting, or their own shooting activities, go to Bisley & probably have experienced differing standards of accommodation…
This survey has come about because of proposed plans to develop 2 caravan sites into serviced pitches - Site 5 & Behind Canada House - without any membership involvement / consultation or consideration of alternative plans.
Moreover, the Estates Working Group, set up to help with such matters, had little to no input.
The survey is very short - but please read the very detailed submission within that outlined a range of alternative options (no reply from NRA!) - & we would like to get as many responses as possible in order to present some solid data to the NRA General Council meeting to be held on Sat 18 Feb. Time is of the essence.
Please share this as much as you can - including any shooting friends who are not part of ACC / Facebook / WhatsApp groups, etc.
Many thanks for taking the time to answer the survey. No need to sign in to Google, just enter your email & answer the questions.
Is there any more info you can give, i find the wording quite confusing. And I’ve never heard of those sites but go there quite frequently, can you spell out in layman’s terms what is happening?
History - going back in time to around Aug 2018, the NRA came up with plans make one “static caravan site” (basically ordinary caravans, no power / drainage - use ablution blocks) into a “serviced caravan site.” In this case, they went for expensive lodge style buildings - some £40K upwards to buy one, 20 year lease. No consultation with the membership - those on the site got moved off, no real organisation, sore taste in the mouth. These are the "pink / brown building in the centre of the site near the armoury.
Move forward to Feb 2019, another proposed development (the other side of the road to the last site) but this time with a different payment requirement - £11K rent (5 years) up front + cost of a new static caravan - but note, to get the maximum lease of 20 years, it had to be a new 'van - if not new, subtract age of 'van from the total lease time; e.g. 15 year old 'van would get you a 15 year lease. Typical cost of a new static 'van then, say £30+K. Total about £42K upfront… Again, no consultation to say yes / no. Sadly, some of those who were hoofed off the first site had relocated to the 2nd site = hoofed off again to yet another location at Bisley! `~~Really bad taste in the mouth.
Now we are in 2021 - same deal, although this time the 'van owners of the affected areas (Site 5 - adjacent to RAFSAA - & “Behind Canada House”) were asked for their views about these 2 sites to be developed. This was a sort of pointless exercise as a lot of the owners are retired or otherwise cannot afford the same level of costs as the 2nd development - & 'van prices have gone up too. More upheaval expected - including a fairly close knit community on Site 5 - predominantly ex-RAF. Now we are looking at the same £11K up front rent + £37-£40K for a suitable static 'van - if you want to achieve the maximum 20 year lease.
So, the whole point of the survey is to try & identify what the NRA has never done - what do people want, & what is the level of “affordability.” The membership as a whole not been consulted & there is no overall business case to show what accommodation might support shooting better - some 40 “rich people’s” expensive static 'vans is not representative of the overall demographic membership - let alone financial acumen. There have been allegations that occupants of these type of 'vans do not shoot anymore, & merely use them as a cheap London base for work.
There was an “Estates Working Group” set up over 2 years ago, but the lack of direct from the NRA has basically left it with their hands tied.
Please ask for any clarification, very happy to expand.
This is the latest state of play for the Bisley Accommodation Survey - still time to throw in a few more responses. We are looking at the data to see if in-depth analysis pulls out any more useful stats. Going to be messy at the GC Meeting!
Did you make this survey? It seems that they (whoever has made it) have added an ‘other’ option to every question, even those that should either be yes/no or a selection. Might have been better with the yes/no or selection, then a ‘comments’ bit underneath!
As far as I am concerned I am delighted that the NRA CEO has retired and I hope to God that the next one is more reasonable.
Clubs have been decimated by horrendous rent increases, the small-bore NSRA meeting gets screwed every year on the price to use Century range.
Small-bore shooting needs a helping hand - not a kick in the teeth to push it into death throes!
The NSRA were crippled by the costs of the 2002 Commonwealth Games new NSRA HQ and 50m electronic 50m and 10m air gun ranges so the NRA “helped” by trying to screw us for trying to cover costs by doing weddings in the ranges because they were entitled to any profits from non-shooting activities!
We have had to let off part of our HQ to the Nuclear Police to save on the horrendous costs of the building and have lost ranges as a result!
Pitch fees for tents, caravans and motorhomes are extortionate as are crappy
NRA huts. They are exploiting a monopoly to the disadvantage of shooters.
I am at Bisley now for the small-bore meeting and there are Royal Navy and Army personnel entering teams but no sign of any RAF!
What hope have our ATC cadets got when there is no .22 rifle available for use?
Yes, he is a very reasonable chap, keen to look at solutions.
Agreed. That said, a major issue is that new hut accommodation requires investment; limited funds have to be prioritised - & I have a reasonable idea of how things are as a member of the NRA General Council (& Membership Committee).
I’ll ask someone who used to be the RAF SB captain……
EDIT - there are / were some RAF (retired & serving) there - dunno if they had enough for a team.
