A timeshare member has thrown his support behind a besieged resort developer and has called on disgruntled members to join him.

Connecticut resident Ralph Becker said St. George's Club developer Alistair Woolf was the "white knight'' the East End facility needed after years of mismanagement.

He said: "I have been a very happy member of the St. George's Club going back to 1985. I have not missed a year and I can remember the days of the hype of York Hannover and the mismanagement of this place.

"When Alistair Woolf became the principal and developer I thought, `Finally, the white knight has arrived'.'' Mr. Woolf took over the St. George's Club timeshare operation in December, 1994.

Two years earlier, the property was in the hands of receivers due to capital debt it had accumulated under the management of bankrupt Canadian developer York Hannover.

In recent weeks, Mr. Woolf has been the subject of several letters from club members who feel he has cut services and increased club fees unjustly.

But Mr. Woolf has responded that the club now has a balanced operating budget for the first time in its history.

And Mr. Becker said: "They should be shouting their praises over what has been accomplished under Mr. Woolf's regime. We are operating without a deficit for the first time ever.

"The people who have written in, why is it OK for them to make money but not this development? That is emotion and not objectivity.

"The people who joined this club would not run their businesses and lose money.'' Mr. Becker reckoned that members had been mislead by the property's previous owners.

York Hannover had implied when the original members joined that fees would always remain the same, he said.

But he revealed that he had seen York Hannover's financial records himself and its bankruptcy came as no surprise to him.

"I had permission to go behind the front desk of the clubhouse and look at their records.'' "The place was a total disaster,'' he recalled.

And Mr. Becker visited York Hannover's office in New York.

"York Hannover had an incredibly plush sales office.

"I could not figure it out. It was lavishly decorated and they had so many sales staff, they could not have sold enough units to pay them.'' The club itself was being mismanaged, continued Mr. Becker.

"In my opinion, they sold units to undesirables. I resented people being allowed to come here but not pay any maintenance fees.

Coupled with this was the decline in the quality of the resort's physical plant.

"The cottage I have today is better than the one I had when I joined in 1985.

Better materials were put in when it was refurbished.'' This improvement could not have been done without an increase in fees, he said.