Magazine - Peregian Beach Bowls Club Faces Liquidation

By Editor in Bowls on 25th Apr 2010 6:00

Time is running out for the community to rescue a cash-strapped Peregian icon from certain closure.

Much-loved Peregian Beach Bowls Club faces liquidation at an emergency meeting next month, just weeks out from its 40th anniversary. As the close-knit community mourned the impending loss of the club this week, president Mike Bridges said it would take a miracle to save it. ``It’s sad news, we are about to go through the process of appointing a liquidator, that’s after crunching a lot of numbers and we’re looking at a lot of options,’’ he said. ``I really don’t see any way we could put together a survival plan. As a board of directors we are not able to trade until that cash is available.’’

Mr Bridges said $35,000 to solve cashflow issues would have brought the club back from the brink at the start of the year. However the loss of caterers and a manager and a decision by the facility’s owner, Pine Rivers club, to reinstate waived lease fees, had thrown the struggling club into financial dire straits.

The club was declared insolvent earlier this year and crisis talks with the owner failed to produce a rescue plan. ``Those admin and lease charges jointly came to about $17,000 or $18,000 a month in addition to the normal running costs,’’ Mr Bridges said. ``In 2008 when I took over as chair I could see no way the club could survive over and above the normal manager and staff costs so we renegotiated that agreement to waive the lease charge indefinitely. ``For reasons best known to themselves Pine Rivers enforced that lease charge again this year. ``We were on a knife edge already and the reapplication of that lease agreement by the owners has made it totally impossible to trade. ``That was not only reintroduced in March but back-dated to January so we were looking down the barrel at a lump sum.’’

Long-time local Lyn Bollen said she hoped a community task force involving council and the club’s owner might spare the club before liquidators were called in.

Source & More: noosa-journal.whereilive.com.au

Read more articles in Bowls, by Editor or from April 2010.