Outrage after Melbourne bowls club is hit with massive $59,900 rent hike: ‘Unbelievable’
A local council has increased the annual rent of a bowling club by a whopping $59,900, raising fears the club could be forced to close.
The Fitzroy Victoria Bowling & Sports Club on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy North, Melbourne, previously had a ‘short-term agreement’ with the Yarra City Council, which lasted 21 years.
A peppercorn lease occurs when the payments do not correspond to the fair value of the leased property.
Previously, the Blowling Club paid only $100 per year.
The club operates by leasing Crown land from the council and has recently signed a new lease with them, the Herald Sun reported.
The club, which is next to Edinburgh Gardens, negotiated with the council and decided the venue would have to pay $60,000 in annual rent.
There are now fears that the bowling club could be in trouble due to the skyrocketing rents, with a senior official calling the new charges “unbelievable” and “absurd”.
The official said the club would have been happy with $20,000, but that $60,000 was a large sum the property was not prepared for.
The 21-year ‘peppercorn’ agreement between Yarra City Council and Fitzroy Victoria Bowling & Sports Club (pictured is the bowling club) recently expired
“So far the club has made a profit,” they said.
However, the official said the club had made a “significant” loss last financial year, which members would be informed about at the next AGM.
The venue was created following the merger of two of the country’s oldest bowling clubs: Victoria, founded in 1876, and North Fitzroy/Fitzroy, founded in 1877.
The Fitzroy Victoria Bowling & Sports Club was established in 2001 and that is when the peppercorn agreement was signed.
The club’s website states that it is one of the country’s “most proactive, community-focused clubs”.
A Yarra City Council spokeswoman told the publication the newly negotiated lease was compared to other “similar hospitality venues in the area and the club’s profit-making operations”.
The council has also reportedly carried out a valuation of the club’s roof, which may be repaired and some of the rental income used for this purpose.
The announcement of the high rent at the bowling club is a blow to the area which is still awaiting redevelopment of Brunswick Street Oval (pictured)
Yarra Independent Councillor Stephen Jolly called the new lease costs “unbelievable” and “impossible”.
“We must support sports clubs and not cross the line,” he said.
The bowling club is located next to Brunswick Street Oval, the redevelopment of which has reportedly been halted by the council.
Yarra City Council has been awarded more than $12 million over six years to create a permanent home for Fitzroy Junior FC, Fitzroy Football Club and Edinburgh Cricket Club at the oval field.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Yarra City Council and Fitzroy Victoria Bowling & Sports Club for comment.