A local council has increased the annual rent of a bowling club by a whopping $59,900, raising fears that the facility will have to close.
The Fitzroy Victoria Bowling & Sports Club, located on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy North, Melbourne, was previously bound by a ‘peppercorn’ agreement with the Yarra City Council for 21 years.
A symbolic lease is a lease agreement in which the payments do not reflect the fair value of the leased property.
Previously, the Blowling Club had paid only $100 per year.
The club operates on Crown leased land from the municipality and recently signed a new lease with the municipality, the Herald Sun reported.
The club, which is located next to Edinburgh Gardens, negotiated with the city council and agreed that the venue would cost $60,000 in annual rent.
Now there are fears that the bowling club will struggle to cope with soaring rent payments, with one senior member of staff describing the new costs as “unbelievable” and “absurd”.
The official said the club would have been happy with $20,000, but $60,000 was a large amount that the facility was not prepared for.
The 21-year ‘peppercorn’ contract between Yarra City Council and Fitzroy Victoria Bowling & Sports Club (the bowling club pictured) recently expired.
“So far the club has made profits,” they said.
However, the official said the club had suffered a “significant” loss in the last financial year, which members would be informed of at the next annual general meeting.
The venue was formed following the merger of two of the oldest lawn bowling clubs in the country – Victoria, founded in 1876, and North Fitzroy/Fitzroy, founded in 1877.
The Fitzroy Victoria Bowling & Sports Club was founded in 2001 when the so-called Peppercorn Agreement was signed.
The club’s website says it is one of the “most proactive and community-focused clubs” in the country.
A Yarra City Council spokeswoman told the publication that the renegotiated lease was compared with other “similar hospitality establishments in the area and the club’s for-profit operation.”
It is also understood that the local council has inspected the club’s roof and may repair it using some of the rental income to do so.
The announcement of the high rent for the bowling club is a blow to the area, which is still waiting for the redevelopment of the Brunswick Street Oval (pictured).
Yarra independent councillor Stephen Jolly described the new lease costs as “unbelievable” and “impossible”.
“We should support sports clubs and not drive them crazy,” he said.
The bowling club is located next to the Brunswick Street Oval, whose redevelopment has reportedly been delayed by the city council.
Yarra City Council received more than $12 million over six years to create a permanent home at the oval for Fitzroy Junior FC, Fitzroy Football Club and Edinburgh Cricket Club.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Yarra City Council and the Fitzroy Victoria Bowling & Sports Club for comment.
