CQ pub liquidation finalised with $800K debt outstanding

The company has been officially wound up with the future of the hotel unclear as it remains abandoned

THE COMPANY behind the Bouldercombe Royal Hotel and associated hotels has been officially wound up, with more than $800,000 that will remain in outstanding debt.

Roly Investments QLD Pty Ltd with director Roland Gooding operated businesses at the Royal Hotel, Bouldercombe, Princes of Wales Hotel, Blackall and Commercial Hotel, Longreach.

Appointed liquidator David Hambleton of Rodgers Reidy submitted paperwork to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on May 27 to cease the administration.

Liquidators were appointed to the company on October 10, 2018.

An amount of $804,930.61 is still owed to creditors.

Of this, $12,434 is for wages and superannuation to one creditor.

Two secured creditors are owed $599,680.9. Around $40,000 of this is owed to the Blackall-Tambo Regional Council for unpaid rates and the remaining amount owed to Westpac bank.

Three unsecured creditors are owed $192,815.71. These are the Deputy Commission of Taxation, Ergon Energy and WLW Group (a Gold Coast business accounting and taxation company).

During the period of external administration $1,344.39 has been received by the company. Most of this money has been paid to the Rodgers Reidy for the liquidation fees.

Assets of the company are estimated to be worth $1312.

A report by the liquidator state the company’s failure was due to “poor economic conditions – a decline in the demand for accommodation and hospitality services and reduced visitor numbers in the areas the pubs operate and trading losses – increased costs for inputs such as electricity”.

Roly Gooding has owned the Bouldercombe Hotel since 1972 and had to close it down in 2018 after he filed bankruptcy.

Ex-publican Roly Gooding told The Morning Bulletin last year he couldn’t afford to keep up with electricity prices. He said in 2015 his bill went up $5000 one quarter when the consumption hadn’t changed and it just kept rising.

Mr Gooding was served with a $7500 bill to pay an outstanding liquor bill in April last year and after four attempts, he was found living in a bus in Blackall.

The Bouldercombe Royal Hotel was owned by Mr Gooding himself, and not the company so was not involved in the liquidation of the company.

He purchased the hotel in August 2014 and it ceased to trade in October 2018.

The Blackall Hotel closed in March 2018 and was on the market for $295,000 last year but has not sold.

Mr Gooding sold the Longreach hotel in May 2018.

Royal Hotel at Bouldercombe in 1989

There is no active listing for the sale of the Bouldy Pub.

Mr Gooding filed for personal bankruptcy on June 18, 2019 and the hotel is now under direction of the official trustee.

It was on the market from September 2016 to May 2019 for an asking price of $600,000.

The hotel is situated on two titles of freehold land on 1.4 hectares and has a bottle shop, internal dining room, beer garden and BBQ area and four budget rooms upstairs.

The Royal Hotel was built in 1897, making it more than 120 years old.

It was originally built by Sameul Heiser and was first situated halfway along Mt Usher Rd.

The large two-storey building is believed to have been shifted in 1930 to its present location across from the park.

Originally published as