Bondi Bowling Club hit with a 400% rent increase
A beloved bowling club run by volunteers has been hit with a massive rent increase that may force it to close some days a week.
A beloved bowling club has been hit with a massive rent increase that may force it to close some days a week.
Bondi Bowling Club is considered a focal point of the community, a non-for-profit run by volunteers where people can get a cheap feed, listen to some live music and have a game of bowls.
But that could all be in jeopardy.
Recently, the club received a letter from NSW Crown Lands about a rent redetermination which would result in a whopping 400 per cent rent increase – from a manageable $22,000 per year to $95,000 a year.
Bondi Bowlo is one of 360 of 11,000 Crown Lands leaseholders that have been issued a yearly rent increase greater than $2000.
Many rent prices have not been touched in decades and the rent redeterminations are estimated to deliver roughly $6 millions in funding for the state government.
Vaucluse MP Kellie Sloane told 2GB she “couldn’t quite believe it” when she found out.
“It is part of the heart of our community, it has been there for 100 years,” she exclaimed to Ben Fordham.
“It isn’t a swish, flash, shiny new club..... It is beautiful. And there are no pokies.”
She described the increase as “unreasonable”, but said worryingly rental increases for bowling clubs were happening right across NSW.
“I don’t think it is an overstatement, this could be the death of many clubs,” she said grimly.
“What makes me really angry is they (Labor) went to the election saying no increased taxes no new taxes but they find another way to put their hand in your pocket and take your money,” she said.
“They are taking it out of our local clubs and it just isn’t the clubs it is the people that go there for a cheaper meal and in a cost of living crisis this is unreasonable.”
Club president Matty Graham said the increase would “chip away at the club’s viability”.
“It is going to put a damper on a lot of plans. We have a laundry list of renovations such as improving disability access.”
The rental increase could even result in the closure of the club for a couple of days a week.
He begged the NSW government to “give us a break”.
“Stop punching down on bowls... they are an easy target for developed for local councils for the government,” he said.
Crowns Land Minister Steve Kamper told news.com.au that Crown Lands portfolio “ was utterly mismanaged by the former government”.
“In many cases we are looking at historical rents that haven’t been touched in decades,” he said.
“For Bondi Bowling Club in particular their rent was last reviewed in 2009. Nearly 15 years ago.”
The Crown Land Management Act requires rents to be redetermined every five years to ensure they are in line with current market rates,” the Minister said.
“Revenue raised from re-established market rents will go towards funding urgent and critical fire trail upgrades ahead of the bushfire season and addressing the backlog of contaminated land sites across the state. both of which were left unfunded by the former government,” Minister Kamper said.
He said the “overwhelming majority” of leaseholders undergoing a rent determination were commercial entities.”
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