HIGH debt and declining clientele has prompted the Millicent and District Community Club to host a public meeting to seek the community’s input into the future of the club.
The embattled venue will host a community discussion on whether to continue trading and reduce its Wattle Range Council debt of almost $200,000 or shut its doors later this month.
Club management committee chair Matt Hann said the club had reached a critical stage and sought widespread community contribution to determine its future viability.
Mr Hann said the club’s committee and board were reluctant to close the premises, but acknowledged limited time was available to reduce the inherited and substantial debt.
“I think people need to understand the only money we make is what we made from people coming through the door,” he said.
“That, along with the cost of everything going up and our debt, means we are not sustainable at the moment.
“We need to have a public meeting and we need people to turn up and see what they think of the club.”
Council first struck a loan with the club in 1997, with the initial amount of $400,000 to be paid over 20 years.
In 2002, the loan amount was refinanced for $504,000 and was again refinanced in 2012 to $366,000, which saw the expected payout date extended to 2023.
In 2016, the club requested council consider the deferral of one year of principal payments of the outstanding loan amount, equating to more than $30,000.
Earlier this year, Wattle Range councillors resolved to accept interest only payments from the club for its twice-refinanced loan until February 2019, with interest and principal repayments from March 2019.
The loan’s outstanding balance currently stands at around $194,000.
Following a deputation to council in September 2017, the club’s outstanding principal repayments – totalling $2605 per month – were deferred until March 2019.
At the meeting, club representatives told council additional debts had been incurred with the Australian Tax Office and superannuation funds, which had been reduced to $37,000 and $29,000 respectively.
Mr Hann said the family-focused club served an integral role in the community, particularly for the town’s senior population.
“The club hosts local service clubs such as Lions and Lionesses, Rotary, Masonic Lodge and has a dining room that assists those clubs and others with handover dinners or special functions,” he said.
“The club also does great work in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our senior citizens with the likes of Morning Melodies and concerts.”
Mr Hann said while changes in management, menu and venue set out had been undertaken in a bid to decrease costs and focus on paying down debt, the club ultimately needed the support of the community.
“We are still working on ways to get the debt down and pursue different avenues in keeping the place going,” he said.
“Along with the managers, we are pursuing different avenues and trying new things to keep it going, but it is still just declining.
“We have a kids room, a new menu and we have put on a few shows that have not been attended overly well.
“It is still just people coming through the door.
“We have tried and done so many things that we are now at a point where we have said ‘this is it’, we cannot keep going like this.”
The meeting will be held at the club on Monday, August 27, at 7.30pm.
