Bowling club looks to team up with netballers to save its future

MT Pleasant Bowling Club and Tingara Netball Club could team up to save the former club’s future.

The City of Melville will consider an idea to rescind previous plans relating to the relocation of the bowls club and to look at moving the netballers to the Ardross-based bowling club’s site as a co-tenant.

Melville City Council last week requested its staff request a report that investigates the implications.

Mt Pleasant Bowling Club president John O’Brien and Tingara Netball Club president David Vyse made a deputation at the December 10 meeting about the two organisations’ plan.

Mr O’Brien spoke about the uncertainty surrounding the bowls club and suggested this plan could secure its future. Mr Vyse said the netball club had no home base and the Ardoss facility could be an appropriate place to build courts.

The council made a decision in August to turn the bowling club site into a mix of low density residential development and parkland.

Mt Pleasant Bowling Club was supposed to move to Tompkins Park, but that move has been delayed several times and the entire Tompkins Park redevelopment was put on hold in May, leaving the club’s future in limbo and its financial future perilously dire.

The council gave the bowling club up to $60,000 for greens keeping bills at its June meeting.

In coming months, as per the motion approved last week, the City will research previous council resolutions in relation to the bowling club’s requests for financial support, relocation and development of the club site.