The Victoria Park Carlisle Bowling Club has lost its bid for rent relief following a malicious act of vandalism on Australia Day.
The club’s power system was damaged, and the bowling greens were torn up, following ongoing intimidation by a gang of as many as 20 youths, causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage.
Following the attack on the 112-year-old club, a GoFundMe page to raise money to repair the greens collected more than $4,000, which along with community donations, including a generous contribution from Victoria Park RSL, buoyed the club’s spirits.
With the pitch left unusable for the remainder of the lawn bowls season, and its income suffering greatly as a result, the club also appealed to the Town of Victoria Park Council to grant six months relief from its rental lease agreement, to help it back on its feet.
But town councillors unanimously refused assistance, at a meeting in September, citing insufficient evidence of significant financial loss, or if losses were directly attributable to the vandalism.
The club management, though disappointed by the refusal of rent relief, are focusing on the positives, which include a commitment by council to fund the building of a 1.8m-high fence around the club and the partial funding of drilling a new bore on-site by council.
