By JOLENE OGLE
THE Cooroy RSL committee is urging all members to attend the coming AGM to have their say on how they want their club to run in the future.
In a letter to all RSL members dated 20 January 2015, current board president Ian Wischusen said he was writing to “encourage each and every one of you to attend” the AGM on Sunday 8 March.
The letter outlined the ongoing struggle between the Cooroy RSL and the local bowls club, which began when the bowls club restaurant, Locale, was suddenly closed in 2013, followed by the sale of the land on which the bowls club sits.
In the letter to members, Mr Wischusen said there were concerns the bowlers would attend the AGM and vote members onto the RSL committee.
“If that occurred, then the committee could make financial decisions over the next year and onwards for the funding of bowls in Cooroy which would adversely impact on our club’s capacity to provide facilities and services for our members at large,” he said.
Speaking with Noosa Today, Mr Wischusen said while the concerns did still exist, he was hoping members would attend the AGM to have their say on the club’s future direction.
The letter also said legal action from the bowlers to claim an amount of the sale price was current at the time of the letter being written, but a spokesperson for the Cooroy Bowls Club said the action had since been dropped.
The bowlers were attempting to claim a portion of the sale price of the land to fund a lease agreement with the current landowner, but said they had been denied any funds from the RSL.
Previously, a lack of income and poor financial performance had been cited as the reason for the sale of the bowls club land, but speaking with Noosa Today, Mr Wischusen said the funds from the sale of the bowls club had been used to carry out “badly needed” renovations.
“As you are probably aware, following the sale of the Opal St property (bowls site), we (the RSL) have been able to commence some badly needed renovations including the opening to Maple St, which has proven very popular,” Mr Wischusen.
“This was badly needed, particularly for the 100th anniversary of Anzac with some important events coming to Cooroy around Anzac Day.”
When asked if the bowls site was sold to fund the renovations, Mr Wischusen said no, he didn’t believe the bowls site was sold solely for that purpose.
“But planned maintenance and renovation had been neglected for too long at the (RSL),” he said.
“However, the current board did not sell the bowls property and I was not part of it (the board at that time), it was the 2013 board.
“I believe, however, it was sold because its operation was such that the RSL club could not have survived had it continued to try and keep it going.”
