A special general meeting of the Opoho Bowling Club last
night felt the club has been unjustly singled out for closure
by the Dunedin City Council, and it intends to fight for its
survival.
Time is pressing for the club, as its fate will be decided by
a meeting of the DCC on February 18.
The club has called a public meeting of the Opoho community
on Tuesday, February 12, and is asking for the support of
sister bowling clubs in the Bowls Dunedin Centre.
All elected members of the DCC will be invited. The club
expects the three city councillors in its ward - Paul Hudson,
Teresa Stevenson and Michael Guest - to attend to hear the
case for the survival of the club.
A panel of speakers at the meeting will include club members
Michael Win (president and a Dunedin lawyer), Tania Cassidy
(senior lecturer at University of Otago School of Physical
Education) and Errol Chave (retired civil engineer).
Win told the 22-strong meeting at the Opoho clubrooms the
club had had no formal correspondence from the DCC about the
proposal to close the club. The information about the city
council decision had come from the media.
‘‘I'm disgusted that we have had no formal report from the
council,'' Win said. ‘‘l'm also disgusted about the total
lack of support from Bowls Dunedin. They have been
pathetic.''
Win said there had been a decline in numbers throughout the
Bowls Dunedin Centre over the last two years since the DCC
first voiced concern about the small number of members in the
club.
An increase of seven in the past two years meant there were
27 financial members in the Opoho club. ‘‘This is an increase
of 30%,'' Win said. ‘‘The reason why we haven't got more
members is that the Sword of Damocles has been hung over us
and people are now working longer before they retire.''
Chave said the club had bucked the trend of other clubs in
the centre which had declining memberships. He wanted to know
what the council meant when it said the club must be viable
and increase its membership.
‘‘No figures have been given to us for a target,'' he said.
‘‘We have increased our membership and have no financial
problems. Their reasons for closure are false.''
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