Two bowling club members have come forward to criticise the actions of the RSA board, which they say is letting the green deteriorate by preventing maintenance, and have shut down the sole source of fitness and a social life for many elderly bowlers.
Mosgiel Memorial RSA chairman Peter Amyes said the board would look at opening the club to allow maintenance of the artificial green.
He also acknowledged concerns about members of RSA sub-clubs losing access, but said the situation was an inevitable product of the RSA's dire financial straits.
The RSA moved at its annual meeting last month to sell its main building, including clubrooms and restaurant, at 6 Church St and extend the existing building across the road at 3 Church St, on property used by the RSA bowling club, to accommodate the downsized club.
That move came after the club's precipitous financial decline from a $14,000 surplus to a deficit of more than $100,000 in the space of two years, blamed on a lack of patronage at its bar and restaurant.
Bowling club members Wendy and Bryan Hurring came forward this week to describe the treatment of the bowlers by the board as ''deplorable''.
''The board have locked us out and changed the locks so we cannot get in to use the green or keep it maintained,'' the couple wrote in a letter to the Otago Daily Times.
''The meeting called a few weeks ago should have been called a year or 18 months ago and the problem would not have compounded into the large financial mess they now find themselves in.''
Mrs Hurring added yesterday the bowling club served as the only social contact or source of fitness for some older members.
''They say old people should keep fit; well, that's all been snatched away from them.''
Since the locks on the bowling club were changed last month there had been no opportunity to maintain the artificial surface, which required regular spraying for moss along with brushing and rolling, she said.
Ms Curran, a member of the Mosgiel Memorial RSA, described the locking out of the bowling club members as an unusual course of action.
''There is, as I see it, no reason for the members of the bowling club to be denied access,'' Ms Curran said.
''It does not demonstrate good faith between the board and the bowling club.''
''I accept there are some difficult circumstances they're dealing with but it would be better if they worked together rather than deepening divisions.''
Ms Curran said she had not been asked to become directly involved, but if she was she would try to get the parties together and foster a unified approach.
Major Amyes said he did not want to comment directly on Ms Curran's views.
''The board and members committee have united together and are working very closely together in managing the exit of the RSA from where it was.''
The RSA had engaged a professional liquidator and was trying to minimise the cost of operations as it sold assets in a battle to get back into the black.
''The board has a legislative responsibility to act in the best interests of the organisation ... and it includes all 1302 members, not just 106 members in the bowling club.
''We have gone into recess and we are not opening up until we come out the other side.''
Other sub-clubs like the snooker and tai chi clubs had also lost access to their facilities, he said.
Major Amyes said he would address the need for bowling club access for maintenance of the green at a meeting with board and committee members tonight, and he did not anticipate any issues preventing access for green care.
He also acknowledged a large number of members of the RSA who had lost social opportunities.
''Unfortunately, that's the reality of the financial position we found ourselves end at the end of the last financial year.
''It is sad, that the whole membership no longer have access, but we are progressing what the AGM asked us to do.''
