Tin Shed’s Rowley livid by 100% rental increase
COMMUNITY CLUB HIT HARD
Tin Shed general manager Kym Rowley said he may have lost the battle with Douglas Shire Council over their rent increase, but promises not to lose the war.
The Port Douglas District Combined Clubs has been stung with a 100 percent rental increase, which means their rent has been hiked from $43,000 to $86,500 per annum.
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“Council views the Tin Shed as a commercial business rather than a not-for profit sports club such as the Surf and Yacht Clubs and this allows them to raise our rent,” said Rowley.
“This has been a long and hard-fought battle and this is not the outcome we wanted.
“We put forward a strong case, but Council obviously sees this as an opportunity to extract further funds to enhance Council income at a cost to ratepayers who make up a majority of the membership,” he said.
Rowley added that junior sporting bodies and other non-profits may be affected due to less funding opportunities being made available through the club.
“But this not the end of the matter. We will continue to fight to gain freehold of the land or have our lease reviewed at a state level. “
Meanwhile, Rowley said the development application for the upstairs extension at the club is progressing well.
“I am hoping that the application will go before Council in either June or July for approval; and work can commence in February 2019.”
The major stumbling block has been to provide car parking for the application.
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