Gosford Bowling Club is under immediate threat of closing.
Bowlers turned up this week to find access to their car park has been denied.
And a five year lease they once thought was coming is also dead in the water.
Central Coast Leagues Club, which is the club’s host club, says it is no longer prepared to subsidise the bowlers and is ready to hand back the land to Council.
The bowling club has been fighting for its future ever since the council in 2022 – under administration – decided the land should be sold off as part of the Gosford revitalisation.
In June 2024, Council had offered the Leagues Club a final five year lease that would take effect in late December 2024 and protect the club up to 2030.
That lease wasn’t signed in December but Council expected it to be signed early in January.
But since then, the Central Coast Leagues Club, which holds the lease with Council for the bowling club, has told council it doesn’t want the five year lease.
Behind the scenes, the Leagues Club was talking to the bowling club about the bowlers taking over the running of the club itself.
Council made it clear in 2022 it wants to sell the bowling club and had shown waterfront revitalisation plans with a highrise hotel in its place.
Council-under-administration held a series of public meetings before it finally made up its mind in June 2024 to continue with the process to eventually sell the bowling club.
Those public meetings heard some truly uplifting stories from bowlers from marginalised communities that have been reconnected with life thanks to bowling.
The Gosford Bowling Club has more vision impaired bowlers than some States’ combined bowling clubs.
It also caters for stroke survivors, people in wheelchairs and wheelbeds, people with Down Syndrome and school children who don’t like contact sport.
Council has now alerted councillors to a coming public backlash once the latest developments become public.
“On Wednesday, January 22 Council was made aware that a vacate of the bowling club premises was now imminent”, the council said.
Council said the Leagues Club would not extend the lease beyond March 9 to the bowlers.
The reason the carpark is blocked off to the bowlers is a separate issue.
The council owns most of the bowling club land and leases it to the Leagues Club.
But the front portion of the carpark was owned by the Leagues Club up until January 24 when the sale of the land was settled.
Council Watch has asked the sales agents and the Leagues Club who bought the land but has not received a reply.
The bowlers are looking to contact the Coast’s 15 new councillors to get support before they are kicked out.
