CLONCURRY Shire Council has agreed not to renew a two year lease of the golf club land to a local horse owner.
Instead it gives the reformed sporting club two months to submit a ‘restart proposal’ to council for the land’s use.
The council required an operational plan from the Cloncurry Golf and Sports Club for the former nine hole course which sits on 47 hectares.
Mayor Greg Campbell said it would be vital to keep the connection between the original lessee and the grounds due to the income stream the club would unlikely be able to afford, the mayor said.
In the meantime the land will be offered for rent to the local horse owner who has used the property for two years. The lease ended and he was the only applicant to formerly submit to the tendering process for the continued use of the property, according to the council chief executive Ben Milligan.
Mr Milligan had been given authority by councillors to execute the lease.
A meeting between the sporting club’s representatives and the council was held on Tuesday. Later in the full council meeting the councillors discussed the future lease of the land. A lease is worth $5500 annually to the council.
Cloncurry Golf and Sports Club president Dan Brooks needed to confirm the conditions with the council before he made comment.
“We’re keen to get the word out,” Mr Brooks said about the revitalisation of the club. He was unable to provide further comment before deadline.
The course was used for a short period in 2010, according to a former club president. In 2015 the former council offered a lease of the unused land to be used solely for horse grazing. Cr Campbell said the former council seemed to have good intentions of merging the golf club under an amalgamated body including the RSL and bowls clubs.
“They didn’t come to fruition and through no other avenue and just as an option to keep the grass down and reduce the fire risk, the council put it out to tender of the horse paddocks,” he said.
