The end of the " Bowlo " era !

Shortly after the end of the second world war, Australian towns and the suburbs of cities saw a rapid expansion of community bowling clubs.   Land was  cheap and soon the number of " social members " far exceeded those who actually played bowls.    The " Bowlo " became the gathering place for a nice meal, perhaps a" flutter " on the poker machines - and a few drinks.   They became the social hub of each community.

The rot set in when attitudes to drinking and driving changed.  When .o8 was the standard it was possible to have a drink or three - and drive home without the expectation of being stopped by the police.   The introduction of .05 - and the start of random breath testing ( RBT ) - saw numbers dwindle, and then the GFC of 2008 put the final nail in the lid of the Bowlo coffin.

Most of these clubs were asset rich - cash poor !    They owned incredibly valuable land and in some cases they were able to sell off excess to improve their finances.  Paid staff were reduced in numbers and elected officials manned the bar and took over cleaning duties, but ever decreasing patronage declines made profitable operations impossible.

The latest club to feel the pinch and consider amalgamation with the local golf club is the Bowling club at Jamberoo.    It joins a long list of bowling clubs that have either shut their doors and gone into liquidation, or found a partner to share expenses by way of amalgamation.

This often raises a thorny question.   Who owns the assets of a defunct bowling club ?   In most cases the deed to the land is lodged with a bank which provided operating capital by way of an overdraft, but clubs usually have a constitution that vests ownership in it's members, and that can raise some interesting legal questions in the case of either a sale or an amalgamation.

Does the original roll of membership retain ownership in perpetuity, or does this ownership rest with those who were paid-up members of the club at the time it ceased to function ?

The fact that such land parcels can run into a multi-million value in some cases ensures that these questions will be examined from all angles by the legal profession.