Bangalow community takes Bowlo ownership push to Sydney boardroom as deadline looms

REPRESENTATIVES of the Bangalow community are planning to travel to Sydney later this month to meet with Norths Collective at its next board meeting as efforts continue to bring The Bowlo back and into local hands.

Members of the Bangalow Advisory Committee (BAC), which has been tasked with negotiating the return of the much-loved club to community ownership, have presented a detailed business plan to the Sydney-based organisation.

The proposal focuses on ensuring the club’s long-term sustainability and does not involve any financial payment to Norths.

It outlines a model in which experienced hospitality operators would manage food and beverage services, allowing the club’s board to focus on governance and strategic direction rather than day-to-day operations.

“The business plan is solid,” BAC member Joey Tozzi said. “It’s about rather than this idea of a community club association that’s not an experienced operator trying to run a food and beverage business we get someone experienced in there under a management agreement.”

Norths has provided feedback on the proposal, for which the board had given in principle agreement after the BAC met with them at its final meeting of 2025, and requested further detail on several aspects, which has now been supplied.

The BAC has since made a formal request to attend the next board meeting to further discuss the plan and potential next steps.

Norths Collective, which amalgamated with the club in 2022 and closed it with little warning last October, cited the poor condition of the clubhouse, ongoing financial losses and an unsustainable trading outlook as reasons for closing the venue.

The “Pathway to Community Ownership” involves transferring the Bangalow Bowlo land and assets back to a new community entity, with Norths retaining a no-repayment, 25-year mortgage/security.

While it offers a pathway to reopen without immediate debt, it leaves the club tied to Norths and at risk of forfeiture if they default on strict conditions.

Many members of the community are angry with the organisation for breaking its promises by breaching its Memorandum of Understanding, but Tozzi said it appeared they were trying to do the right thing.

“But we’re not there yet,” she said.

Byron Shire Council is also pursuing heritage listing for the club, which first opened in 1910, in a bid to protect the site from potential redevelopment and secure its future as a club.

Norths Collective previously rejected an offer from the community to buy back The Bowlo for the original 2022 “bail-out” price of around $680,000, advising the figure it would accept would be around $2 million.

It has given the community until July 14 to submit a viable business plan before opening expressions of interest to other local clubs through Clubs NSW for amalgamation.