Fresh fears grow over Bangalow Bowlo stalemate

The future of The Bowlo in Bangalow remains in limbo, with negotiations to return the club to local control from Norths Collective reaching a stalemate.

A group of locals travelled to Seagulls at Tweed Heads on Monday night to attend the organisation’s AGM via live video link from its meeting at Cammeray Golf Club in Sydney.

But Bangalow Advisory Committee representative Jason Dwyer said the Norths board refused to say whether it still stood by an agreement discussed in principle with the Bangalow community in December, reinforcing concerns that the club’s social and historical significance is being overlooked in favour of purely commercial considerations.

“That proposal, referred to as the ‘Pathways to Community Ownership’ model, involved the club being returned to the Bangalow community with Norths holding a $2 million first mortgage over the property – interest free, with no repayments required, and ultimately extinguished after 25 years,” he said.

Dwyer said he asked Norths CEO Tony Mathews four times during the meeting whether the agreement remained on the table.

“That question was never clearly answered,” he said.

“The community has spent months attempting to progress that proposal in good faith, however in recent times Norths appears to have stepped away from the spirit of what was originally discussed.”

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

The local community raised more than $100,000 in a week through a GoFundMe campaign to demonstrate to Norths that it had the financial backing to support a viable plan to resume operations.

But with some supporters concerned the original objective tied to their donation has yet to be achieved, organisers are offering donors the opportunity to request a refund.

Norths has granted the community an exclusive negotiation period until July 14 before opening the venue to expressions of interest from other clubs.

Long-time Bangalow resident Ian Holmes told the meeting the community was struggling to understand why Norths had not moved to formalise negotiations around returning the club to local ownership.

“People in Bangalow are deeply upset about what has happened to this club and what the community has lost,” he said.

“The pathway to community ownership has already been discussed and contemplated. The framework exists, yet meaningful negotiations along those lines have still not properly commenced.”

Dwyer said Norths Collective also claimed during the meeting that The Bowlo had lost about $900,000 during the three years it operated the venue.

“Our position is simple – Norths operated the club during that period, not the community,” Dwyer said.

“It is difficult for local residents to accept that those losses are now somehow being used against the very community trying to save the club.”