BOWLS will return to the Queanbeyan Bowling Club this Saturday after the club's administrators finalised its sub-committee and inducted a high number of volunteer greens keepers to help in greens preparation.
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It comes after administrators RSM Bird Cameron shut down all operations at the club's licensed premises, and froze all bowling events at the club after they took over operations of the club on September 29.
Administrators recently revealed the club was in $800,000 of debt , of which those funds were owed various creditors.
They were also forced to freeze the work of full-time greens keeper Wade Turner, as the club became unable to support him financially.
This also led to the club closing its three greens on the men's side of the club, and until it can afford to operate all five bowling greens on its property again, all bowling action will now take place on the women's two greens.
The new sub-committee was formed on Wednesday between retired Queanbeyan magistrate John Selmes, retired property developer David Loft, bowling club president John Britton and casual secretarial manager Shane Holland, who also has experience in government. They will be tasked with assisting the administration in preparing a proposal to get the club out of debt.
But administration was also able to recruit a large group of greens keeping volunteers during the week, each of whom were formally inducted and trained by Turner, and this meant weekend social bowls could return to the club.
"Everything's moving forward. There'll be bowling this weekend," said RSM Bird Cameron administrator Tim Gumbleton.
"We had an induction on Wednesday afternoon for the volunteer staff, and that was the first step."
On another positive note for the club, Gumbleton also revealed women's ACT mid-week pennant bowling action would also return to the club from next Tuesday.
"We're also working towards Tuesday evening bowls again as well," Gumbleton said.
The administration has also set up two volunteer committees, which will monitor happenings specifically bowls related for the men and women at the club.
New men's coordinator Steve Scanlan will chair the men's committee, while women's president Margaret Davies will head the women's committee.
Gumbleton said he had been inundated with applications to volunteer for the club, and that was a pleasing sign members and associates of the club were keen to resurrect it into a successful club again.
"There's been no shortage of volunteers. There's a lot of good people coming on to help out," Gumbleton said.
Meanwhile, the club's newly formed sub-committee will meet for the first time on Monday to start planning a proposal to pay off club debt over a 12-month period.
Gumbleton met with most of the club's creditors last Friday, and plans to have a proposal put to them for acceptance on October 30. Friday's meeting followed a public meeting at the club last Thursday addressing potential ways the club could pay off its debt.
Gumbleton confirmed the house on the club's property would go under the auction hammer on November 15, and hoped it would sell for over $500,000 to cover the club's secure creditor, the National Australia Bank.
But he said whatever course of action administration would take depended on whether club creditors accepted their October 30 proposal.
"Something bad had to have happened for the club to lose $1.2 million over the last six years," he said.
"But whatever we do, the creditors have to accept our proposal, and if they don't, there is a chance we would be looking at liquidation."
