Brimbank sports clubs will start paying higher fees after Brimbank council voted in its new sports facility hire, licences and leases agreement policy last week.
Some clubs can expect annual fee hikes of more than 1000 per cent as the council moves from a $160 flat fee to a new system that charges clubs based on the size and value of their sporting venue.
Now they will be charged up to $2000 if their venues have a pavilion and they will also pay playing-surface fees.
The new fees were arrived at after an eight-week consultation period with the clubs over a draft policy released early in March. They will come into effect immediately, however clubs with current licences will not have to pay the new fee until their licence expires.
Brimbank chairman of administrators John Watson said the revised policy meant both the council and clubs contributed to the management and maintenance of club facilities.
He said the council amended the draft policy because of clubs’ concerns, offering an 80 per cent discount in the first year of the policy and agreeing not to increase annual fees by more than inflation.
“The updated policy also provides sports clubs with certainty of tenure of facilities, and encourages a shared approach to the costs of managing and maintaining sports facilities through fair and reasonable charges for use,” Mr Watson said.
“While the new policy will bring fees more into line with industry standards, clubs in Brimbank will still pay less than those in surrounding municipalities if they take advantage of the incentives offered.”
Sydenham Tennis Club treasurer Stacie Simon told Star Weekly last month that the fee the club paid the council would jump from $160 to $1498.
Sunshine Baseball Club president Rob Browne said last week that despite initial concerns, the club was happy with the final policy.
“We can work with what the council’s put on the table provided it doesn’t change too drastically over the next two or three years,” he said. “It would have been extremely difficult for us to move forward with the [draft] proposal.”
Jo Ingram, of the Sunshine Softball Association, said the changes would more than double the club’s annual fee from $160 to $400.
‘‘We’re a small club in comparison to football and soccer clubs, and they want to charge $500 for the area of a softball diamond when they charge $500 for a whole oval,” she said.
“The other concern is that our ground has not had any maintenance for the past six years . . . they’ve done nothing to justify putting the fees up that much.”
The policy covers 46 sporting pavilions, 94 playing fields and 40 sports played in the city.
