At Gawler Squash Club’s open night are Gawler Council CEO Henry Inat, Cr David Hughes, Mayor Karen Redman, club president Simon Curnow, former player Vicki Cardwell, Brett Thredgold, Gregg Steel, Cr Ian Tooley and Cr Cody Davies. PHOTO: Pete Thornton – What Pete Shot
Brendan Simpkins
GAWLER Council has rejected a chance to include Gawler Squash Club in lease negotiations over the facilities at Eldred Riggs Reserve.
Councillor Cody Davies submitted a motion on notice to last week’s council meeting that sought to invite the squash club and South Gawler Football Club to indicate their interest in leasing all or parts of the facilities at the Reserve.
South’s current lease of the facilities is due to expire at the end of the year, with council soon to enter into negotiations with the club.
While the motion sought to allow the squash club to deal directly with council for the use of the courts, elected members opted against the move.
The motion was lost on a 5-3 vote, with councillors Diane Fraser, Nathan Shanks, Jim Vallelonga, Kelvin Goldstone and Deputy Mayor Brian Sambell voting against.
Cr Shanks said it was a “frustrating conversation to be brought in at the tail end of”.
“All the information that I have been given doesn’t assist the squash club,” he said.
“...if the problem was taking away one court back in 2018...if that was a problem and that has been a handicap then why are we finding out about this in 2021?
“Why has it gone on for this long if the ‘big bully’ South Gawler have been hindering a local sporting club like this?”
Earlier in the evening, South vice-president Cosie Costa addressed council during public open forum.
South has consistently stated the need to convert the courts into additional change room space to cope with the growing number of players affiliated across the Lions’ senior, women and junior football programs.
Mr Costa said this was becoming a “burden” on the club because of the lack of space.
“We are not bursting at the seams, we are past that; we’ve burst,” he said.
Mr Costa said South had conducted its research into the viability of the squash club and it was a “last resort” move for the football club to take over the use of the courts.
Cr Davies described the demolition of the courts as a “permanent solution to a temporary problem”, while Cr David Hughes said it was a chance to determine whether the club was financially viable to continue by establishing a business case.
The squash club has been involved in conversations with council in recent months about solutions to the issue in order to continue using the courts in a shared capacity.
The club has not been active since losing access to the courts in June.
