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Wednesday 28 July 2021
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THE contrast between the rooms (and shipping container) being used by Hastings Football Netball Club and the entrance to the Hastings Club could not be greater. Sports club stalwarts Ted Gent and John Coventry say they are neglected by Mornington Peninsula Shire because of The Hastings Club’s gambling machines. Pictures: Gary Sissons
Club ‘punished’ over pokies link Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au DESPITE being one of the Mornington Peninsula’s premier sporting clubs the Hastings Football Netball Club is doing it tough. The club, formed in 1897 as Hastings Football Club and playing in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League, says it cannot afford to maintain its grounds which are in a “poor state” in wet weather and provide suitable change rooms for all its
teams – especially in a COVID-19-affected environment. The club believes it is not being given help by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council because the social club – the Hastings Club - supposedly provides it with income from poker machines. The shire says its policy is not to support gambling venues. The football netball club, with its home ground at the Thomas Barclay oval, says it does not receive any income from the social club. It says an entry in the Hastings Club’s annual
report of $53,597 supposedly going to the sports club is the value of in-kind support – not cash – that the club contributes. “We have not had any income from the social club since 2017 so, in effect, we are being punished [by the council] for something for which we get no reward,” Hastings Football Netball Club president John Coventry says. Mr Coventry said the football and netball clubs were “certainly not advocates for gambling” but were clubs “trying to provide the best facilities we
COME AND SEE THE CHICKENS ROAMING FREE IN THE PADDOCK!
can to encourage juniors to play sport”. “We have had no work done on the change rooms and the grounds are in poor condition. We feel neglected and we are battling on our own with no support.” Hastings Football Netball Club treasurer and Hastings Club board member Kevin Miles said it was a “farcical idea that the football netball club is rolling in money”. He said income of $7000 to $9000 a month dried up after 2016 as habits changed and costs soared.
Mr Miles said pokies did not generate income like they used to. They were $1 to play with the 12 per cent “profit” being split three ways. The club previously received four per cent, but that figure had been cut to about 1.35 per cent by increased costs. The club paid wages to 30 people. Under its charter the social club also contributes to other groups, such as schools, book clubs, or a Probus club, which get a set amount, often paid in-kind, such as the use of a meeting room. Continued Page 4
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