Donation saves Deniliquin Boat Club

ERC has said the Club breached its ERC Community Grants contract by changing the format of its New Year’s Eve 2022 event without prior approval.

The Boat Club was awarded the grant to put on a free, family friendly party at its riverside venue on December 31.

But with the venue unsafe due to the floods which saw the Club inundated from August to late November, the event was moved to the Deni Ute Muster site.

Safety concerns at that site saw it change to an over 18s event only. The club also sold tickets to help recoup some of the costs of relocation and other changes required.

Council has since said that because the event delivered was not the same way as proposed in their grant application, the club was in breach of the grant contract.

The Deniliquin Boat Club was contacted in mid-January to to submit a retro-active variation application, which was denied by the council at last week’s meeting based on the recommendation of staff. The motion was not passed unanimously.

Council offered the committee the opportunity to host an event as originally intended within 12 months of receiving the grant (so by December this year) at its own cost, or repay the amount awarded.

Despite maintaining their delivered event fit the aims of the grant and criticising council for its “lack of empathy”, the Deniliquin Boat Club decided to repay the money.

But the committee said it would have to look at community fundraising to do so, given its reserves needed to be used on flood recovery works.

Deniliquin Boat Club Commodore Craig Druitt said they were blown away on Friday morning when the entire amount needed was donated in one go.

“We can be proud that we have people in the community who recognise the volunteers and what they do in our community,” Mr Druitt said.

“This community member made a donation for the full $5000, which gave all the volunteers a bit of a charge.

“While wanting to remain anonymous, this person said they read the local paper and were seriously disappointed with council’s decision.

“We also received a lot of support from other members of the community, particularly on our social media pages.”

Mr Druitt said between this decision and the decision to overlook the Deniliquin Outdoor Pool Incorporated and Deniliquin Heated Pool Incorporated for the pools management contract - a committee he also served on - people are getting the sense council has lost its connection with what is in the community’s best interest.

“The council is elected to represent the community, but on certain matters I feel the community interest is not being met in the right way.

“The council does not seem to be listening to the community or each other, and in some cases it feels as if they have made their minds up before going into meeting.”

In explaining council’s position last week, council general manager Phil Stone said the $5000 grant was awarded for an event which was to be free and open to the community.

He said the grant contract was breached when the nature of the event was changed, but he said the offer to hold another event recognised the grant guidelines do not necessarily allow for flexibility for unexpected circumstances like the floods.

Mr Druitt said the generous donation now allows the Boat Club committee to concentrate its efforts where it is needed most in the off season.

“The reason for the variation was due to the Deni Boat Club incurring major damages due to the recent flood, and sacrificing our facilities to protect Edward River Council’s Riverview community,” he said.

“It was simply unrealistic for our committee to deliver another event and cop the loss from the 2022 NYE event, on top of the financial strain the floods have put on the club.

“We’ve got about $50,000 worth of flood damage to address, and now we can concentrate on that.

“We have some grant applications in, but we’re yet to hear back.

“The Sefton Report, commission by council, highlighted that the river was one of our best assets, and the Boat Club is one of few public venues on the river.

“That’s why we try and do so much out here for the community, and we’re glad there are people who understand what we are trying to do.”