THE beleaguered Hastings Club which closed its doors last year could be thrown a lifeline after Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors called for “immediate steps” to reopen the community asset.
The venue, founded in 1967, which was home to local sporting clubs and community groups, was placed into liquidation last April after facing crippling debts associated with its gaming machines. The club reopened again but a significant water leak ultimately forcing its closure last October.
Members had tried to re-establish the club under a new entity called the Hastings Community and Sports Club Inc but it struggled to regain its footing, with the club’s bistro running at a loss and causing it to collapse into liquidation, for a second time, earlier this year. The water leak issue remained unresolved for months leaving the club unable to trade while continuing to accumulate costs (Liquidators called in again as the Hastings Club shuts its doors, The News 1/4/25).
At the time, some foundation members expressed frustration that the shire hadn’t done enough to support the club. But in acknowledging the significance of the club’s infrastructure to the community, councillors at their 22 April meeting voted unanimously in favour of an urgent business motion which would see council take “immediate steps” to reopen the building including referring $1m to the 2025-26 budget to help ensure the Hastings Club’s long-term survival. The shire would also explore reallocating funds in its present budget “to fix any building issues preventing community usage”.
“We’re in a position where we can help,” Gill, who raised the motion, said, noting the club is “the heart and soul of Hastings.” “The help that we can give is getting it started and getting the community working together again. “If there’s any money in it [council’s present budget] or our forward budget, it needs to be looked at to try and help people in Hastings.”
Cr Michael Stephens, whose Warringine Ward takes in Hastings, echoed Gill’s sentiment, saying the venue’s closure was the “biggest issue” within the community. “I agree 100 percent that we need to move quickly to open this building and provide a space for lots of different community groups,” he said. “Hastings Hall is about to be shut for maintenance, so we do have a very strong urgency to get this building up and running again for our community groups.”
Cr Kate Roper also supported the motion, saying community buildings across Hastings and Western Port were in short supply and therefore it was important to get the Hastings Club running “as soon as possible”. “It’s been pretty sad to see the downfall as it happened,” she said, adding “perhaps council could’ve done more but there were circumstances that I think even council couldn’t control”. “But there’s a building there that is in desperate need to be fixed … we’ve got four sports clubs there that need a place to meet and other community groups that could make use of that building.”
Mayor Cr Anthony Marsh said the “goal is to get the community back in there as soon as possible” because “the Hastings Club is clearly going to be a future hub for bringing those people back in”.
The Hastings Community and Sports Club Inc chairman David Gibbs said while he welcomed the council’s support for the club’s future, he raised questions about the adequacy of the proposed $1m, with the figure likely to fall short of what was truly needed to the club’s immediate viability. According to Gibbs, the $1m would only cover maintenance costs over a ten-year period with “no immediate plan of action” to get the club’s doors open without delay.
He said realistically, about $5-6m was needed to replace the building if this is what the council chose to do. “There’s a bigger picture behind what they’re saying in the motion about taking many steps. That’s very general … the sum of $1m is only going to keep its long-term survival going for just ten years,” he told The News. “I’ve been thinking the council has a grand plan somewhere, but they’re not letting anyone else in on their big plan.”
Gill said among the works needed to reopen the building included replacing the electrical switchboard (estimated at $200,000) and rewiring, as well as fixing walls and holes in benches where beer taps had been removed in the bar, which “need a fair bit of work to get it able to be used by the community”.
Gibbs also said that he was told late last year that the “building wasn’t fit for purpose” which he wasn’t sure meant “putting a fence around it” and waiting until what decision would be made next. Gibbs said that, confusingly “two weeks later they [council] asked us to meet with them and they said, would you consider letting the senior citizens use the building?” “You said it’s not fit for purpose, now you’re saying it is fit for purpose, so that’s why there’s this big picture behind there,” Gibbs said.
First published in the Western Port News – 7 May 2025
