Fishing club asks council to invest $400k

The Hawke's Bay Sports Fishing Club, struggling to service a loan, has asked the Napier City Council to buy a share of its ramp.

The financially troubled Hawke's Bay Sports Fishing Club has asked Napier City Council to spend $400,000 to buy a third-share of its boat-launching ramp.

The club says the proposal, put to councillors at a meeting yesterday, would enable it to clear its debt and provide a small annual return on the council's investment.

The council had invested substantially in facilities for a number of sports "but in comparison, the investment in recreational boating amenities is minimal," club spokesman Dick Hilton told the meeting.

Mr Hilton said the club was the largest of four fishing clubs in Hawke's Bay, with about 1000 members, but had struggled financially during the past 10 years.

Its declining income meant it was finding it difficult to service a loan of about $250,000, originally raised to fund the construction of its boat launching ramp.

In a written proposal distributed to councillors, the club said the ramp had a book value of $1.2 million and if properly managed, had the potential to make a profit from member boat-owner users and casual launch fees of $41,000 a year.

A share of those profits would equate to a 3.4 per cent annual return to the council from its one-third, $400,000, investment.

The proposal said two areas identified as potential sources of additional income for the club were installing a barrier arm for access to the launching ramp and increasing membership fees.

Non-club members were able to use the ramp under an "honesty system" but this was "not working with many boats being launched without the payment of a fee".

The club planned to install a card-operated barrier arm in the near future to overcome the problem.

The present senior membership fee of $120 a year was higher than that charged by most other fishing clubs nationally, and by similar social clubs in Hawke's Bay.

"It was felt a significant increase in senior membership fees would see many members resign, further decreasing income," the proposal document said.

Napier Mayor Bill Dalton told the meeting the council would deliberate on the club's proposal "and we will certainly consider what our involvement might be".

About 60 club members and supporters attended the council meeting, a turn-out Mr Dalton said was the largest number of people he had seen in the public gallery.