Geoff Helisma|

Maclean Services Club’s creditors met on Friday July 24 and voted, unanimously, to liquidate the club.

The club was placed in voluntary administration in June when its directors appointed accounting company BDO Australia to the task.

The club is currently in the process of being sold by its owner, RSL Custodian Pty Ltd, however, completion of the sale is pending Clarence Valley Council approving a development application, lodged by the purchaser, to use the building as a funeral home.

The Maclean RSL Sub-branch is acting as the agent for the building’s owner, RSL Custodian Pty Ltd.

The sub-branch’s president, Stephen Walton, who said that the sub-branch was one of the creditors, said it was a matter of “working through” the process to pay the creditors and that if the club was not sold it would “have to be boarded up” and would most likely “deteriorate quickly” as a result.

He said the sub-branch could not afford to keep the building open for its own purposes, providing support for veterans and their families.

The services club’s directors had nominated negative external environmental factors such as the drought, bush fires, flooding and COVID-19 pandemic as reasons that discouraged members and visitors from attending the club.

The administrator agreed and nominated additional reasons, including a decrease in membership numbers, aging of the club’s members and outdated facilities when compared to nearby competitors.

The administrator noted that the club had not been profitably trading for a number of years and that despite the former CEO’s progress in reversing the downward trend it was not enough for the club to survive in the long term.

Additionally, documentation outlining a plan beyond the current financial year was not forthcoming.

The club had 2,140 members at the time it was placed in administration.

Had the club continued trading, its lease was due to expire in April 2022.