City of Joondalup’s changes to venue hire policy outrages community groups and sporting clubs

The City of Joondalup has approved increases to its venue hire fees and charges policy in a move that has enraged members of the community. Junior sporting clubs and volunteer organisations will be asked to increase their fees by “$1 per member per week” to accommodate the policy, which will come into effect on January 1, 2024. The fees will help pay for venue costs, including utilities, waste collection, cleaning and insurance. Mayor Albert Jacob said it would “share more fairly the cost contribution amongst venue hirers and ensure venues are booked when groups are going to use them, rather than have venues booked but then not used, which means they aren’t available to other groups who need to use them”. The city has sought to distance itself from any notion that the fee changes are a money-spinner. “The policy is not intended as a tool to generate income for the city,” the city said in a statement. “The majority of existing hirers will be considered as a ‘Category C’ hirer under the proposed policy, meaning they will pay only 50 per cent of the total operating costs the city incurs when hiring the venue.” Padbury Scouts representative Graeme Strickland said the new policy would adversely affect his organisation and “just doesn’t make sense”. “This policy was tried eight years ago and when it was announced, there was significant blowback on the council,” he says. “The council quickly backed off and waived fees for under 18s, (which includes) mostly junior sporting clubs and community groups like mine. “There are over 900 scouts in Joondalup alone and if they’re like my group, they would have participants ranging from age six (joeys) up to age 18 (venturers). “Scouts is already expensive to run and we’re losing out in participation numbers as well as access to facilities across the board. “The city just isn’t accommodating of community groups.” A member of the Kingsley Woodvale Junior Cricket Club, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the change was a slippery slope to higher fees. “This is basically Pandora’s box,” he said. “The city says this will be a ‘$1 per player per week’ increase but we’ve forecast that it would be more like a $5 per player per week increase based on the CPI. “This shows a disdain for sporting clubs because sporting clubs get things built for them, like clubrooms.” The community outrage has led to the creation of the Joondalup Council Charging Kids to Play Facebook page, where users have been calling out councillors for an explanation. Councillor John Chester wrote on the page, asking ratepayers to “reserve their judgment” until all the facts become available. “Could I ask you all to hold off on making judgments till the city administration has time to widely advertise and explain the changes to the city facility hire fees,” he said. “The administration and the leisure team will be engaging with every club in the city to give all the reasons for the proposed change. “There is already misinformation being put out that is incorrect, even mischievous. “In the next two weeks, everything will be much clearer so please reserve your judgment until all the facts are available.” Mr Jacob reminded users they would have 18 to 24 months to adapt to the new policy. “Over the coming weeks, we will meet with groups who are expected to see an increase in fees,” he said. “It is important to note that community-based groups with annual revenue of less than $3 million will receive a 50 per cent discount. “If there is a financial hardship, the city will consider other ways to help. “There is an increasing demand by our community for city facilities and limited opportunities to build new facilities to meet that demand. “We expect that the introduction of a nominal fee will encourage groups to manage their bookings more effectively and that a greater level of availability for a wider reach of groups will be achieved. “As the policy will not come into effect for another 18-24 months, venue hirers will have ample time to manage and better rationalise their bookings to ensure venue usage is maximised.” The changes to the policy follow a three-year review of the previous policy, which was introduced in 2012 after it was found a large percentage of hirers were over-booking facilities and not fully using them, creating a false demand for venues. While the policy improved the situation, it had again deteriorated in recent years.