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Possible Closure of BLSO

24K views 103 replies 32 participants last post by  tiny 
#1 ·
Dear All
Over the past few months (possibly even longer) the BLSO committe & others have been trying to get the club going by organising open days , family days, practice days & on the rare occasion - race days.
Unfortunately - without much sucess - it seems tyhat the numbers are no longer there. This has meant that the funds available to us to make sure we can maintain the facility at Wacol have dwindled to the extent that the club is no longer viable. Gary & I can no longer aford ( & refuse) to use any more of own personal money to maintain the track just to have a few people turn up.
Unless we can find a generous benifactor to inject some money into the club in the next week or two - we will have no option to close it down.
This a great disapointment as I beleive we have a fantastic facility at Wacol but unfortunately we can not generate the numbers necessary to make it work.
A big thankyou to Gary & Matt & to all other people (past & present) who have supported us.
I will make a final post next week letting the QLD 1/5th community know the final outcome
Marty
 
#2 ·
This is Sad News indeed....Common Guys, if you know anyone looking to invest in a Community Sporting Organization, or have a Boss the needs to make some charitible donations in this current tax year, now is the time to put it on them.

Support a local club that needs it before we lose it.

All the best to the club.
 
#3 ·
That is sad news..

You qld guys need to get behind the BLSO and keep it viable.
Nothing worse than trying to find a venue for a race track.
You guys have got 1 and should be working hard to keep it.
 
#4 ·
Is it possible to give us an idea of what sort of recurring funding is needed to keep the track going each year?
 
#7 ·
One of the largest problems as I see it, the weather up here has been diabolicle, it has rained so many week ends over the last few months that track use has been next to impossible. That alone must have had a huge impact on the clubs income and finances.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Bslo



Guys
I guess it has been a combination of things that has caused us to come to this point.
I won't go into too much detail as a lot of you already know some of the reasons but the weather in the past 12 mths certainly has been a contributing factor.
Its the nature of the beast I guess.
We had the floods in Jan last year which caused a lot of damage. We managed to get the track to a reasonable condition but as Towie said it seemed to rain every W/E we tried to plan an event - this meant that we couldn't get into the track to maintain it
I also put it down to that fact that people have other priorities in life these days & as everyone knows - it's not a cheap hobby.
I accept some of the blame as I haven't been able to give the club my full attention it needs & deserves due to the need to run & operate my business (which sometimes is 24/7) & the back up & numbers needed just isn't there anymore (no offence to those who have tried to help). The club can't survive with just few members.
If anyone has any suguestions - we welcome the input but we have to be honest with ourselves & the viability of the club as it stands at the moment is such that it we have no other options.
Marty
 
#9 ·
Just a sign of the times and how the economy controls the outcome.


The poor attendances at most clubs around AUST are down so don’t go hard on yourselves thinking where did we go wrong.
When a family has financial commitments and for some job security is looming, or the work load has lessened then worrying times and less spending.So some things you have to be let go like hobbies.
 
#12 ·
People love to us the track when covenant for them, but when it comes to working Bee's, Oh sorry but i am going away that weekend it happens all the time, money for the up keep of the track is the easy part getting everyone to help out at the same time with the track up keep is the hard part, Good luck i hope you can work thing's out.
 
#14 ·
In the US they sometimes have trouble giving all the drivers a run in one day and there are hundreds of spectators. In Australia there would be lucky to be 20 drivers and a hand full of familly members as spectators at a meeting. I don't know how Australian tracks survive as long as they do.

Good luck saving the track, there should be more of them and better media coverage to bring in the crowds.

I wish the RC distributors would advertise there products on TV.
 
#25 ·
The track is designed for 1/5th - I also have run my HPI Vorza for Sh*ts & giggles one day - not much fun. The track can get rough. It is is not really smooth like Pine Hills or Meakin Pk.
Thanks for the idea - but the cost of trying to cater for all classess would be prohibitive
 
#18 ·
I've tried a 1/10 on a 1/5 track, it's like trying a pee wee 50 on a full size mx track lol looks funny but just struggles all round


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
#22 ·
This is not good at all, I do know how much it costs to keep a track going and without the generosity of members and businesses it's damn near impossible.!

I really hope you can avoid the closure
 
#23 ·
that's not good news, 1 thing i think that would be popular would be corperate events, but that would also need some investment of a few baja's even clones with just enough done to them to be able to handle the track..and the money can go into the track etc, you may even get a sponsor from it as well..
 
#26 ·
Leigh
I did look into funding but apparantly the sport/club doesn't fall into any of the categoreies that qualify for Gov funding - it has to be local community based and have some benifit to the local comunity
 
#32 ·
Guys, Im really sad to hear that BLSO is heading in this direction. A real damn shame.
I know that being out at wacol is a bit of a drive, but why don't you think about relocating? The northern brisbane suburbs don't have any 1/5th offroad track anywhere and the Brendale on-road club (AFAIK) haven't done anything in reguards to off road racing. In my opinion, look to relocate to the northern suburbs in/near an industrial area - If your lucky, it might save the club and bring in local membership.
 
#33 ·
Sad to hear the club is facing closure, as Tom suggested is relocation a possibility? I know it would be a setback in terms of rebuilding a track from scratch but at least it may mean the club can resurface for some summer racing.

Also would it be worth approaching the Brendale on road club to collaborate with them and find a location to run as an off road arm of their club?

Hope you guys find a way to keep going.
 
#35 ·
Guys
All of your sugestions are really appreciated. I will look into the situation at Brendale & speak to Geoff. Iam not not sure why that never got off the ground - I heard that the Council wanted some pretty expensive infrastructure work carried out before they would consider granting approval.
I think that I need to put our situation into perspective - I dont think the issue is with the track or its location ( I could be wrong) - it is the fact that after all of our efforts in trying to attract members by having open days/family days/ practice days / fun days (call them what you will) - the numbers aren't just there.
I even tried on many occasions to organise Brisbane inter-club race meetings that would have benifitted both clubs (thanks to those who tried to help) & give people the opportunity to race on different tracks & get to meet other like minded people & have fun (isn't that is what is is really all about) & I know I will alienate some people with this statement & possabily open up another can of worms - but due to the history of the 2 clubs & ongoing shortmindedness of some people - it never got off the ground which to me personally was very dissapointing.
I will keep trying over the next week or two to take onboard some of the suguestions & you never know
 
#36 ·
Thanks for the update mate

Towie - one of the reasons for keeping Belmont in play was due to the lease conditions and easy access to the grounds due to the motorway.

The other reason was at the time, brendale was supposebly extending to offroad so having two large scale clubs within close proximity would (IMO) been pointless.

At this stage, since brendale hasn't done anything yet in such a long time (to my knowladge), BLSO would greatly benefit from the location if a spot is found.

That's one of the main reasons why QORLS is doing well. Location is important and people won't drive over 30min unless they're committed.
 
#37 ·
Thanks for the update mate

Towie - one of the reasons for keeping Belmont in play was due to the lease conditions and easy access to the grounds due to the motorway.

The other reason was at the time, brendale was supposebly extending to offroad so having two large scale clubs within close proximity would (IMO) been pointless.

At this stage, since brendale hasn't done anything yet in such a long time (to my knowladge), BLSO would greatly benefit from the location if a spot is found.

That's one of the main reasons why QORLS is doing well. Location is important and people won't drive over 30min unless they're committed.
I suggested and located the land on the northside before Belmont was an option, you and kris werent interested. Belmont didnt open or go into negotiation for some weeks or months later.
I am not after an arguement, I am more interested in seeing BLSO get a fair shake and hopefully back on their feet, after all it is the club we all built in the first place.
 
#38 ·
No argument intended! Sorry.
I'd love to see BLSO recover and be more prosperous in the future.
Back before Belmont got secured, qorls had the lowest of lows with very poor numbers and dedicated commitment with numbers as low as 5, while we had no home. Stick with it because luck will come your way. Just need to knock on the right door.
 
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