General News
28 October, 2025
Clubs hit by TRC denial for rates relief
TWO sporting clubs will have to pay Tablelands Regional Council thousands of dollars more in rates this year after their pleas for concessions were denied.
Atherton Junior Rugby League Club is now trying to figure out how they can continue to operate after the council rejected their request for a concession, leaving them to pay a rates bill of $20,000 a year.
Club president Wayde Kidner said the club had received concessions in the past which had brought the rates down to $6000 a year, but now the club was faced with a $20,000 bill.
Crs Kevin Cardew, Maree Baade and Con Spanos wanted to support the clubs, but Mayor Rod Marti, and Crs Dave Bilney, Kylie Lang and Annette Haydon voted to reject the request in a meeting held behind closed doors.
Mr Kidner said the club was now struggling to figure out how they were going to pay the rates hike.
“We don’t go close to making that sort of money – we only host 3-4 home games a year,” he said.
“I am taken aback, we just do not have the capacity to pay that amount of rates.
“We can’t charge the kids any more than they pay now – which is the same as other clubs in the region – about $250 a year per season.
“We can’t hit our sponsors up anymore.
“We can’t sell alcohol, that was ruled out by the Queensland Rugby League a few years ago and that took half of our annual revenue away.
“We are providing a service that’s keeping kids off the streets and doing something positive and the council is not supporting that.”
Mr Kidner said the whole situation was frustrating, claiming council did “nothing for the club” and did not respond appropriately when repairs to underground infrastructure were required.
“Paying that much in rates will make us unviable really – I don’t know why the council would not support the concession unless they want to make us unsustainable and we have to give up our lease,” he said.
“Council have done nothing for us and do nothing on the grounds – we do all the mowing and maintenance above ground.
“Below ground is what they are supposed to maintain yet we have to call a plumber out to fix pipes.”
Mr Kidner said he had been advised that “capping” some of the toilets in the clubhouse would reduce the rates bill.
“All of the toilets are required when we have our 3-4 home games a year – same goes for the wheelie bins – but we can’t cap the toilets if we’ve got three fields in action on the home games, and the wheelie bins only need to be emptied when we do have the home games,” he said.
“We have had 30 plus years of kids coming through here and we would like to think that tradition has 30 more years.”
Mr Kidner said he had emailed the council to request a meeting with Mayor Rod Marti and chief executive officer Nikola Stepanov to talk over the issue but had heard nothing in response.
The Tinaroo Sailing Club also had its request for a concession knocked back at the same closed session meeting of council on 25 September.
Crs Kevin Cardew, Maree Baade and Con Spanos again voted against the decision.
Volunteer grants officer and membership secretary for the club, Annette Wadley, said she was disappointed by the decision. The club had believed the council would help after a deputation to the full council back in November 2023 before they built the new toilet block.
At the time, Mrs Wadley said they wanted some reassurance on what they would pay council annually for the additional toilets before putting in the grant application to construct the new amenities.
She said if the club was successful in expanding the toilet and shower facilities, it would cost them an additional $6510 a year in council charges, bringing the annual bill to nearly $20,000.
Mrs Wadley said the club was not-for-profit and was run entirely by volunteers and revealed their net profit in 2022 was only $18,300.
After her deputation, the then Division 5 Cr Peter Hodge gave a commitment that the council would look at the situation, and had said he “understood exactly where you’re coming from.”
He urged the club to submit the application and “worry about the other thing later”.
The Express asked the council why it had rejected the concession requests from both clubs, but council did not provide a reason, only stating that “the previous concessions were temporary”.
