New life for the old yacht club building as council confirms two takeover applications will be reviewed soon

Councillors will review two takeover bids for the Port Hedland Yacht Club building as the Town looks to bring some life back to a prime location. Town of Port Hedland Mayor Peter Carter last Wednesday confirmed the council had narrowed down the applications to takeover the old club to two. Cr Carter said multiple tenders had been received for the prime piece of real estate by the town’s marina. “(The building) went in to tender. I think about half-a-dozen people applied. It’s down to two people,” Cr Carter said. “It will come back to council, I believe sometime maybe in June or July. “Tenders put their case to the council and the council will decide who will run the yacht club.” The Port Hedland Yacht Club went into administration last year and had been operating for five decades. Cr Carter said he was excited to get a venue up and running in one of Port Hedland’s marquee locations. “I can’t wait to get it open,” he said. “Because, I mean, it’s a great location and the town needs that type of entertainment and that type of eatery on the foreshore in front of the new marina. It’ll be fantastic.” In February 2022, the North West Telegraph reported on the disagreement between the council and club commodore Adam Snell on the reasons contributing to the club entering receivership. Mr Snell said the construction of the Spoilbank Marina had, “essentially destroyed’, the club’s business. “Not only have we had no incentives or kickbacks, but the people who were sponsoring the club have been disincentivised to do so. We’ve not been able to even maintain the sponsor list we had,” he said. “Everyone thinks we’re getting millions of dollars. We’ve been given nothing from the entire marina. “One of the major miners declined to hold their Christmas party at the club because it was ‘too construction-y’ and that’s like a $20,000 loss.” The Town of Port Hedland dismissed Mr Snell’s claims its lack of support during the marina’s construction had contributed to the club’s closure. A Town spokesperson said it had tried multiple things to support the club. “The Town authorised the refinancing of loans to reduce interest payments (and) suspended loan repayments with no penalty for over 12 months,” they said. “The Town also engaged consultants at no cost to the yacht club to develop a business plan to map out how operations could adapt to the marina’s ongoing construction. “In June 2020, council endorsed a new lease with the yacht club to provide a portion of land on the eastern side of the Spoilbank where they could undertake sailing activities and training.” The two parties applying to take over the club have yet to be revealed.