The Game Plan – Frequently asked questions

Council owns and controls 31 sporting facilities across the Central Highlands region. Twenty-two of these are operated by 75 different sporting clubs. In total, the region is home to 150 sporting clubs and organisations.

Before the Game Plan process began:

• Council was providing a high level of financial support
• There were no tenure agreements in place
• Clubs that were viable or self-sufficient were not performing to their full potential
• There was a lack of clarity around the roles of council and clubs
• There was inconsistency across the region
• We were in a reactive position

To provide a more coordinated and resourced approach to sport and recreation in the Central Highlands, the Game Plan was developed.

The Game Plan Tenure Framework consists of two policies:

• Tenure agreement over council-owned and controlled land
• Water and waste policy (the water component of this is still being defined)

These policies ensure a consistent level of service and set clear roles and responsibilities.

If you enter into a tenure agreement with council for use of a facility on council owned and controlled land, maintenance and operating costs will be split between the parties as follows:

Local sport and recreation clubs can apply for a licence agreement.

A licence agreement provides a club and/or association with a permit to use a facility for an agreed purpose for an agreed period providing certainty of tenancy.

Council has adopted a template licence agreement. Once signed by clubs it will grant use of a specific council facility.

Standard terms and conditions:

Licence

• Grant of permission to occupy / use a facility for a specified purpose and period;
• No legal interest or proprietary rights
• Cannot be assigned or transferred, sublet or mortgaged; and
• Does not guarantee exclusive possession – but use concurrent with other licensees.

When it comes to the responsibility of waste and electricity, there are no exceptions.

All licence agreements are also non-exclusive and this is non-negotiable. This means that no club will have exclusive rights over the use of a facility. However, there will be some circumstances where a club may be the only user of a facility.

Clubs can request to manage other aspects of the facility if preferred. For example, some clubs have chosen to continue doing their field mowing and maintenance.

However, any potential arrangements such as this need to be discussed with council’s sport and recreation team.

Any requests made that conflict with the Game Plan policies must go to a general council meeting for a decision.

No. There are no ongoing costs associated with the licence agreement and anyone with tenure does not have to pay a facility hire fee.

No revenue will be received by council through the tenure agreements.

Council will collect electricity payments for consumption charges only, to be passed on to the provider.

Waste collection can be managed directly by the club through a contractor. If there is a weekly wheelie bin pick up, this will be charged to council through rates and council will invoice for the number of bins required by the club only.

Under the tenure agreement, it is council’s responsibility is to insure all buildings and maintain the structure and compliance of buildings.

This relieves the financial pressure from our volunteers and allows them to focus on delivering their sport or recreation activity. It also allows council to plan for future maintenance and upgrades.

The water and waste policy adopted by council states that all refuse collection is the responsibility of clubs, including both regular waste collection and event waste.

On 1 July 2019, the Queensland Government introduced a state-wide waste levy to help combat the growing amount of waste our population is producing. As the region’s landfill operator, council is required to administer this levy on the state government’s behalf.

The levy applies to all commercial waste. This includes waste generated by your local sporting club or community group.

A report was presented to council on 10 September 2019 (minutes here) regarding the levy and the impact on community and sporting organisations.

It was resolved: ‘That the Central Highlands Regional Council continue with the application of the Queensland Waste Levy with no exemptions and promote the objectives of the waste levy through waste reduction.’

Clubs are encouraged to look at how they manage their waste and utilise schemes such as the Queensland Container Refund Scheme, which allows clubs to recycle containers and receive 10c back.

Find more tips here.

A tenure agreement doesn’t just protect council, it also protects clubs. If council is not adhering to the conditions outlined in the licence agreement, clubs have the right to bring this to council’s attention. The agreements will ensure accountability of both parties.

This is dependent on each facility and the types of use and users.

Some facilities are activated to their full potential under one club and for other facilities it may allow multiple users depending on seasons, events and draws.

Council will still manage all bookings of a facility to ensure there are no clashes and usage is effectively communicated.

Some clubs will only require access once a month, while others may have set weekly training days. This process is about understanding a facility’s capability and the needs of the users to ensure all clubs can utilise an appropriate facility to conduct their activities under their license.

Council is investing in infrastructure to meter electricity. This will be particularly important at multi-user facilities. It will allow clubs to log on and off to the power when they are using the facility.

Each club using a facility will only be responsible for their own waste.

All users must ensure the facility is cleaned and in the same condition as they received it after each use.

• General maintenance refers to the interior cleaning and maintenance of buildings.
• Major maintenance is the replacement and upgrades of buildings.
• Scheduled maintenance refers to all scheduled compliance inspections i.e. fire safety equipment tagging and annual pest control.
• Specialised maintenance is the maintenance of courts and arena surfaces (any surface considered a specialised playing surface).

Council offers a community grants program twice each year, offering up to $5000 in sport and recreation assistance. While the funding cannot be used to cover recurrent costs associated with day-to-day operations, it can be put towards projects or equipment that will support club activities.

There are also many other sport and recreation grants and funding opportunities available all year round. Details of these are published in council’s monthly sports bulletin. To subscribe email sportandrec@chrc.qld.gov.au

In lots of instances, tenure can open new funding opportunities up to clubs. It demonstrates the long-term investment and viability of a club, giving funding bodies a sense of security when allocating grants.

Yes. Clubs can continue to invest and make improvements to the facility with council approval. All our facilities exist for community use, and any investment into the facilities will continue to benefit the clubs and community into the future.

Council acknowledges and admires the hard work and dedication clubs have contributed to community facilities over many years through fundraising and volunteering.

The intention of tenure is not to take anything away from our sport and recreation organisations, nor to prevent clubs from investing in the future of a facility if they have the means to do so.

Tenure provides certainty of tenancy to sporting or active recreation organisations. It also ensures that there is a level of consistency and fairness in how we look after these facilities and that they are activated to their full potential.