'Home of footy' is no longer

Hundreds of footballers face being kicked out of their home ground as a stand-off between the West Kimberley Football League and its landlord deepens.

The league informed the Shire of Broome it would not exercise its option to renew the seven-year lease on Haynes Oval in Broome the day before it expired on April 6 this year.

The council will allow the pavilion to be used on a month-by month basis as part of a “holdover” clause until it decides what to do with the premises and to allow the WKFL time to remove items left inside.

Eight teams play in the WKFL and over the course of the regular 56-game season, 39 are set to be played at Haynes Oval, known by players and officials as the WKFL “home of footy”.

The same venue traditionally hosts the league’s grand final matches.

It is understood the council recently changed the locks to the change rooms, toilets, showers and kitchen , which have been hit with graffiti and targeted by vandals.

The council said it would not hire-out Haynes Oval to the WKFL on an hourly basis because it has been leased for the past seven years and no management plans and fees were in place for that option.

“Future arrangements for the use of the facility will now require a decision to be made by council,” a council spokesman said.

“The holdover clause from the existing lease would allow the WKFL to continue using the facility until council decides on its future arrangements for use.”

WKFL chief executive Graeme Gordon said the league has repaid a $60,000 loan to council to improve the pavilion but the kitchen was not completed.

“We can’t understand why, when we have paid all this money out, we don’t have any ownership over it,” Mr Gordon said.

“The head works or water that comes into the place was not strong enough for commercial cleaners to come in and clean the place.

“We had that done (cleaning) recently and it cost us $1250 bucks, but the people cleaning it had to use a tank on the back of a truck and a pressure hose and do it that way.

“You can’t even have more than one person having a shower at a time.”

Mr Gordon said the WKFL was open to negotiation but money was the pivotal subject.

“We pay out five or six thousand a year on it (Haynes Oval) and there is no way of generating any income from it — that is our concern.

“It is throwing good money after bad, so to speak.

“We want a new lease where we are not paying out thousands of dollars insurance when we don’t even own the building.

“The bottom line is we are quite happy and we are open to negotiate with the Shire to come up with some form of arrangement where all parties are happy.”

Shire president Graeme Campbell said the council could ask for expressions of interest and invite other sporting bodies to lease the facility.

“The Shire recognises the loan was repaid, however the building was not completed and the cafeteria was unable to be used, which was disappointing,” he said.

“We recognise the WKFL have made a decision not to renew the lease and if the facility is leased to another party, that would then require negotiations between them and the WKFL.”