Manurewa RSA building needs to be sold or club will be liquidated: Manager

The Manurewa RSA is attracting a lot of interest from prospective parties wanting to purchase its clubrooms. Photo / Google

Manurewa RSA will close its door permanently this month and discussions are already underway with prospective buyers about selling the Maich Rd clubrooms.

Confirmation of the imminent closure comes as some members who oppose the sale are urgently calling on the RSA national body to intervene.

In a letter to Manurewa RSA members last week, club secretary manager Dave Fenton confirmed the last day of trading would be Saturday May 19. He said they already had six offers in regards to the sale of the property.

Fenton said the property had to be sold because of the RSA's financial circumstances - some of which were historical and dated back to 2010.

"The reality is if we do nothing, the liquidators come in. We are managing the debts at this time and if the liquidators come in then we leave here with nothing."

He declined to go into detail about what had caused the poor financial state.

Fenton said once the property was sold and debts were paid off, the net profits would go into a trust fund and a decision would be made whether Manurewa RSA could still run.

Fenton acknowledged there were some disgruntled members, but said it was the best option for the club.

"They would crucify us if the liquidators came in. We are trying to do the best we can to save what we can and our dignity with it and all they want to do is crucify us and criticise us."

The decision to sell follows a ballot of returned and service members over whether to sell the building. The final ballot results were 154 votes or 80.6 per cent in favour of it the property being sold and 37 votes or 19.4 per cent against.

The confirmation of the sale comes as auditors review what club president Cliff McMahon previously described as "serious issues" with the club's finances.

The Herald reported last month that auditors had been called in following an April reportfrom McMahon.

The report, on the club's Facebook page, noted that the BNZ appeared be "very nervous" about the RSA's trading situation and "maybe our ability to meet our loan commitments in the 2018 financial year".

The report said the auditors had been called in to uncover why its "financials have become 'inaccurate and unreliable' which included the need to put the administrator on 'garden leave' for part of the investigation".

But some members did not believe the club needed to close and had appealed to the RSA national office to intervene.

In a letter to RSA national president Barry "B.J." Clark, a group of members, fronted by former executive committee member Graeme Sherlock , opposed the sale, and called for the decision to be delayed until the Annual General Meeting could be held, giving members access to the 2017/18 financial year accounts.

Manurewa RSA, formed in 1945, has more than 1800 members.

Manurewa RSA could be sold to pay off debt