COROWA Golf Club has made a desperate plea for help to fix an ageing cooling system on the eve of the summer tourist season.
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The club has held preliminary talks with Federation Council about a rescue package including a one-off financial contribution of $216,000 to replace the air-conditioning system.
An official request for help will be considered at the council's final meeting of the year on Tuesday in a week when heatwave temperatures of more than 40 degrees have been forecast for multiple days and ahead of the annual tourist influx to the Murray River town.
Club general manager Daniel Peacock said the cooling system was more than four decades old and in "imminent danger of catastrophic failure".
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"Should such a failure occur during the summer the club could not operate and closure would put the jobs of many of our 47 full and part-time staff at risk and severely impact the recreation activities of our wider region," he said in a letter submitted to council.
"Even a patch up job of this system is probably not possible as many critical parts are no longer available and we are still running a cooling tower that requires constant dousing to enable a safe operating environment.
"This new reverse cycle system would provide significant ongoing energy savings for the club.
"Current estimates are that this energy efficient new system could well consume less than half the energy our current system uses for cooling."
But the recommendation from council general manager Adrian Butler to councillors on the matter doesn't include a guaranteed immediate funding injection.
"Council has no discretionary funding in this year's budget without adjusting other items or allocating some unexpected revenues to this project," Mr Butler said in his report.
The most likely solution is council agreeing to a loan for the amount required, but under the Local Government Act such intentions need to be exhibited for 28 days.
The council is also supportive of putting the project forward for the federal government's next round of drought assistance.
Timing of the next round of drought funding becoming available is not yet known and council staff are investigating whether it meets the criteria for the drought package.
The 27-hole club remains one of the premier Murray River courses.
The club is again hosting one of its biggest events, the Marcus Fraser Ambrose, next month.
An application been submitted under the latest round of the NSW Government's stronger country communities program to complete an upgrade of the club's irrigation project system with announcement expected in the new year.