Loud cheers erupted through the Merimbula RSL Club Wednesday night as members voted overwhelmingly against amalgamating with the Merimbula-Imlay Bowling Club.
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A total of 709 club members registered to vote - of the 700 people who cast a vote, 445 said 'no' to the proposed amalgamataion, 247 voted in favour of the proposal and eight votes were informal.
RSL Club president Graeme Williams said the board would now explore other options to keep the club viable into the future, after independent reports painted a bleak future for the club.
The meeting, which was scheduled to start at 8pm, did not get underway until 8.45pm, as the queue of people wanting to register snaked through the club and out onto the street, with the board acknowledging that it had underestimated the number of people who would attend.
Speakers against the amalgamation proposal feared the RSL tradition would be lost under an amalgamation.
They also said the club should not be driven by "fear" of the future, especially when the clun had net assets with a value of at least $11.4 million and money in the bank.
Jobs would also be in jeopardy, they claimed.
But those in favour of the amalgamation said that without action, the club would fail.
They said business and accounting experts had analysed the club's falling profit margins and had urged it to consider its long term position, warning that jobs would be lost if the club went under.
A Chamber of Commerce spokeswoman, urging members to vote in favour of the amalgamation, said it was "heartbreaking" to see any business close, let alone a club.
