WITH an ageing membership and rising utility prices the cost of running a bowls club in today's economic and social climate continues to grow.

In an effort to guarantee the longevity of the sport in Warwick, the Southern Cross, Warwick East and Warwick Bowls clubs have debated the prospect of amalgamation in waves over the past decade.

While no solution was found in previous discussions due to differences of opinion the idea has reared its head again in recent weeks with some local members asking if the town really is big enough for all of them to survive into the future.

"The writing is on the wall, we need to look five years ahead," Warwick East Bowls Club men's president Bill Gibson said.

"While all three clubs might be stable financially at the moment you just need to drive around on a Saturday afternoon to see how many people are actually playing.

"It's not long until no-one is left on the green."

"Grumpy", a relatively new member to the Warwick East Bowls Club, said from an outsider's perspective the three clubs won't last long unless at least two amalgamate.

"You need to ask what is best for the future of bowls in this town, we have three clubs with shrinking members all hunting for sponsorship," he said.

"In five years time 80% of the town's bowling members will be over 70, we need to discuss the pros and cons of the situation."

With two greens and street parking the Warwick East Bowls Club (near the railway station on Lyons Street) has been proposed as the combined "Warwick United" venue in the past, however other clubs have stated they would prefer to put their efforts on attracting new membership.

For secretary of the Warwick Bowls Club Les Meiklejohn, the amalgamation issue is more a case of if it ain't broke don't fix it.

"We did a survey on this issue for all of our members a while back," Mr Meiklejohn said.

"Out of the 44 who responded 27 weren't interested in an amalgamation and 34 said if we did amalgamate they wouldn't want to move."

As the club has only just signed its 10-year council lease in the past 18 months, received a fresh coat of paint, solar panels and new tanks a shift to another club is not seen to be economically viable.

"We don't see any gain at the moment, our members have expressed a desire not to move but would discuss it if a substantial option was put forward," Mr Meiklejohn added.

Member of the management committee and Warwick Bowls Club member Jim Rickard said building membership was the current priority.

"We are always happy for other players to come and play with us but we need to focus on attracting new bowlers," he said.

The opinion was the same for former Southern Cross Bowls Club president Francis Lyons.

"It's definitely not happening from our perspective," he said. "Our club is going alright and will continue fine as far as I know."

According to Bowls Queensland CEO Keith Fullerton the concept of amalgamation for longevity wasn't confined to the Rose City.

"At the moment amalgamation has been quite common among men's and ladies' clubs because of membership decline," Mr Fullerton said.

"But not so many have gone down the path of amalgamations from entity to entity."

Mr Fullerton said that club loyalties were often the main issue behind halted discussions.

"The venue is key; no-one wants to lose their identity," he said.

The CEO also pointed out the population of smaller bowls clubs within driving distance of the Warwick area were also competition when it came to vying for membership.

"The reality is clubs need to research and access as much information around issues like this," he said.

"Make the right decision and move with the times whatever way that is or get left behind."