THE big cheque and even bigger smiles splashed around Warwick Hockey Club last week could be washed away with councillors concerned over the fine print in the deal for funding for a new pitch.

Last week Sports Minister Phil Reeves visited Warwick and brought with him a cheque for $481,670 for the rebuilding of a synthetic hockey surface at Queen's Park, since the pitch was destroyed in the flood.

The Daily News reported Mayor Ron Bellingham attended the presentation to confirm Southern Downs Regional Council would build infrastructure to protect the new surface from major floods, namely a levee bank.

However, at yesterday's engineering services committee meeting, Cr Ross Bartley insisted council had not yet committed to building a levee bank and had only agreed to investigate the potential solutions.

It's been something of a "chicken or the egg" scenario for the club as it needed council to guarantee it would protect any new surface before it could ask for State Government funding for the surface itself.

However, what is now unclear is if it will still get the funding, should council decide a levee-type solution is not acceptable.

Council has committed over $100,000 to helping find a solution, $15,000 of which has already been spent on consultants.

Cr Bellingham said he didn't want any more money to go "straight down the throats" of consultants.

Cr Bartley said he was concerned to see a photo with a big cheque in the paper, when it was not entirely clear whether that money would definitely arrive. Council officers will investigate further.