05/11/2026
Hi Balgowan Community,
We have an important update, and we want the community to hear it from us first.
The Balgowan Clifftop Kiosk Community Cooperative has decided to look for a buyer for the kiosk business.
We know this might come as a surprise, so we want to be open with you about why.
The kiosk itself works. The demand is there, and the October long weekend just gone showed that again. The equipment is in, the menu is established and the trade grows every year. What we cannot keep doing is running it on a largely volunteer basis. We have put our hearts and souls into this place, but we have reached the limit of what this group can sustain, and we think the kiosk can serve the community even better in new hands.
A co-operative was a great way to bring this place back to life and we would do it again. It is not the best way to run a kitchen day to day. Ordering, rostering, payroll and banking are spread across directors and members who all have other commitments and who are not always in town. The 2,000-plus volunteer hours we have mentioned before are mostly a product of that, not of the job being a big one. One person on site would do the same work in a fraction of the time, and could open far more often than we can.
Every time we have cut hours back, it has been about who was available, not about whether the customers were there.
A committed owner-operator could open from the October long weekend right through to Easter, build the trade up properly and give the kiosk the attention it deserves. We honestly believe that serves our mantra better than us holding on.
Not open always, but open forever.
A few important things:
1. Nothing changes this summer. We plan to be open as usual over the summer period, and we will keep trading until a sale happens. Please keep coming in. The best thing you can do for the kiosk right now is use it.
2. The building is not ours and is not for sale. It belongs to the Yorke Peninsula Council. What we are selling is the business: the equipment, the stock, the name and the goodwill. A new operator would take on a lease from Council, just as we did. Council knows what we are doing and has been supportive throughout. It will still be the kiosk.
3. If you have ever thought about running it, please talk to us. A local owner would be the best possible outcome, and you would not be starting from scratch. There is a fully fitted kitchen, four years of sales records, an established menu and supplier list, and we will help whoever takes it on through their first season.
For genuine enquiries we have an information statement with the full detail, including the financials. Email [email protected] and we will send it through.
Thank you to everyone who has backed this place since day one. The community built this kiosk and we want to hand it on in good shape, to someone who can keep the doors open.
As always I am happy to chat about all things kiosk.
Kerrie
Chair
Balgowan Clifftop Kiosk Community Co-operative
