NOEL Kenny said he feels like a paint salesman these days, as his new paintball complex at Gilgai prepares to open its gates for the first time on January 17.
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He said it all seems to come down to selling the paint-filled ammunition to competitors. The basic box of ammunition holds 2000, most people will start with 400 rounds, but the ‘basic start’ is 200 and extra lots of 100 rounds can be purchased separately. You can sort of see what he means. Could be a lot of ammunition to sell before he recoups his investment.
Kenny said he thinks he now has more fields than any other centre in the country and he is working on another two. But it was not easy to negotiate the bureaucracy involved.
“Seven months we waited for the permit, and then another month wait for the licence to buy guns. I haven’t learnt how to work the bureaucracies, but I’ve learnt how to survive them,” Kenny said.
He started working on eight paintball game fields for Inverell Paintball on his 22.5 hectare property ‘Nalinga’ in 2013. Kenny hoped the business would be open for business in February 2014, but it turned out not to be the case.
“One thing I would have to say is that Inverell Shire Council was very good. They were a lot quicker than everybody else and they organised themselves very well,” he said.
Kenny’s three sons Keith, Ryan and Justin are enthusiasts of the sport and are helping him with the venture. Among many other things, their input has brought an online presence to the business.
“Keith put it up on Facebook a month or so ago on a Friday afternoon, by the Sunday afternoon we had over 1000 hits,” Kenny said.
He said anyone wanting to experience the game should go there expecting to spend about $100 per person.