By Dominique Tassell
Southern Downs Regional Council has erupted in debate over applications to round two of the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF).
The main source of debate was over why some changes to the process were enacted earlier than others, with changes to funding coming into effect immediately while letting all councillors attend committee meetings was delayed until the next round.
Councillor Stephen Tancred was the first to raise questions, and said he and other councillors often receive requests for feedback from groups that miss out, and “as councillors if we’re not at the meeting we can’t give feedback”.
“We haven’t seen the applications, we just see the summary at the end.
“And I’ve got faith in what you’re choosing but we need to be able to communicate as councillors with our community.”
Currently only Councillor Marco Gliori and Councillor Sheryl Windle were privy to committee meetings, with Cr Windle sitting in for Councillor Jo McNally.
While changes have been made so that councillors will be invited to meetings for the next round of funding, Mayor Vic Pennisi maintains this is not necessary.
Mayor Pennisi said he’d never been to a panel in his years on council, and didn’t plan to. He said that the criteria they put in place was their choice and “if it’s not working that’s what we need to change”.
“We need to change the criteria and then trust those people that they’re interpreting the criteria the right way.
“And that’s why you have a big cross-section of people on those committees.
“I’m very comfortable with the process, based on the fact that this group of people has endorsed the criteria. So if the criteria is not working for some reason we need to get it back, rehash it and change it so you get the outcome that you want.
“You can’t possibly cater for every single application and sometimes some of those criteria slip through the cracks but we can just bring it back and change the criteria again.”
Debate over the motion, which lasted over 20 minutes, also saw several councillors question the projects that were receiving funding.
Councillor Tancred enquired about three projects, raising concerns over whether they were engaging and employing the local community.
A project at the Hermitage Research Facility drew concerns from Cr Tancred as well as Councillor Andrew Gale, and Councillor Ross Bartley.
Councillor Tancred enquired about the artists involved in the project and whether they were local, and about their drop from an initial funding request of approximately $41,000 down to $10,000.
Councillor Gliori responded that the artists and suppliers were local bar one who was a specialist brought in for their expertise.
He said: “I think this one’s worth $21,000 and they’ve asked us to contribute less than half of that which is $10,000.”
“They’re a great contributor to the local community and I think the $10,000 is a fair share of that final funding of $21,000 and a great local project so we were all happy to support and endorse that.”
Cr Gale then enquired about the project, and whether there was discussion around the project title talking about over 60,000 years of farming knowledge, to which Cr Gliori responded in the negative.
Cr Windle then interjected that “this is not only just about a project at the Hermitage, it’s about increasing opportunities for people to see more things as they drive that scenic tourist drive”.
She stated that the project would add to the tourist drive from Warwick out to Yangan and to Swamp Creek.
Cr Bartley enquired about the location of the project, requesting “some reassurance around it and how futuristically we can make sure it’s always accessible to the public and maybe even need some agreement given the level of funding we’re putting into this”.
Cr Windle stated that it was the intent of the project to have it open to the public, with Cr Bartley requesting it still be formalised in some way.
Mayor Pennisi put forward that he agreed with formalising it, and stated that “it would be great if people could go there because we need everything we can to help break down the barriers between the city and our food producers”.
“You know if we could really formalise that because it is important that our city cousins have access and get an understanding of where their food comes from.
“I think that’s a pretty key point.”
After 20 minutes of debate, Councillor Cynthia McDonald raised that many of the other councillors’ questions had gone unanswered due to staff not having them on hand, and that perhaps the motion should be delayed until the end of the month’s council meeting.
In response, staff expressed that the funding needed to be fully allocated by September.
Mayor Pennisi stated that he would put forward a motion to delay the motion if it did not pass through council, and that he was going to “test the floor”.
Cr Windle moved the motion and Cr Gliori seconded it.
The motion was carried unanimously.
