By Dominique Tassell
Southern Downs Regional Council is the proud owner of three new tractors.
Councillors approved a motion at the last meeting to enter into a contract with with Pierpoint Motors for the sum of $317,322 excluding GST.
Councillor Andrew Gale stated in the meeting that he was pleased to see the local preference policy being applied in this instance.
“A local supplier has been favoured over a supplier that is not as local,” he stated.
He stated they were frequently asked why they did not buy locally, but Council has a policy that covers this.
“I’d just like to point that out for the record, thank you.”
Councillor Stephen Tancred questioned why Council was buying new tractors.
He asked if the current tractors were old, or if they were “just taking the opportunity to get three because of the current tight supply situation”.
He asked whether they were getting a deal for buying three, and what condition the three tractors were in.
CEO Dave Burges stated he would take this on notice.
“I would expect that they’ve come of a similar age if not hours,” he said.
“Because we wouldn’t sell one that was only one year old really I presume, and I would have to confirm that.”
Councillor Tancred questioned whether Council would be “shuffling” the old tractors down to a smaller community or whether they would sell them.
The CEO again stated he would take that on notice.
“I think we would dispose of them.”
“I personally don’t like to keep old gear,” he said.
“Whether we do that to a local community group or advertise it locally I’m not sure our process.”
Councillor Jo McNally then interjected to point out that the report in the agenda stated that Council would trade in the old tractors.
Councillor Ross Bartley requested to clarify that there were actually two local options, as a Warwick dealer was included but was more expensive than the Pierpoint ones.
The motion was moved by Councillor McNally and seconded by Councillor Gale.
