By Dominique Tassell
Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) discussed changes to the Saleyards Advisory Committee at the recent Information Session, proposing to implement no minimum for the number of members and no longer require the same ratio of members from different industries.
Councillors discussed whether or not to have a councillor as the chair of the committee, with Cr Ross Bartley stating this had traditionally been the case.
Cr Jo McNally stated that the chair should be independent so that a councillor was not forced to vote.
Cr Bartley stated that the committee is advisory, not statutory, with Cr Stephen Tancred stating that councillors vote in chambers on the committee anyway.
Cr McNally questioned the lack of minimum or maximum for members and the removal of the requirement for different industries,
Mayor Vic Pennisi agreed there should be a maximum for members.
Chief Executive Dave Burges requested that the documents stay a draft to prevent delays.
Ross Fraser, from Frasers Livestock Transport, spoke on Rose City FM on Tuesday 5 April about the saleyards.
He said the resignation of the committee is “not controversial”, and that SDRC simply didn’t follow their advice.
He discussed the project itself, stating he believed it was a “missed opportunity for Warwick”.
Ross highlighted that the current saleyards do not have the optimal capacity and that it would have benefited from a sales ring.
“If you don’t have a sales ring you have no opportunity to use one,” he said in response to questions about whether it would be used.
Ross said the project was an opportunity for Warwick to be on the front foot, and in a network of modern saleyards with areas such as Roma and Inverell.
The proposed saleyards will reportedly not have electronic scanning, and Rose City FM host Kelvin Hutchinson stated this meant they would not have the ability to stream sales in future.
Ross joked that this was not his “station” but agreed it was a fundamental thing to have the ability to add technology.
Kelvin said a sales ring might have made digitising easier as only one camera instead of putting in every stall.
Ross then said SDRC need to view infrastructure with the future in mind.
The project has been criticised for reportedly not overhauling the computer systems as they are reportedly known to fail, however, Ross said computer systems failing is not unique to Warwick.
They then discussed the proposed new canteen, with Ross stating it’s good to have a canteen but workplace health and safety should be the priority.
Mark Bradford, who manages the canteen at the saleyards, stated that the canteen is in need of a massive overhaul.
He said the canteen used to be an office and is not ideal for its purpose.
Mark said they have problems with the oven, lack counter space, and all their tables and chairs are falling apart.
