SWAN Hill Rural City Council has reluctantly thrown its
support behind a proposed community hub facility within Swan Hill’s new
racecourse precinct after pledging a further $37,500 towards the project.
The
issue of a shortfall in funding for the proposed community hub was not entirely
new to council which was called upon to provide a lifeline in September after a
$175,000 shortfall was revealed.
That shortfall has since been reduced
following further investment from other funding partners which include Harness
Racing Victoria, Mallee-Murray Racing and the Swan Hill Racecourse Bowls Club.
The
proposed facility received $642, 419 in State Government funding on the proviso
that stakeholders matched this contribution.
At that meeting the former
council voted against the move, noting it was all too easy for community groups
to fall back on council when there was a shortfall in funding with council
already committing $200,000 of ratepayer funds towards the project.
With a
new council now in place, once again opinions were divided and newly elected
mayor Les McPhee was required to use his casting vote to come to a
decision.
For more on this story, see this Friday’s edition of The Guardian (23/11/12).
