A SHORTFALL in funding for a proposed community hub facility within the revitalised Swan Hill racecourse precinct has come under scrutiny after council was called upon to help cover the cost.
While the project has received $642,419 in State Government funding, it’s on the proviso that stakeholders match this contribution.
And at present there is a shortfall in stakeholder contributions of $175,000.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, councillor and chair of the Swan Hill Community Hub steering committee, Greg Cruickshank, put forward a motion which would see council allocate a further $100,000 to ensure the success of the project.
Cr Cruickshank said the extra contribution could come from surpluses generated in the 2011/2012 financial year.
“The community hub will provide a new home for the Swan Hill Racecourse Bowls Club, a venue for special use for both thoroughbred and harness race meetings as well as an opportunity for a home for various groups and organisations throughout the community,” Cr Cruickshank said.
“Parties that have shown interest to date are the Central Murray Football Netball League, Swan Hill Lions Club and culturally diverse groups including the Afghan and Sudanese communities, among others.”
While council has already committed $200,000 towards the project, on the condition there would be no further contributions, Cr Cruickshank called on fellow councillors to reconsider.
“Circumstances have now changed and I believe it is now imperative that council reconsider and provide additional funding to ensure the project’s success,” Cr Cruickshank said.
“There is a very real possibility that the community hub project may not proceed and then the community will be deprived of a facility that will definitely enhance the Swan Hill community’s social wellbeing, as well as providing a venue that could attract additional festivals and events.
“The hub will see a number of sporting and cultural organisations come together under the one roof, fulfilling council’s expectation of multi-use facilities.”
Mr Cruickshank said the proposed $1.2 million facility would deliver significant opportunities for Swan Hill.
“If we deny the Swan Hill community the opportunity to have this extra benefit, then I consider that to be a poor state of affairs,” he said.
Despite Cr Cruickshank’s push for the motion, it only gained the support of fellow councillor Bill Croft.
The remaining five councillors could see little value, refusing to provide the funding lifeline which was required.
“We are using the term community hub but we have a lot of buildings already which the community could utilise,” Cr Les McPhee said.
Cr McPhee said the hub would be built on private land and despite funding commitments, council would have no control over the building once it was built.
Councillors questioned why stakeholders hadn’t made more of an effort to come up with the funds in the first place, considering the project had been in the pipeline for a number of years.
However, Cr Gary Norton said it was all too easy for community groups to fall back on council when there was a shortfall in funding.
He said council had already committed $200,000 of ratepayers’ funds towards the project and was confident it would still go ahead.
“The project will be built and it will be built within its budget,” Cr Norton said, noting it had already been scaled from a two-storey facility to a single storey.
Cr Norton said he felt the money could be better spent elsewhere and despite Cr Cruickshank’s efforts, the motion was lost.
“It’s disappointing that council couldn’t see fit to support the motion,” president of the racecourse bowls club Norm Smith said.
The steering committee is expected to meet next week to deliberate the future viability of the community hub which according to Cr Cruickshank could see the community potentially lose $1.2 million in infrastructure.
At this stage, Cr Cruickshank said there were three available options — abandon the project, find the money elsewhere or redesign the building to build within their means.
