I AM writing about the impending closure of the Swan Hill Saleyards and put the following questions to the Swan Hill Rural City Councillors.
How many people do the saleyards draw to Swan Hill Saleyards each sale?
How much money is spent by these “visitors/locals”?
Would people still come to Swan Hill to shop and get their farm requisites if the saleyards closed?
How much income do the yards generate for Swan hill businesses?
How many people will lose their jobs as a result of the closure, including Council staff, stock agent employees and abattoir staff?
How will these job losses affect Swan Hill with people having to move away from town, thus affecting local businesses?
Who will this affect? It looks like the whole town, from supermarkets to local stores, to truck and car repair and sales agencies, everybody.
Will all these losses make it worthwhile with the SHRCC saving around $200,000?
Where will the people who use the saleyards go to sell their stock?
Wherever it is, it will be a long way from Swan Hill, and therefore the price of meat in our butcher shops must rise to cover their costs. As a result, their dollars will not be spent in Swan Hill.
I am concerned that Swan Hill Incorporated haven’t come into this debate, having regard to the fact that we pay them to promote Swan Hill and to get people to come here and here you are going against its agenda. Maybe council should look at the very effective system Horsham Rural City Council adopted with its saleyards relocation, and the subsequent development of the old site for real estate?
Perhaps when you close the saleyards, of which I have no doubt, that is your intention (from your past history), perhaps you can then dismantle Swan Hill Inc and save us long suffering ratepayers a lot of money, or alternatively, perhaps you could reduce its budget by the $200,000 plus you claim the saleyards is costing.
Further, the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement is costing ratepayers more than $200,000 a year, so perhaps we close that too.
As a matter of interest, the northern fence line of the Pioneer Settlement along Monash Drive would surely deter people from entering.
It matters not, which way you look at your proposal, Swan Hill will be the big loser.
Neil Mesley
Swan Hill
