SOUTHERN Grampians Shire Council (SGSC) resolved at last Wednesday night’s ordinary Council meeting to loan the Hamilton Pastoral and Agricultural Society (P&A Society) $800,000 for the construction of permanent shedding at the Hamilton Showgrounds.
Construction of a 45m x 55m x 6.6m shed, located on the long-term council-managed site, will reduce increasing hire costs for large scale events.
The P&A Society will contribute $249,000 with council resolving to fund the remaining $800,000 as a loan for the overall project cost of $1,049,000.
The short-term loan of $800,000 will be repaid by the P&A Society via payments that are inclusive of the loan principal, interests, and administrative costs of Council.
Whilst the request for funding has been significant, SGSC do not believe that it creates a significant risk to council as the proposed shed will be located on a council-managed site.
Should the P & A Society walk away from the site, the shed will revert to council and ultimately council ownership.
The proposed shed will be consistent with the Hamilton Showgrounds Masterplan which was adopted by Council in March 2024, and was supported by the Hamilton Showgrounds Advisory Committee and user groups.
SGSC mayor, David Robertson said the construction of a permanent building will ensure the sustainability of large-scale events at the Showgrounds into the future.
“The Hamilton Showgrounds hosts a variety of community events including the largest agricultural show in the region, Sheepvention,” he said.
“The costs for marquee hire for this single use event have increased dramatically, up from $180,000 in 2018 to $410,000 in 2023.
“This huge increase threatens the viability for the P&A Society to continue Sheepvention as we know it, so it makes sense financially to put that money to better use into a multipurpose, lasting structure.
“Sheepvention and like events contribute positively to the overall economy within the Southern Grampians in numerous industries including agriculture, tourism, business and more.
“The construction of a high-quality facility located at the Shakespeare Street side, between the Hamilton Lions and Western District Umpires Association buildings, will undoubtedly benefit other community users throughout the year,” concluded Cr Robertson.
During the council’s meeting, Cr Helen Henry aired concerns about the proposed grant as it stepped outside of council’s current Long-Term Financial Plan in three ways: that council do not fund any more than two-thirds of a project, it was above the $50,000 limit and finally, that a community loan required an individual guarantor.
Cr Henry said, “I’m concerned that we are pushing things through very quickly outside of policy.”
People and Performance director, Darren Barber said legal advice was sought and “we can move outside that policy if council resolves to do so”.
“You’ll note that we’ve taken that advice and really clearly articulated that through the recommendation,” he said.
“So that anybody looking back at why the decision was made by council, they can see categorically why that was done.”
Cr Mary-Ann Brown acknowledged the concerns but said this was an exceptional circumstance.
“Sheepvention is an iconic event which has and continues to have significant economic impact on our community, and what they’ve seen over the past few years - particularly since COVID - is significant escalation in the cost of marquees and similar infrastructure,” she said.
Cr Robertson also acknowledged there was some risk involved but spoke of the P & A’s contribution to the community saying, “It’s put millions and millions of dollars back into our community over the years.
“We should back a society that’s backing themselves,” he said.
“They bring so much into our community - so much.”
Cr Brown closed the debate and said, “My understanding is if this was not council owned land and that P & A society owned the land themselves, they would have been able to borrow the money from a bank.
“Because of the nature of the land ownership, they weren’t able to do that.”
The vote was six to nil.
