TWO major commerce hubs in the Grant District Council area remain under a grey cloud with lack of mobile phone coverage continuing to impact trade.
The Barn, situated at OB Flat – adjacent the site which will host thousands of visitors for next month’s Generations in Jazz event – and the Glenburnie Saleyards both continue to feel the impact of unreliable telecommunication services.
They are among two known problem areas yet to receive funding through the Federal Government’s Mobile Black Spot Program, which has recently been given a further $160m to support two more grant rounds.
The Barn manager Kent Comley said improved mobile phone coverage is critical for the area, which regularly hosts business clients and major community events.
“We are only seven kilometres from Mount Gambier yet we have limited to no service,” he said.
“Upwards of 70,000 people visit The Barn every year, a tonne of them are business professionals who need access to their mobile phones.
“We have taken it upon ourselves to put service boosters in our building, but it is at a large expense to us.”
Mr Comley said the poor service was also a safety issue, with medical professionals dining at the location unable to receive emergency phone calls.
As Tourism Mount Gambier chair, Mr Comley also highlighted the detrimental impact the service has on the tourism sector.
“Generations In Jazz is a massive deal for tourism in the Limestone Coast,” he said.
“It brings more than 6000 people to the area.
“Given the importance of that event alone, the powers that be should recognise we are in dire need of this.”
Mr Comley believes as OB Flat is not a highly populated area, telecommunication companies will continue to wait for the funding to subsidise the costs before installing improved infrastructure.
“There’s a lot of commerce happening out here – I think it would be good advertising for the telcos if we got service, we have a lot of high net worth customers who do stay with us and are looking for better service,” he said.
“I understand there is a hill either side of the area that cuts off service from Mount Gambier and Port MacDonnell, but in a country like Australia we should have access to coverage.
“I’m forever in talks with Member for Barker Tony Pasin about this issue – I know he is working hard to rectify it and I’m hopeful we will see some progress with these two rounds of funding announced.”
Grant District mayor Richard Sage also reignited the call for better service at the Glenburnie Saleyards.
The multi-million dollar livestock centre suffers from patchy and unreliable service, with stock agents forced to scramble to their vehicles or climb railings to speak with potential buyers during the bustling weekly sales.
Mr Sage said the lack of service was holding the facility back from competitors.
“Information to potential buyers who are not onsite is not easily transferred which means a less competitive market for our producers,” he said.
“With better service, we could be reaching buyers anywhere which would bring in more money for our world-class product.
“We also struggle updating the day’s sales online and the information cannot be uploaded efficiently.”
Mr Sage also hoped the sprawling livestock hub could attract government funding similar to that recently pledged to Hamilton’s saleyards, with a cash injection of $750,000 to help install a roof over its facility.
“I am hopeful we receive some kind of funding from the 2019-2020 budget,” he said.
“We would love to roof our saleyards, that along with the mobile coverage are two of our biggest priorities.
“I think a visit from Tony Pasin to one of our council meetings would be beneficial in outlining the needs of the saleyards and Grant District.
“This is the perfect opportunity for him to show his support for our council.”
Declaring his intention to attract more black spot funding to his electorate, Member for Barker Tony Pasin welcomed the $160m funding boost.
“I have been fighting for additional rounds of funding for the mobile black spot program so this is a great win,” Mr Pasin said.
“A further two rounds will benefit thousands of Australians in regional and remote areas, including the communities in Barker crying out for improvement.
“This new investment in regional mobile phone infrastructure reaffirms the government’s commitment to regional communications.”
Nangwarry was last month announced as the recipient of funding for a new mobile phone tower as part of the program’s round four funding.
