By Raquel Mustillo
LIVESTOCK agent John Chay says users of Millicent’s saleyards are stunned over a potential bid to sell the facility but has pledged to continue to fight for the retention of the asset.
At last week’s council meeting, elected members voted to authorise chief executive Ben Gower to call for expressions of interest for the purchase of the saleyards site.
The council motion was in response to an unsolicited expression of interest from a local primary producer to buy some or all of the site.
The facility was originally slated to close last year due to declining throughput and losses of up to $180,000 in recent financial years, but councillors allowed the saleyards to continue amid strong community backlash.
Earlier this year, the council-owned cattle selling facility was saved from permanent closure after elected members backed a motion to keep the gates open, conditional on the yards maintaining a yearly throughput of 8500.
However, an updated report on the Millicent facility, which was discussed in confidence, prompted elected members to green light canvassing the market.
Mr Chay was exasperated by council’s decision, saying buyers and agents deserved clarity over the future intention of the site.
“Every time we think we’ve got a reprieve, something pops up and council says ‘we have to consider this’, and now council is looking at selling it,” he said.
“We feel as if we might win a battle, but we know that there is a war ahead because council are going to take another angle.
“Most of the clients that actually use the saleyards would actually like a bit of clarity and a goal that we are able to work to.”
Councillors also endorsed a budget variation of up to $180,000 to address urgent repair work on the facility required by SafeWork SA prior to a December deadline imposed by the work health and safety department.
“SafeWork has come in and issued five notices on a range of safety issues,” Mr Gower said.
“If councillors didn’t fund the upgrades, we would have had to close the yards because SafeWork would not let us operate beyond the deadline for the repairs.”
Mr Gower said council staff would seek an extension on the deadline due to a lack of contractor interest during the tender process.
“We couldn’t get a tender – nobody tendered for the work,” he said.
“We had 28 companies consider the tender, five companies turned up to the mandatory briefing at the saleyards to discuss the works and not one of them put a tender in.
“Now we are trying to work on getting contractors in where council supervises the work.”
The variation follows an allocation of $170,000 towards the saleyards in council’s 2021/22 budget, including $88,000 for lighting upgrades, $50,000 for timber rails and $35,000 for “various infrastructure repairs”.
Mr Gower said council had not undertaken any major repairs or infrastructure works at the Millicent saleyards since it was opened nearly five decades ago.
“The building is between 45 to 50 years old and the roof is beyond repair, there is asbestos in there, the canteen needs to close, the upstairs needs to close and the power board needs upgrading,” he said.
“The weighbridge is 45 years old, when it fails, the yards shut.”
Mr Chay said buyers, sellers and farmers would continue to use the saleyards and demonstrate the need for a facility in Millicent.
“Other than the saleyards and a road that is graded every 12 months, what do the rural ratepayers get for their rates?” he said.
“If you ask any farmer who has got a whack of country, it’s a fair bit of money that they pay, and what for?
“I don’t think there’s any sense in banging our heads against a brick wall because everything has been said and done… [council does not] seem to want to listen to that side of it.
“All we can do is try and get as many cattle up as we can and try and show them that the locals support the yards and want the yards to stay open.”
