Sheryl Lowe, Naracoorte Community News

Members of the Millicent and surrounding district rural community converged on the Wattle Range Council owned saleyards on Tuesday 16 November at 5 pm to find out if Council was going to sell or repair the facility. Millicent Saleyards was discussed at the October and November Council meetings in confidence, amidst claims Council was seeking expressions of interest for the facility.

Information that a meeting was arranged for the CEO Ben Gower to conduct a walk-through of the saleyards with the eleven elected members filtered into the community last week. It gained momentum in the 24 hours prior to the meeting with members of the rural community seizing the opportunity to attend. The notice of the site visit is understood to have been posted to council’s website on Monday 15 November.

CEO Ben Gower addressed the 180+ crowd saying, the meeting was scheduled for the walk-through with the elected members to view the site in preparation for a discussion about the facility’s future only, following an audit by WorkSafe SA.

Mr Gower added he would not be taking or answering questions from the public as Legislation wouldn’t allow it. He claimed he could only answer questions in Chambers.

Emotions spilled over; members of the public demanded answers about their jobs, the facility’s future and Council’s responsibility to maintain/upgrade the saleyard’s safety standards.

A local in attendance claimed Mr. Gower was ‘scaremongering’ the elected members with his $1 million quotes for repairs.

Mayor Des Noll interjected, demanding respect for Mr. Gower. A member of the public said, “respect goes both ways.”

The CEO assured the public he was trying to find answers and it was unfair for the public to blame him. “Speak to your elected members,” he said. “They make the decisions.”

A lengthy ‘back and forth’ conversation lasted over an hour with some attendees telling The News, they were no better informed at the end of the meeting.

The CEO assured the public no decision had been made to sell the facility. Members of the public questioned this statement saying, “why call for expressions of interest if you have no intention of selling?”

In 2018 Council decided to close the facility but reversed that decision after 200 people attended a community meeting in January 2019, demanding it stay open.

The rural community has always maintained the saleyards is needed for smaller holdings to sell through, it contributes to local business and is vital to the mental wellbeing of farmers who often work in solitude. The only outlet they have to discuss concerns or just to catch-up is sale day, they said.

Livestock Agent Mr. John Chay claimed the last sale in November had a turn-over of $1.3 million and asked what other business in town does that in a single day. He also claimed the saleyards are meeting the sales targets set by Council.

In addition to the question mark over the saleyard’s future, the sheep yards have been used as a transit facility for overnight yarding, waiting for collection by transport services to take the sheep to market. Sheep markets ended in 2007.

On November 2nd Council shut the sheep loading ramps and locked the sheepyards the following day on November 3rd.  On Friday 5th November CEO Ben Gower issued a press release saying they had been closed due to the Work Safe SA audit. Angry farmers, stock agents and transport owners contacted The News to vent their frustration at what they say is, ‘council moving the goal posts.’

Mr. Gower said, Council had not been aware of the facility being used for sheep transit, or it had been overlooked, and no fee per head had been collected in the past 12 months. Mr. Gower has been contacted for comment on the status of saleyard staffing and related questions.

At the commencement of the site inspection, Mr. Gower told the public they could not take part, saying, ‘only the elected members would be taking the tour of the site’.

One member of the public asked if Mr. John Chay could attend to represent the rural community, as he had been instrumental in getting the word out about the meeting. And added a further question, asking if the media present, 5THE FM, The News and SE Voice, could attend the inspection. They were given permission to attend.

The inspection began at the truck washing bay to inspect the run-off problems and then led by Director Emma Clay, moved on to the railings and loading ramps, both of which have been identified as non-compliant. The fencing is not high enough for safety standards because of soil build up, which one user told The News, used to be managed by a back-hoe clearing it away.

The steps into the yards have also been identified as non-compliant. The canteen, unused for many years, has been inspected and a figure of $650,000 estimated for its repairs. John Chay and Scott Altschwager told The News, they have suggested Council demolish the existing building, install a transportable office and toilet facility, and get a coffee van to attend market days, therefore reducing the cost.

Local business owner Fiona Telfer told The News, the saleyards need to stay open. Cr. Kevin McGrath said, they (the saleyards) need to stay open. At the November Council meeting he said, “the sheep loading ramps aren’t any more dangerous than (a local) Playground, and that has 30 or 40 kids jumping up and down on it.”

Cr. Graham Slark told The News, the problem this Council has with the saleyards, “is the lack of upkeep of the yards by previous Councils.”

Cr. Dale Price said he thought if the rural community went to other saleyards to sell, they would come back to Millicent to spend their money.

Mr. Garth Huppatz who has farmed at Rendelsham with his wife Shirley since the 1940’s, told the CEO and members, he’d had no communication from Council in over 18 months since the previous meeting in 2019. Mrs. Sandy Bell provided The News with copies of letters she sent to Council on behalf of her husband and herself, urging them to understand the importance of the saleyards to the wider community and the mental health of farmers.

Mr. Gower was asked if the public would be told which councillors voted to keep the saleyard open and who didn’t. He said they would be told.

The last two meetings about the saleyards were held ‘in confidence’ so will this one be an open meeting or in confidence, he was asked.  It will be an open meeting, he said.

“Country people are usually easy-going, but threaten something they care about and that’s a different matter, it will be a brave councillor who votes to close this.” (Name provided)

Council was motivated to seek expressions of interest after receiving an unsolicited expression of interest for the site. Mr. Malcom Earl said he and his brother asked Council about the unused sheep yards, thinking they could make use of them as they join the property they already owned. Conversation turned to the whole of the saleyards and next thing, he said, they found out Council was seeking expressions of interest. “I didn’t even know the meeting was on,” he said referring to the Tuesday afternoon walk through.

While the elected members were shown through the site, some members of the public left but others gathered in small groups to discuss the saleyards, prices, and health and family, said Mr. Scott Altschwager, “and that optimizes the saleyards.” Members of the rural community say, ‘they’ve already paid for the repairs with their rates and want to know what their rates were spent on?’

This article appeared in Naracoorte Community News, 24 November 2021.