WODONGA’S newest councillors are undecided about whether they will approve the city’s Gold Cup public holiday continuing to 2023.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The council will vote on Monday night on an application by Racing Wodonga to have the holiday extended for five years beyond the existing three-year deal which ends after the 2018 cup.
Only two of the seven councillors, mayor Anna Speedie and John Watson, voted on the last agreement with the former opposed and the latter in favour.
None of the five councillors first elected in 2016 have declared whether they will keep the Gold Cup holiday or revert to having Melbourne Cup a declared holiday in the municipality in lieu.
Kat Bennett is conducting a poll on her Faceback page and after 1200 votes there was 31 per cent support for having a holiday on Gold Cup day and 69 per cent wanting Melbourne Cup off.
Cr Bennett did not return The Border Mail’s calls, but told a Facebook respondent the poll was “just me, as one councillor, asking the community how they feel about an issue, and their feedback will inform how I vote”.
Tim Quilty said he was “tending to support the holiday staying” on Gold Cup day, the last Friday in November, but added he was “still weighing it up”.
Ron Mildren said he was unlikely to reach a decision until the weekend.
“There is no question it is a very good event but what we’re talking about here is not whether the event is good, what we’re talking about is whether the public holiday is of benefit,” Cr Mildren said.
Danny Lowe said it would be a “hard decision”.
“If I went and asked all the employees whether they wanted a holiday they would say ‘yes’ and if I asked every employer they probably would not want the holiday,” Cr Lowe said.
Libby Hall said she was undecided but queried the duration of the request beyond the next council election in 2020.
Racing Wodonga general manager Tom O’Connor anticipates a “pretty close” vote but has confidence the economic spin-offs highlighted to councillors in a submission will be persuasive.
“I don’t think we could put a better case forward to demonstrate the event is a showpiece for the city of Wodonga,” he said.
Increasing attendances, greater tourism, the cup’s status rising in the racing world and job creation were cited.
“We employ close to 110 casuals which is a real injection into the economy, they walk out of the event with $300 to $400 from a day’s work to spend in Wodonga,” Mr O’Connor said.
“In 2013 we had 2360 attend the cup on a Sunday before it was a holiday and we had 8059 in 2017, so we’re on a growth journey, but the event is still in its infancy.”