TEMPERS boiled over last night as angry stock agents, farmers and their supporters stormed another Wodonga Council meeting to protest at plans to move the city’s saleyards.
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Spokesman Stephen Paull said they would continue to disrupt meetings until councillors stopped looking at building a new livestock exchange at Barnawartha.
He ignored council meeting convention to stand, on three separate occasions, and make his point in front of about 100 people.
Most of those attending the meeting were Mr Paull’s supporters.
They applauded Mr Paull’s speech and heckled the council’s responses.
“We want this process to stop,” Mr Paull told the meeting.
“You are about to destroy the most profitable business that the ratepayers of this city have.
“If you proceed you are also destroying an icon of the industry; this is one of the best saleyards in the country, it doesn’t need to be sold or moved.”
Earlier, council’s acting chief executive Michael Gobel announced that Regional Infrastructure was the preferred proponent for further discussions on the new saleyards.
Mr Gobel said the consortium had signed a terms of negotiation agreement.
He said that the agreement would include discussions on the sale of the existing business, the lease of the Bandiana site, the contract of sale of the North Barnawartha site and a section 173 agreement, under the Planning and Environment Act, on the North Barnawartha site.
Mr Paull had disrupted meeting protocol earlier demanding councillors discuss two petitions signed by almost 1500 people.
The people who signed the petition opposed the move of the saleyards and are in support of selling the existing saleyards as a going concern.
Prominent developer Noel Howard also called for the council listen to the people.
Stock agent clerk Alan Pilkington asked why council could consult on other issues but not the saleyards.
“Those petitions should have been tabled,” Mr Paull said later.
“Given the urgency of this issue and the number of people that have signed the petition it demanded the attention of council tonight.”
After the meeting, Mayor Rod Wangman declined to talk about the heated meeting.
“These people are entitled to their views and while we have received a lot of comment about the saleyards we will continue to listen,” Cr Wangman said.
“We continue to go through the expression of interest process and I repeat that no decision has actually been made.”
Cr Wangman said council policy meant there was no need for the saleyards petitions to be tabled and discussed at last night’s meeting.
He declined to comment on whether a clause that allows urgent issues to be fast-tracked for discussion at council meetings should have applied last night.
Regional Infrastructure opened its first regional livestock exchange at Carcoar in June.
This is an $18 million project.
It houses a maximum of 4000 head of cattle and 24,000 head of sheep under cover.
