Tallangatta Agricultural and Pastoral Society receives $50,000 for solar panels

Tallangatta Agricultural and Pastoral Society received a $50,000 bushfire recovery grant from Commonwealth Bank for a solar power system at the venue, which hosts a range of community events, including the show, and is a campsite for visitors.

Show society president Roger Lees revealed the group's annual power bill is around $12,000, with the panels to at least halve that, if not more going forward.

"We will be very well off for the future," Mr Lees said.

"We have a very big power bill every year and it's going to virtually cut that out.

"It all adds up with people using the site and we have quite a few events such as cramp drafts and team penning. A lot of trucks come there plus the show and the farm expo.

"It's always good to see an area getting used more than once a year."

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Mr Lees said the system includes three 6.5-kilowatt sets of panels and batteries.

"They're hooked up to the grid, but we're not getting paid for that yet because it takes a while," he said.

"It's charging the batteries so anyone using power is using battery power."

The Upper Murray Horseman's Association regularly uses the venue for its events and president Scott Barton said it was positive news.

"It might allow money to be put towards the improvement of other facilities," Mr Barton said.

"I know we've helped them put another toilet block in and water, but anything like that I can only see as a bonus, not only for the show society but the township of Tallangatta in general.

"It might give them the opportunity to run more events, it has a flow-on effect.

"If you can get tourists into the community they put money into shops, bakeries, supermarkets, caravan parks, camping and much more."

With 2020 proving extremely challenging for many sporting clubs in Victoria, Mr Barton said his committee was looking forward to putting events on for its members again.

"It's our home ground in a way and we run six or seven events a year there plus our camp draft," he said.

"That's just horse and cattle events and then we have novelty days, our Christmas party is there, training days and we haven't been able to run any of that this year."

Unless things dramatically change, Mr Lees said it's all systems go for the Tallangatta Show next March.

"We just got in this year and it was a very good show too. We're hoping for another big one next year because people haven't been able to do much this year and will hopefully be keen to get out," he added.