A critical economic driver in the state's South East, the Mount Gambier and District Saleyards, will receive a massive funding boost with the Marshall Liberal Government committing a further $1.85 million to its significant transformation project, to help grow the local economy and jobs.
The Saleyards, wholly owned and managed by the District Council of Grant, are the largest cattle livestock exchange facility in the Limestone Coast region, having facilitated more than $593 million worth of livestock transactions over the past five years.
Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development David Basham said the Marshall Government was pleased to significantly increase its funding commitment for a comprehensive upgrade and expansion of the Saleyards under the Local Government Infrastructure Partnership Program (LGIPP) from $850,000 to $2.7 million.
This will be matched by the local Council ($3 million), with council now applying to the Commonwealth Government for $5.3 million under its Building Better Regions Fund before applications close on 10 February 2022.
"We recognise the significant positive contribution the Saleyards make to the local economy and jobs on the Limestone Coast, and we are delighted to be able to further boost our funding to ensure the saleyards attract more of the region's livestock into the future," said Minister Basham.
"This funding will help ensure the provision of modern, industry standard infrastructure, such as soft flooring for animal welfare and roofing to be installed to improve worker comfort and safety.
"We are pleased to be able to work in partnership with the District Council of Grant to deliver an economic boost to the South East and support local jobs.
"The former Labor Government ignored our regions for 16 years failing to upgrade basic regional infrastructure such as country roads and mobile phone black spots.
"The Marshall Liberal Government has worked hard to fix this by delivering record investment to improve country health, education, roads and infrastructure and back our primary industries and regional businesses to continue to grow, supporting thousands of jobs."
The council applied to the State Government for the funding under the Local Government Infrastructure Partnership Program, which has been established to support councils accelerate spending on community infrastructure projects that contribute to the future economic growth of the region, or support the Government's Growth State agenda.
The total cost of the revised Saleyards project has risen from $5 million to $11 million, taking into account a more complex and detailed project scope, which will not only enhance worker safety and animal wellbeing, but also cater for increased material costs, including roofing steel.
There will be construction of a roof over the cattle yards (an area of approximately 13,600 square metres) to cover cattle selling pens and enclose areas to the west and east of the existing weighbridge and construction of a new roof over the existing calf shed.
Among the major new additions are:
- Demolition and reconfiguration of sale yards increasing yards under cover by 33 yards with improvements to safety, working conditions and animal welfare.
- New bitumen ramp area with access from existing saleyard roads.
- Access to loading ramps shoulder/intersection widened
- New cattle crush with pneumatic operations and scanning capability
- Lighting under roof.
