Eurobodalla Councillor Anthony Mayne has posted the following to his social media page:
Diving in the Deep End!
This Tuesday at Eurobodalla Shire Council we vote on the $55m plus Batemans Bay Mackay Park proposal (pool, gym, arts/entertainment facility).
Thank you for your questions and feedback in preparation for the debate.
Major themes:
How much will it cost in total?
How will Council/Community pay for it?
What assets will we sell to cover the shortfall?
What is the opportunity cost (e.g. what will you go without now and into the future to pay for this project)?
What is the ongoing operational costs?
Can we see the business case?
Will Council still sell the Batemans Bay Community Centre?
And the answer to each of the above = Commercial-in-Confidence.
I voted against the sale of our community owned #Moruya horse racing track mainly because we could not tell you the sale $ price.
I had the priviledge of working with the community to keep its Centre in the Bay, to try and stop the sale of green spaces (Durra, Broulee etc), to preserve parks (e.g. Pretty Point). So if Council is to sell off such assets across the Shire to pay for the facility in the Bay, then our community needs to know these details.
Batemans Bay is a major population hub. The $51m in grant funding is terrific. Yet the entire Shire will fund any shortfall in the build cost through the sale of its assets. Any shortfall in the operation costs will be paid for by your rates.
How can Council represent you and your views and wishes if you do not know the price and how any shortfall will be made up? So what is the entire Shire prepared to forgo now and into the future to ensure that the Mackay Centre can proceed in the Bay?
We are a resilient community. The bushfires led into covid and now we find ourselves in a recession. So as a community that has gone through so much together, I hope we can have a transparent and engaging debate on Tuesday so that we can best represent your desires for our future together.
I will ask each of the questions listed above on Tuesday to that we can hopefully have as transparent a debate as possible on what is a major project for our community.
Duty First.
Anthony
