Council to consider three options in response to Beaudesert saleyards' heritage listing
The listing of the Beaudesert pig and calf saleyards on the Queensland Heritage Register has significant implications for the Scenic Rim Regional Council's ongoing leasing and maintenance of the site.
Council is responsible under the Heritage Act for the repair and maintenance of its State heritage places. The cost and compliance implications for the saleyards vary depending if they continue to be an operational saleyard or if they are maintained as a historical feature only.
Council officers have tabled a detailed report ahead of next Tuesday's Ordinary Meeting that recommends Council lodges an appeal on the grounds that the saleyards does not satisfy the heritage criteria. It also recommends further investigation of the financial cost of required upgrades, improvements and ongoing maintenance, the impact of the heritage listing on ongoing operations and associated leasing arrangements, and the subsequent impact on ratepayers.
As far as Council understands, the heritage listing only protects the building, which is not currently suitable, hygienic or safe for pig and calf sales and may not be suitable for use for pig and calf sales into the future if the building needs to be protected in its current form.
The facility is not compliant with current environmental, building, safety and animal welfare standards and that is partly why the saleyards were earmarked for removal as part of the Beaudesert Town Centre Revitalisation project. A new purpose-built, compliant saleyard was built nearby by the private sector at a more appropriate location in Bromelton in 2013.
If Council had not carried out emergency repairs on the pig and calf saleyards structure three years ago to bring them to a minimum standard, they would have been closed in 2018. Council has made every effort to keep them open and for a number of years the saleyards' operational and maintenance costs have well exceeded any commercial return. The lease for these community-owned saleyards has not been market tested.
The capital outlay costs for the required compliance upgrades are yet to be fully costed but could range from $85,000 to well above $200,000 in addition to ongoing maintenance costs of up to $6,000 a year, and five-yearly upgrade costs of up to $5,000. These estimates were provided prior to the heritage listing and further investigations are now required to ascertain any additional costs specific to the maintenance and development of a State heritage place, and other potential costs relating to environmental compliance.
Council has been advised that the legal process for an appeal would incur costs between $38,000 and $50,000, with additional expert charges.
Taking into account the financial, compliance and community impacts of the heritage listing of the Beaudesert pig and calf saleyards, Councillors will consider three options at the Ordinary Meeting on 23 February:
- appeal the heritage listing decision and further investigate the heritage listing implications,
- not appeal and continue to provide the facility for lease as a saleyard pending the outcome of further investigations of Council's ability to do so, or
- not appeal and cease lease arrangements and maintain the facility as a historical feature only within the town centre's redeveloped precinct.
At this stage, the Beaudesert Town Centre Revitalisation project timeline of activities is not being impacted by the heritage listing of the saleyards or by Council's current deliberations.
Council's latest report makes it clear that the pig and calf saleyards will not be able to operate as it currently does. In the interim, Council has extended the operator's lease until the end of March 2021.
Council has until 5 March 2021 to lodge an appeal with the Planning and Environment Court and at any stage the appeal process can be withdrawn. If successful, it would mean that the building could be removed from the site.