Fiery scenes at Warrnambool Council meeting after voting of saleyards to close down

A Warrnambool council meeting turned fiery when the public turned up to have their say on a controversial decision. Find out what happened.

A council meeting turned into a fiery argument on Monday night as councillors made a controversial decision to close the local saleyards.

The Warrnambool Livestock Exchange has operated since 1904 but after almost a decade of debate, council has finally decided to shut them down.

But tensions rose at the meeting shortly after it started as farmers made clear they were unhappy with the direction the council was going in.

Despite the tension, councillors refused to engage in a debate around the issue.

“We’re not here to debate tonight,” mayor Debbie Arnott said, in response to being criticised by a woman in the gallery.

She was met with uproar from the community.

“Why are you willing to put the livestock through extra stress and strain by having these animals travel further?” the woman asked.

“I know any cattle going from Port Fairy to Warrnambool is 26km whereas it’s 71km to Mortlake.”

For years, there was no decision made for the Warrnambool saleyards’ future.

Councillor Peter Schneider said welfare of the livestock had been raised several times and council acknowledged some transport distances may extend for some livestock, and owners and transporters would need to take this into consideration.

When the woman continued to argue, Ms Arnott told her to sit down.

“I remind everyone in the gallery that this is a very emotional and trying time, but you must allow council to perform their duties,” she said.

“I will sit down, but you need to know that you need to do what’s right by Warrnambool ratepayers,” the woman responded, to the applause of the gallery.

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Small local farmer Rooney Brian said although the saleyards’ closure would have a big impact on the farming industry and transportation, he believed the plan had been in place for quite a while.

“Unfortunately, it’s been neglected and run down for a number of years,” he said.

“It’s been such a waste of a resource which should have been managed better and should have been put in a different place, all those decisions should have been made, instead of putting it off.”

While he understood why council may not be able to continue funding the salesyards, he believed they should work to repair them or get “private enterprise to build it somewhere else”.

“Then private enterprise can take over and it’s no longer a council issue, and that’s happened at other places,” Mr Brian said.

“If that could happen at Warrnambool, that would be a good result for everybody, and I’m sure every farmer who supplies to the saleyards would love that to happen.”

Despite a 1500-person strong petition to keep the saleyards, council said the lack of investment to maintain the quality of the area had lead to a decision to close them instead of upgrading or relocating them.

“As a councillor group, we have been left with one of the most difficult decisions to make probably in our entire term, and probably one of the most significant decisions made by any council for many years,” Councillor Vicki Jellie said.

“Ten years ago, Warrnambool City Council made a huge mistake by not addressing the issues with the saleyards.”

The decision to close was won by a narrow majority of councillors.

The Warrnambool Livestock Exchange saleyards are expected to close on June 30, 2023.