COVID-19 punches massive hole in council-controlled entities budgets

The Jondaryan Woolshed is getting back into the swing of things after a torrid 12 months thanks to COVID-19.

The Jondaryan Woolshed is poised to restart its functions and events offering after a horror 12 months that saw it bring in just $3000 in revenue.

Woolshed chairman and former councillor Mike Williams said weddings at the historical venue were only just starting up again this weekend after COVID-19 forced its closure last year.

“So we’re back in business, but it’s taken us virtually 12 months to get back to being able to operate again,” Mr Williams said.

A quarterly financial report to Toowoomba Regional Council, the controlling entity of the woolshed, showed the facility brought in just $3046 in revenue for the 2020 financial year to December 31, well short of the $354,500 budgeted for.

Mr Williams said the venue had been operating on a skeleton staff to take care of the woolshed’s animals and facilities and that the impact of COVID-19 had been very difficult to manage, as it was a council-controlled entity and therefore not eligible for JobKeeper assistance from the Federal Government.

Despite the shortfall in revenue, the Woolshed is tracking ahead of its budget thanks to its COVID-19 closure, which allowed it to perform renovations, and its reduction in expenses thanks to a “cost mitigation strategy”.

Meanwhile, over at the Empire Theatres, general manager Kerry Saul said the venue was tracking to its “conservative” budget, but that was “probably around $1.7 million less than what we would normally do”.

The theatre was able to put its first show on in July 2020, and since then has only become busier.

“We ended up with 1000 people for the Jim Owen performance last Saturday night,” Mr Saul said.

“We’re experiencing really strong demand for the venues, especially as the year goes on.”