Townsville City Council slashes community grants funding from $50,000 to $25,000 in bid to save money

Community groups are scrambling to work out how they will run events without charging the public after Townsville City Council cut major event grants funding by 50 per cent. Here’s what’s changing.

IndiaFest was counting on grant funding for this year’s event. Bharvi Patel, Dr Geetha Sadagopan and Nilpa Keshwala. Picture: Evan Morgan

Townsville City Council‘s decision to slash cash available for annual events returning year after year for support has soured relationships with community groups.

The council voted at Wednesday’s council meeting to cut the funding available for events from $50,000 to $25,000, with community leaders questioning how they will keep major events going.

IndiaFest secretary Nick Attam said the council had been their major sponsor since the festival started in 2014.

“I don’t know how many organisations this is affecting, but the impact is across the board,” he said.

“Our festival runs on August 23, that’s two months away and it’s a very tight schedule.”

Grants will now be available in three categories: $250-$5000; $5001-$10,000; and $10,001-$25,000.

Stable at Riverway was one of the events that regularly applied for grants of up to $50,000. Luke, Rebecca and Leif, 4 months, Isaacson, as Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus, ahead of Stable at Riverway last year. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Funding will not be reduced if groups seek funding through other means, however they will not be eligible for funding for the same event twice in the same financial year.

Groups who have multiple events will be able to apply for grants for different activities.

Mr Attam said he met with a community grants team member recently, where they learnt about the change.

“This year we decided to have a discussion with council before the July 1 application date to pre-empt what we were going to do, and that’s when they told us,” he said.

“We were shattered, it’s very disappointing. They hadn’t consulted anyone – certainly not us.

Nick Attam says IndiaFest could be sustainable, but they would be looking at their options.

“We spend $40,000 on the stage alone, and that is all with local vendors … and what’s even more interesting, is that after I get this $25,000, I will still need to pay Townsville City Council $9000 to $10,000 to use the land at Riverway.”

Mr Attam said it was possible for them to be self-sustainable, but he didn’t want the event to become ticketed.

“People come for five minutes and they stay for five hours at IndiaFest, it is a really positive community event,” he said.

“We can scale-back, but then it just becomes a smaller and smaller event and people will naturally lose interest.”

Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney at the former Westpac building in the Townsville CBD. Picture: Evan Morgan

Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney said the council had a “tough budget” to deliver and the council was forced to make “tough decisions” for the future.

She said it wasn’t going to be forever, but this was what had to happen now.

“We will work with the community (groups) to help them, and I’ve met with a few already,” Cr Greaney said.

She said there were options for partnerships for events delivered annually and that the move was bringing the council in-line with other councils in the region, including Cairns, Mackay and the Whitsundays.

“It’s not an easy decision, there will be people who will be annoyed, organisations that will be annoyed, but I have said to the majority of them – this is not forever,” Cr Greaney said.

Dancer from Geetha's Natyalaya performs on stage at IndiaFest. Picture: Evan Morgan

Cr Liam Mooney, who was in opposition to the changes, said this was going to cut the funding the council gives to the biggest community events in half and he could not support it.

He said that the lack of public consultation on the matter was concerning.

Cr Suzy Batkovic said that the cost of living crisis was forcing the council to make hard decisions.

She said no one on the council wanted to cut funding but “something had to give”.

“We’re getting to a point where everything is so expensive where we don’t want to have increases where we don’t have to because people are struggling to pay bills,” Cr Batkovic said.

“The luxuries are going in normal households, unfortunately we’re in this point of time like every other council, that we do need to reduce things.”

Cr Batkovic said it was about finding balance between rates and funding that was available.

Originally published as Townsville City Council slashes community grants funding from $50,000 to $25,000 in bid to save money