Opinion
10 June, 2026
Are the cattle sale yards to be sold?
That is the question circulating around the community at the moment.
That is the question circulating around the community at the moment.
I thought we would have a look back at the history, whilst past performance does not predict the future, it kind of does!
Where did the speculation come from? Council will next week consider a proposal to move towards an increase in rates and an immediate increase in charges, water and sewer. The proposal also suggests land sales of $10 million and borrowings of around $31 million. With no specificity as to land that may be sold, the community speculate.
Also, remember earlier this year council changed the categorisation of some operational land and some community land. Why? Well, enter more speculation.
Council on their website claim “Wingecarribee Shire Council runs the facility at no cost to the ratepayers of the Shire. The SRLX is a vital contributor to the local community and economy.”
The sale yards site was bought by council in July 1962.
Now some recent history.
In 2018 council commissioned a report from GHD to consider what to do with the Southern Regional Livestock exchange or as its more widely known ‘the sale yards’.
That report was released in 2018 and considered 5 options including a ‘sale’, a ‘lease’, ‘outsourcing’ and ‘status quo’.
The report found that a sale would see sale day operations improve, awarding that option 3 green diamonds. The status quo option received a red ‘-0.58’.
In 2022 council opened ‘expressions of interest for SRLX’. That process proposed a ‘likely’ 10-year lease.
Skip forward to 2023, and on 17 May council, under the leadership of general manager Lisa Miscamble and Administrator Viv May council addressed the issue. The general manager, in preliminary comments on page 5 of the agenda, stressed a “back to basics approach enabling us to better serve the community." That’s for another day!
The agenda for the May 2023 meeting observed the importance of the sale yards, noting the venue sells over 60,000 head of cattle each year.
At the meeting, staff recommended that council not proceed with the expressions of interest campaign. The reason? Council only received one response expressing any interest at all in leasing the facility. The council officer who spoke at that council meeting advised the administrator, that the one expression of interest received, if accepted, would not contribute in a positive way financially to council “unfortunately”.
Council decided not to proceed with a lease of the site.
In neighbouring areas there were sale yards at Camden and Nowra. Both have closed and have been sold off largely for retail and residential development. In Southern NSW, the only other exchange is located in Yass. The facility is now a central feature of the livestock industry and serves farmers well beyond the Highlands.
Moving forward to 2025, the budget for 2025/2026, i.e. the year we finish in about 20 days, the delivery program action 4.1.3 DP2 is informative, although a mouthful. That action was to “Manage the operation of the Southern Regional Livestock Exchange (SRLX) and investigate opportunities to diversify revenue streams for the facility.”
As part of that action 4.1.3.2.OP.3 required council to "review the SRLX model and identify and cost options to optimise outcomes for stakeholders”. When bureaucrats optimise, the public tend not to be optimistic. That action was required to be completed by June 2026. Where is it? Will we see it? Or do we need to take out a loan to GIPA it?
Now to the 2026/2027 draft budget, despite the 2025/2026 budget having a range of actions the proposal for 2026/2027 is simply “maintain or increase revenue”.
The budget further estimates nearly $1.9 million in revenue with about $1.7 million in expenses. That means the sale yards will make council around $200,000 next year, plus there is $207,000 in restricted reserve capital.
So, a lease didn’t work in 2023. What will come next?
Council must be transparent and confirm whether they will or will not sell the saleyards and confirm what their ‘plan’ is. The community deserve to know.
“Back to basics” sounds good to me, but that doesn’t mean selling the visitor centre either!
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Disclaimer. The views expressed in this opinion piece are the views of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Southern Wire. Further, all material relied on is in the public space.
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