April 17, 2013
The South Burnett Regional Council will call a temporary halt on loans to community groups while it considers whether it should set a limit the pool of loan funds it will make available in future.
The decision to conduct a review of its Community Loan Policy was made today after the SBRC approved a three-year $30,000 loan to the Nanango Historical Society for upgrades to roads and pathways at Ringsfield House.
Deputy Mayor Keith Campbell said the Historical Society was also putting $30,000 of its own funds towards the project, which was a necessary one.
“The place becomes a total quagmire in the wet,” he said.
However, he noted the SBRC had now made loans to seven local community groups which amounted to $126,000 in total.
“Council’s resources aren’t unlimited. We need to take stock,” he said.
Cr Cheryl Dalton said she agreed with the need to review the policy but thought it wasn’t unusual.
“This is just a standard policy review. But I agree with Cr Campbell that we need to set some limits on this,” she said.
Mayor Wayne Kratzmann said Community Loans were open to any community group in the South Burnett that met the current guidelines, but added that if more groups lodged applications the council simply wouldn’t be able to afford it.
“We’ve set a precedent and we’ve never said no to anyone. So perhaps we should limit it to some total amount,” he said.
The review is likely to be completed after the council’s Budget deliberations, which will begin next month.
[Photo: Clive Lowe Photography]
