April 17, 2018
South Burnett Rugby League president Greg Pomfret has joined a chorus of protests following an announcement by the South Burnett Regional Council on Monday that it is planning to cut subsidies to community groups.
Under the plan, put forward by Mayor Keith Campbell, community groups – including sporting clubs – would have to start paying for services such as water, garbage collection and sewerage which are currently subsidised by Council.
southburnett.com.au has been told that running costs to some community groups could more than double under the proposal.
The move is expected to raise a total of $117,285, which would be put towards road repairs.
Deputy Mayor Kathy Duff and Cr Ros Heit have already spoken out publicly against the proposal, suggesting the amount of money saved will make little difference to the road network but could hurt not-for-profit groups.
The SBRL president agreed.
“If the Council cut out the coffee and sandwiches at their meetings they’d probably make up this shortfall,” Greg said.
“I am absolutely gutted.
“How about the SBRC stop wasting money on consultants and run the council like private enterprise and make good economic decisions?
“They should never forget the dollar value of not-for-profit groups in the area and what we do for the local economy week in and week out.
“All the fools want to do is hurt our not-for-profit groups by taking away the pittance they think we don’t deserve.
“I invite them to come along to our meetings and see how we scrimp and save to keep our clubs going each season.
“But that’s right, they’re too busy trying to screw every last cent from the people who put them there in the first place.
“Never forget the people who volunteer in these groups have a vote and I for one won’t let people forget the SBRC’s treatment of us all.”
- Editorial: Time To Tackle The Real Waste
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