Agent pleas for Dubbo saleyards to stay as council looks to sell

On Thursday night at Dubbo Regional Council's March meeting, it was decided that expressions of interest would be sought to sell or lease the Dubbo Regional Livestock Market facility.

Stock and station agent Andrew Peadon said the Dubbo saleyards has been in existence for more than 60 years, during which it's been run by the agents and the council "very successfully".

He said it was recognised Australia-wide as "one of the leading markets".

"We draw livestock from all points throughout Australia which is quite incredible really. There's quite a lot of livestock that come past other major selling centres to come to Dubbo," Mr Peadon said.

Speaking at the council meeting, Mr Peadon, supported by the other stock and station agents who attended, urged the council not to sell the facility and instead, "keep it in the hands of the public".

"I think we really need to work together and to keep this business going for future generations. I really believe in this facility," he said.

But Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson said the beauty of the expression of interest process was that it gave the council flexibility.

"If we went out to tender to sell... then we'd be somewhat obligated. It wouldn't be compulsory but we'd be somewhat obligated to sell it. If we went to a tender to lease it, then we'd be somewhat obligated," Cr Dickerson said.

"Hopefully we'll get lots [of expressions of interest]. We'll get some for sale and some for lease and we'll look at those and we'll think about the different options associated there and then we can make a decision with that information."

The Dubbo Regional Livestock Markets websites says the facility is "one of the largest selling centres in Australia" when it comes to combined sheep and cattle numbers.

It contributed $60 million to the city's economy and supports 307 full-time equivalent positions.

Cr Dickerson said the council had been looking into the operation of the saleyards and its future for some time.

"One of the crucial things is that sometimes whenever council looks to sell off an asset, and this was certainly the argument many years ago when council was looking to sell the caravan park, the argument from some people was that the caravan park was a great caravan park and we don't want to lose it in Dubbo," he said.

"And the idea of selling or leasing an asset that council currently owns is not about getting rid of that asset, it's not about not having that asset anymore, it's just who owns it, who operates it..."

He said shutting down the Dubbo saleyards would be detrimental to the Dubbo community. However, the EOI process could find someone who would be better equipped to operate the facility, and therefore provide a boost to the economy.

"If we did lease them or sell them, then hopefully we would find an operator that is even better at running saleyards than we are. Because one of the problems for councils across the state is councils end up doing so many different things and you would argue that some of those are not their speciality," he said.

The mayor said he "absolutely encouraged" the Dubbo stock and station agents to put in an expression of interest.