The New South Wales government has been asked to help settle a bitter dispute over the operation of the Northern Rivers Livestock Exchange (NRLX) in Casino.
Key points:
- A community meeting has called on Richmond Valley Council to enter into mediation with the Casino Auctioneers Association
- Participants also voted to lodge a formal complaint with the state government over the council’s handling of the issue
- The Richmond Valley Council declined to comment on the six motions carried unanimously at the meeting
At a meeting on Monday night, agents, producers and business owners voted to call on the state to broker a solution after the industry rejected a move by the Richmond Valley Council to bow out of managing the selling centre and lease it to a private operator.
Casino livestock agents have refused to sign new selling agreements for the sale yards, instead producers are transporting and selling cattle at the Lismore saleyards since July 1.
More than 400 people at the meeting voted unanimously for Richmond Valley Council to rescind the motion to lease the NRLX yards and start mediation with the Casino Auctioneers Association.
Meeting organiser Alan Berry called for the council to reopen NRLX immediately under the old selling agreements for 12 months.
“Even if the council did go to a public tender process, it’s going to be long and drawn out,” he said.
“The businesses in Casino just can’t handle another three or four months of the facility being closed.”
Richmond Valley Council was contacted for comment.
Rappville cattle producer Roger Bailey wanted the council to come back to the negotiating table.
“We’d like mediation to take place and, if it’s not mutually acceptable, then we’re hoping to force the council to come to mediation,” he said.
“We’ve got to move forward. We can’t keep being stuck on this merry-go-around.”
Those at last night’s meeting also called on the council to defer a decision on the management until after next year’s local government elections.
“We believe that there could be a different-look council then, and they may have a different view of how the NRLX should be run,” Mr Berry said.
A majority voted to lodge a formal complaint with the Minister for Local Government, the Minister for Small Business and the NSW Ombudsman, over Richmond Valley Council’s handling of the dispute.
Mr Bailey said that he “absolutely” supported the NRLX advisory group being reformed.
“We believe that would have advised the council of the inadequacies in their approach to selling cattle, you know, [to] talk to the people that know the industry and not try and impose some bureaucratic based system, which is what they’ve done,” he said.
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