Additional works were required by the electricity provider to upgrade the power supply (transformer) to the site.
These works were undertaken and completed on 26 July 2024. The additional $142,778 budget was required for the additional costs incurred for the power supply upgrade, additional project management and other incidentals required to finish the project.
Through the commissioning of the administration building, a problem was identified with the water pressure to the site. A further $90,000 was endorsed to resolve the water pressure issue and prevent risk of contamination of town water supply through backflow.
The final expenditure for the Corowa Regional Saleyards Redevelopment Project is $11,804,763. It was jointly funded between NSW Government ($10,020,000) under their stimulus program and Federation Council ($1,786,363), providing a significantly improved agricultural business with the improvements to address animal welfare, improve worker and visitor safety, efficiency, productivity, provide spaces for education and training opportunities, and address some of the impacts of climate change with access to sustainable water and power.
The major upgrade complemented previous council-funded improvements including new loading ramps, and raised walkways for selling agent, which addresses significant safety concerns.
Despite these upgrades, the site had significant non-compliances, particularly around the effluent management, traffic management and safety.
The new development has made a vast improvement across these areas. The funding also allowed council to purchase 5ha of land across the railway line, to manage effluent disposal, previously private land leased by council.
In answer to a question from Cr Derek Schoen at council’s November 2024 meeting, council’s planning director Susan Appleyard said it was important for council and all developers to be mindful of all requirements, including electricity requirements, for developments.
Both Ms Appleyard and council’s General Manager Adrian Butler advised of recent increased satisfaction by saleyards’ users, including truck was facilities.
With completion of the two aforementioned projects, the Corowa Saleyards site is better positioned for the future and to continue to be one of the premier sheep selling centres in NSW.
This brings the total recent investment over the last few years on the site to $12,319,196, of which 85.5% has been funded by the NSW Government.
Corowa Saleyards has an average annual sheep throughput of 598,588 and contributes an average of $97,115,765 in sheep sales per year to the local agricultural industry (based on the last 5 years of results).
Following a two-year construction phase, the official opening ceremony with Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Tara Moriarty, MLC, was held on March 28, 2024.
