The owner of Fairground Follies Craig Robson has been battling with the Wingecarribee council for the past five years to extend his operating hours so that he could welcome tourists every day, instead of only on weekends. “This is the foremost collection of fairground machines in the Southern Hemisphere, and it’s in the Southern Highlands,” he said.“Council should be welcoming it with open arms.”
At a council meeting on December 9, councillors voted to defer the decision on Fairground Follies to give Mr Robson time to consult with the Acting General Manager to determine the amount of community benefit the attraction would create. Mr Robson estimated that Fairground Follies will bring in 2,000 people every week if it were allowed to open full time. He said the revenue generated for the attraction would be $600,000 from tours which would then be set loose on the town to share the wealth.He believes this revenue creation, and it’s unique assets, make the attraction very valuable to the Highlands. But the council apparently isn’t so sure.“They, in all their wisdom, haven’t worked out whether there’s any community benefit,” he said.Council previously cited a lack of parking as the reason the approval couldn’t be granted, which led to a conditional approval that Mr Robson said was unacceptable. “Whilst we received an approval to operate, the terms of that approval do not leave me with any viable options,” he said.The council required contributions of almost $70,000 (discounted from $269,000) for the sewerage and water servicing plans for the approval.
Mr Robson said his professional advice was that he would have to pay $17,000 in contributions, although he maintains he shouldn’t have to pay anything.However, Councillor Ken Halstead argued the same rules apply to all developments.“One development can’t be dealt with differently,” he said.
Councillor Peter Nelson suggested that the council could make a contribution to the attraction to offset his costs, as they’ve done with the Empire Cinema. If the council voted to go ahead with a contribution, it would have to give notice to the community that they intend to give benefit to a commercial operator. Councillor Graham McLaughlin said that decision would set a dangerous precedent. “It would be opening Pandora’s box if we allowed developers not to have to pay the contribution as required,” he said.“All businesses have to pay the due amount to carry on their business in the Shire.”Council staff told Mr Robson that they would be researching the contributions that were required of the new Southern Highlands Regional Art Gallery to see if they fit this case. Fairground Follies will meet its fate at the next council meeting on February 24, but Mr Robson isn’t optimistic. “It doesn’t look promising because it might go on for another five years,” Mr Robson said.
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