McLean Oval just before the first George Tooke Shield match this year.
Both the Harden Racecourse Users Group and McLean Oval will not be able to rely on funds agreed to at a town meeting for their upcoming Stronger Country Communities Fund applications, after a report did not make it into the April meeting, which may have boosted both their cases. If presented, it would have given the Council the opportunity to approve the funds formally with a resolution of Council.
The April 9 meeting at the Harden Country Club culminated in a resolution that included the Harden Racecourse Users Group receive $80,000, McLean Oval $18,000, and the Harden Cricket Club $5,000.
37 projects were initially slated for discussion by Council at Tuesday night’s meeting, with 5 cut from the list, bringing the number down to 32.
The lights went out in the building during the meeting, leaving those in the gallery as well as Council staff and Councillors peering through the darkness at each other for up to 20 minutes.
It now appears both groups are in the dark in regard to their chances.
Racecourse Users Group President and Harden Hawks First Grade player and Youth League Coach Nathan Schofield said, “It’s very disappointing when you put a lot of hard work in to your proposals, only to find that Council hasn’t included a report to allocate $98,000 to our groups. It makes it very hard, we are all volunteers, this feels like a kick in the guts. We were relying on that money for both the Racecourse and McLean Oval to help our applications. The applications close this Friday and we won’t have that money to back up our applications.”
Hilltops Councillor Matthew Stadtmiller said, “I feel for the clubs, the vote was taken at the Country Club and a report should have gone in the business paper. It’s not good enough. My focus now will be to contact the local member Steph Cooke and reiterate the position of both clubs, while I’m at it I will be seeking confirmation from Hilltops Council that it will be in the next available business paper. This shouldn’t of happened and I hope it hasn’t put the groups at a disadvantage.”
The Harden Racecourse was prioritised at number 2 out of the 32 projects, placing it in good stead before the list goes to the Member for Cootamundra on May 4, while the McLean Oval project was listed at number 18 leaving it just outside the funding allocation of just over $5.2 million.
4 projects within the old Harden Shire area fell within the priority funding level.
The others include the Light Horse Memorial at number 4, Coddington Park at number 10 and Murrumburrah Showground at number 12.
