Tour Down Under costs Unley $266k

At the meeting held on 22 May 2017, Unley Council resolved ...

The undertaking of the 2018 Unley Gourmet Gala and Tour Down Under Stage Start be endorsed, pending confirmation from Events SA that our expression of interest has been successful.

I voted against this motion. The minutes show that Cr Mike Hudson also voted against it.

Read the minutes and see who voted for this waste of money: your money

My rationale for voting against hosting the Start and a Street Party was:

Unley has hosted the event for 17 years.

It beginning to stale and needs to be replaced with a smaller event @ lower cost eg. $40k.

The reports states that the event injects $1m into the local Unley businesses. That is nonsense.

Unley as a Council, as a broader area gets little in return. Other businesses beyond King William Road (KWR) get no return. It's all about KWR and many of the traders don't want the event as it impacts their businesses. Some businesses actually lose money due to the event.

The report states that ~ 10,000 Unley residents attend. Nonsense.

The budget provision is $266k. Way too much.

This equates to about 3/4% funded by a rate rise.

So, given a forecast rate rise of 3% in 2017/2018, 25% of the rate rise will fund the Tour Down Under Start and Gourmet Gala.

A totally irresponsible waste of Council rates.

Word on the street from residents is that they no longer support funding of this event.

I'm annoyed that this decision was not made until after receiving feedback from residents about the draft budget and business plan.

A bad decision and not a good look in bypassing the public consultation.

Regards