12338237-LN05-17
07 4661 9800
Week commencing Thursday, 30 March | 2017 | Edition 869
13750 copies delivered weekly
www.freetimes.com.au
Has Warwick got talent?
Wind farm latest
Gate debate sparks up
Casey’s Spin
PAGE 4
PAGE 6
PAGE 10
PAGES 18-19
Holed out
7 DAYS Phone No: 07 4681 2846
www.mdauto.com.au
Vice-regal medallion for Margie Sir Peter Cosgrove waited for one special lady after officially opening the 150th Warwick Show last Friday night.
Long-time catering volunteer Margie Miller did not have a clue what was in store for her as part of the visit to Warwick by the GovernorGeneral and Lady Cosgrove -
Warwick Holiday Care Program
3rd April – 13th April
Easter Holidays are fast approaching.... •Ensureafun&relaxingtimefor yourchild4–12yrs •Agreatrangeofactivities &experiencesonoffer •CourtesyBusService •BOOKEARLY! Only 2 mins from central Warwick Corner Brigg St & Yangan Rd, Warwick PH: 4661 7016 www.facebook.com/littletackers
Specialising in Commercial, Industrial and Domestic Sheds. Made from Bluescope Australian Steel Full service - Slab, Erection & Councils QBCC1197750 NSW237076c
1125178-FA12-14
By Sue Keong
12338103-RC05-17
OPEN
surface at its own expense. “The tractor pull is what draws the crowd and keeps them there,” he said. “People won’t want to walk the 250 yards to see the tractor pull in another location, and the area the Show Society has offered us has no shade, no power and no water or amenities. “They also want us to move the car display from the current shaded area to the main ring, which would cause too much congestion with the grand parade. “You can’t break the event up into small components. “They have made it pretty impossible for us and unless we can reach some kind of compromise there is every chance the Heritage Weekend will have to cease.” Mr Stacey said organisers could look at other venues such as other showgrounds in the region - but the club didn’t want Allora to lose out, with the community having hosted the event since 1995. “We give away all the money the event brings in, but from a commercial point of view for businesses in Allora it’s huge,” he said. Mr Stacey has met recently with Southern Downs mayor Tracy Dobie - as has Mr Schnitzerling - and remains hopeful a compromise can be hammered out. Continued on Page 3
12341108-ACM09-17
The future of the iconic Allora Heritage Weekend is in doubt following a falling out between the event’s organisers and the Allora Show Society over use of the Allora Showgrounds arena for the annual tractor pull. The Allora Heritage Weekend - which generates around $25,000 a year for local community groups and brings thousands of visitors to ‘The Best Little Town on the Downs’ - has been run over the Australia Day weekend in January for more than two decades. But the 2017 event could be the last unless common ground can be found and a compromise reached between the Allora Show Society and the Warwick Veteran and Vintage Vehicle Club, which organises the weekend. In a letter from the show society to the club on 28 February, a month after the 2017 Heritage Weekend, the society advised it would no longer allow the use of the showgrounds arena for the popular tractor pull, due to the damage caused to the black soil surface. The society has said the grand parade, show tractor race and other events which it says do not damage the arena can continue, and has offered the use of land adjacent to the showgrounds just to the east for the tractor pull, along with moving portable grandstands
over to that area. Show society president Conrad Schnitzerling told the Free Times the society had made a decision based mainly on safety for equestrian competitors at other events held at the showgrounds. “The Allora Show is held basically straight after the Heritage Weekend - this year the dressage started the following weekend - so we don’t have time to fix up the arena after the tractor pull,” he said. “We have a duty of care to horses and riders - if a horse goes down in one of those holes it’s very serious. “So we’ve just taken a decision not to allow any events in the arena that are going to damage it. “We have been discussing this with them (the Vehicle Club) for some time, it’s not as though it’s just come out of the blue.” Mr Schnitzerling said the Show Society was about to spend $30,000 - a combination of society funds and gaming grants - on upgrading the arena with crusher dust and sand, “to take some of the slipperiness out of the ground when it rains”. Warwick Veteran and Vintage Car Club president Peter Stacey acknowledged the tractor pull affected the arena surface but said the club had offered to “repair and re-turf” the
12326307-PB41-16
By Jeremy Sollars
Margie Miller with a personal vice-regal medallion presented to her by GovernorGeneral Sir Peter Cosgrove. 166631 Picture: SUE KEONG
in the form of the presentation of a personal vice-regal medallion recognising her years of devoted service. Continued on Page 2
CA$H FOR $CRAP CAR BODIES REMOVED Also Buying Old Farm Machinery
Warwick Scrap Metal & Recycling 43 PROGRESS STREET - WARWICK
BUSINESS 4661 7922 MOBILE 0412 116 897
Phone Neal Simpson and Lou Ots on
07 4661 9835
GRANITE BELT DENTAL Medibank Members Choice and HCF preferred providers Get your regular check up and clean for low or no out of pocket expenses, plus a range of other benefits. 9 BAKER STREET STANTHORPE 96 PERCY STREET WARWICK
4681 1238 4661 4188 1125183-CA12-14