A second public meeting has resulted in Wingecarribee Shire Council backflipping on the use of $94,000 from the environment fund levy to fund another project.
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Mayor Duncan Gair promised residents that money from the levy would not be taken to fund the regional art gallery while his council was still in power.
The second public meeting at Bowral Memorial Hall on May 31 attracted more than 140 members of the community to the meeting who voiced their concern regarding the proposed regional art gallery funding outlined in the Draft Operational Plan and Budget.
Several councillors were also in attendance.
Cr Gair took to the stage to address the community in which he announced that council and senior staff had listened.
"This has been the fourth meeting that I have been involved in to try and mediate a way through it and to listen to the concerns of the community," he said.
"In that time, I have met with senior staff and on Wednesday I met with Jane [Lemann], Clive [West] and Geoff [Byrne] to work out a solution because there is an issue that has come through loud and clear.
"The offer is, that there will be no touching of the environment levy, that the environment levy that was consented to prior to the draft budget will remain.
"I will give a further guarantee that while I am mayor, and this will include the 2020/2021 budget, there will be no changing of the arrangement for the environmental levy.
"I cannot speak for the next council... but you have the guarantee that we will run the levy as is.
"However, it won't affect council's contribution to the regional art gallery. We have made a commitment to the community that we will fund that gallery for $500,000 a year for the next five years."
A decision on where the remaining $94,000 for the regional art gallery will come from will be decided at the next council meeting on June 12.
Cr Gair said it was a shame that the regional art gallery had been linked to the environment levy.
"The regional art gallery won't be affected and the environment levy won't be affected for the next two years, subject to the council agreement," he said.