“It’s certainly not on our radar at this point of time to see the facility removed from the community,” Susannah Smith, council’s manager of economic sustainability, told the Macleay Argus. 

The reassurance comes after community outrage in Nabiac, following the announced closure of their saleyards following a Mid Coast Council audit. 

A 2016 financial plan report on the Kempsey saleyards found that, while the saleyards had historically returned an annual loss or small profit, the financial position of the yards had steadily improved in recent years. 

“From a community perspective, it's an expensive facility to run,” Ms Smith explained. 

“But you can’t just look at the bottom line.”

Ms Smith said that the saleyards played an important part in the identity of the Macleay Valley and it's long and proud history of beef production. 

“Council has been managing saleyards in Kempsey for more than a hundred years,” she said. 

In a June 2016 article in the Macleay Argus, several local farmers criticised the condition of the council-owned saleyards, specifically mentioning a lack of shade for animals, as well as concerns about water and effluent run-off. 

Kempsey Shire Council’s regional saleyards financial plan, released in October 2015, budgeted for a variety of capital works over a five-year period from 2016 to 2021, addressing many of these concerns. 

2016/2017 has seen $105,000 budgeted towards CCTV at the yards, improved signage, fixed gates and scales, new water troughs and other maintenance works. 

2017/2018 will see $82,000 go towards a new office and raised walkways, with a secondary effluent treatment treatment system budgeted for the following year for $140,000.

Shade concerns will be addressed with the plan budgeting $920,000 over 2019/20 and 2020/21 for roofing over the delivery yards.