“What are the costs to Council for such support?” asked Cr Cronin.

“At this stage no costs have been discussed. Primarily we were seeking the possibility of assistance. There is some money in the kitty for a short term solution,” said Peter Wilson.

It became apparent that the solution would need to be administered in a three phases.

Crisis – now, short term – how to get through the Christmas holiday period and finally the longer term picture for the VIC.

“Do we let it fall over this week? Do we have the resources to short term manage?” asked Cr Tuohy.

“I want to keep the centre open,” said Cr Cronin, “but in one month the whole thing has become unsustainable.”

“In one month what has happened to force closure?” asked Cr Childs.

“After reviewing the accounts, which was a previous Council requirement it shows they are in a very weak position. This combined with the cessation of the DSRD grant funding, has caused the crisis,” said General Manager Mike Colreavy.

After lengthy discussions, venting of spleen and murmuring in the gallery, a motion was formed that:

Bellingen Shire Council fund a casual position for a four month period;

That the position be reviewed in line with the long term strategy for the Waterfall Way Centre;

That Council considers the need for any additional stock that maybe required for the VIC;

That a further interim report come to the December Council meeting; and

That Council holds a workshop on the first Wednesday of February 2010.

This was accepted unanimously.

Outside the meeting, Cr Cronin said: “This situation is as disappointing as it was inevitable”.

“For the past six months, I have consistently pointed out that this was an idealistic dream, at the very best TB WWC had a marketing plan, but never ever had a business plan. Recent events confirm that the operation lacked the required management capabilities, and specifically in the area applying for grants,” he said.

Cr Cronin said the financial projections published by the WWC development group for May and June stated 70 percent of it's proposed income was to be derived from, ‘Sponsorship, Donations, Project partner contributions and Economic Development Grants (DSRD), which still had to be applied for’.

“As a Councillor I made public my concerns over the contribution of rate payers dollars to this project.

“Because of this I instigated a Council Workshop attended by Ralph Lynch and TB Vice President Guy Saddleton, once again I stated my concerns over the potential black hole in these financial projections, I pointed out, once again, you cannot rely on hand outs and grant funding ----- but, once again, they refused to listen.

“As a result I moved a motion at the September Council Meeting to insist on regular financial reports from Tourism Bellinger, ONE month later "they have pulled the pin!" -- funny that, but I am sure they will say my motion had nothing to do with their decision!” Cr Cronin said.

“It is inevitable that Mr Lynch and Mr Saddleton will proceed to find an ‘innovative’ list of reasons as to why they should not be held accountable for either their public comments or indeed the failure of their organization to fulfill their promises.

For my part, and that of Councillors Childs, Braithwaithe and Touhy, I believe we have been totally vindicated.”

Cr Cronin said Council would now operate the WWC and he believed that a number of benefits will actually come from these changes:

(1) Council has an experienced employee who's job it is to submit funding applications,

(2) there will be greater financial control and

(3) more emphasis on tourist information.

Vice President of Tourism Bellingen, Guy Saddleton said the decision by Council last Thursday to increase its level of involvement with the running of the Waterfall Way Centre (WWC) was a “significant step in moving forward to ensure the ongoing operations of the centre”.

“The good news for rate payers is that there has been no additional funding required as the cost of paying a coordinator (part time) for the 4 months to Feb 2010 will be met from funds already set aside in the council budget for an economic development/tourism officer, a position which has been vacant since earlier this year and expected to be filled again in Feb 2010,” Mr Saddleton said.

“I can understand completely the frustration felt and expressed by a number of Councillors last week at the need for additional support from council for the WWC. I can assure you and your readers that the Waterfall Way Development Group Committee and the Tourism Bellinger Committee share those frustrations but we are determined to move forward and see WWC not just survive, but be a leading example of the success that can be achieved through a genuine partnering between council and industry,” he said.

“The inference that there has been mismanagement by these current committees is preposterous as is the inference that there was any mismanagement by previous committees or the WWC coordinator.

“Whilst I can't comment on the details of decisions made by previous committees I can say that in my view both the committees and the coordinator were vastly under resourced for the job at hand and they did a very good job in difficult circumstances.

“Remember that all committee members are volunteers and there are a further 38 volunteers involved in the running of the centre,” Mr Saddleton said.

“We are looking forwards now, not backwards, and focused on improving operations at the WWC at all levels - volunteers, management and governance - and we anticipate that the Centre will be a valuable resource well into the future for the local community, local businesses and visitors alike.

“Ticketing sales is a growing activity of the WWC and sales of tickets for the Toni Childs concert in Bellingen's Memorial Hall in January are going extremely well and I would advise anybody planning to attend this concert to secure their tickets soon either online - www.waterfallway.com - or by coming into the Waterfall Way Centre in person.

“There are some fantastic events coming up that will sell tickets through the WWC and with the Christmas school holiday period not too far away we expect to be busy all round.

“There is a get together of current volunteers this Friday 6th Nov, 4pm at WWC and we would welcome anybody to that get together who would like to learn more about what's involved in volunteering at WWC and of course we would be very happy for more volunteers to join the 'WWC family'. I anticipate that most, if not all, current committee members will be there too, and again we would welcome any who would like to come and see for themselves what the Waterfall Way Centre is all about and enjoy the opportunity to meet with WWC volunteers and committee members,” Mr Saddleton concluded.