Scenic Rim councillors have voted 6-1 to challenge the heritage listing of the Beaudesert Pig and Calf Saleyards. 

The big question is: on what grounds will they mount their appeal? 

There were lengthy and heated discussions at Tuesday’s council meeting in which they eventually opted to take on the Queensland Heritage Council. 

But when all was said and done, the answer to that question was less, not more clear.

Council had planned on removing the 61-year-old structure to make way for a car park as part of a town revitalisation and new library project that could cost as much as $22 million.

But a group of locals threw a spanner in those works when they won heritage listing for the saleyards, successfully arguing the ongoing tradition dated back 116-years and held special significance for small lot holders in the region.  

According to the report Scenic Rim Regional Council bureaucrats put to the seven elected officials this week, the only grounds on which they could take the matter to the Planning and Environment Court was that the saleyards do not “satisfy the cultural heritage criteria”.

That would mean challenging both the January 29 decision of the Heritage Council as well as advice from a delegate of the Chief Executive of the Department of Environment and Science.

Both found that the saleyards did meet a number of the specific criteria required for a place to be heritage listed. 

The Heritage Council ruled that the saleyards met three of eight criteria: that it demonstrated “rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland’s cultural heritage” and that it was “important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.

The third criteria it met was one which would no doubt resonate among the hundreds of locals who have signed petitions and who led the charge to heritage list the saleyards: “the place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons”.

But rather than outline how it intended to argue that the saleyards were common or did not have a strong association with the Beaudesert farming community, Scenic Rim councillors voted to lodge their appeal now and work out their reason later. 

Despite several councillors saying this logic made them uncomfortable, all but Councillor Derek Swanborough eventually swallowed it. 

They did so on the basis of timing. The Scenic Rim has until next Friday to lodge an appeal. 

Councillors were told they could withdraw the appeal at any time and sought assurances that council officers would come back to them with more details around the arguments being made and the legal and expert fees required to prosecute them. 

They currently expect legal costs at “circa $50,000 plus additional expert charges”.

Tuesday was their last Ordinary meeting before the deadline to appeal. 

“We are between a rock and a hard place on the timing here,” Mayor Greg Christensen said. 

The mayor argued that the heritage listing could preclude sales from going ahead in the saleyards. 

He did this on the basis of a yet-to-be-finalised engineering report commissioned by council on the saleyards which calls for major upgrades to the site for it to meet environmental and animal welfare standards. 

Council’s report said such upgrades could cost more than $200,000.

But the mayor flagged that the heritage listing could prevent works being done to meet those standards. 

“Sometimes in life there are things called unintended consequences,” he said of the heritage listing. 

The mayor argued the only process through which council could clarify its questions about what could be done to make the site compliant with modern standards was through an appeal. 

He warned that any interpretation of council’s motivation for lodging the appeal other than that it was “trying to execute proper responsibility to ensure the clarity of the commitments around the heritage listing” would “be very, very inappropriate.”

THE DEPARTMENT RESPONDED to questions on this matter from the Guardian & Tribune within 24 hours. 

“Entry of a place in the Queensland Heritage Register does not prevent the owners making changes or additions,” it said in a statement. 

“The Department of Environment and Science would welcome the opportunity to discuss with Scenic Rim Regional Council the possibility of issuing a heritage exemption certificate to enable required upgrades to the saleyards, or other concerns related to the maintenance of the saleyards.”

Despite more than an hour’s talk, when it came time to vote on whether to appeal, it was less clear how Scenic Rim might challenge the department and the heritage council before a court. 

The initial recommendation was that Scenic Rim lodge an appeal “on the grounds that the [saleyards] does not satisfy the heritage criteria”. Those words were dropped from the motion put forward by Beaudesert Councillor Michael Enright on which councillors eventually voted.

Instead his motion added the line that “when further information regarding the impact and implications of the heritage council listing is available it be brought back to council for consideration for further legal action”.

This appeased other councillors, such as Cr Duncan McInnes, who had raised “serious concerns” about what they were being asked to vote on, given the lack of information at hand.  

“This is very open ended, this application, and unless the details are coming back to us and we get a say on whether we proceed with it or withdraw it, I am not keen on the recommendation,” he had said. 

The Guardian & Tribune understands the Planning and Environment Court heavily favours out of court mediation between parties. 

The department said mediation may occur between the Queensland Heritage Council and Scenic Rim Regional Council.

DESPITE a short time-frame being identified as the key factor in endorsing the appeal without outlining grounds on which to do so, this is an issue which has been prominent for months. 

The heritage-listing process began on July 23, when local lawyer Cliff Kroesen submitted the application to the Queensland Heritage Council on behalf of small lot holders and “old timers”.

In September, Scenic Rim Council voted to challenge his application.

In November, Department of Environment and Science heritage experts backed the heritage bid after on the ground investigations.

The saleyards were heritage listed at the end of January. 

Regardless of what occurs next, Cr Swanborough, the only councillor to vote against the appeal, said it was a bad look for council. 

“Lodging an appeal … sends a message out to the community that we don't accept the umpire's decision,” he said.

“I think that is not going to be in our favour and is going to have long term implications for us, if we don't respect what the people want.”