After all, the application advertised for five weeks over February and March this year received 95 submissions.

Of those, 88 were from the public and seven from referral or public authorities.

Most were opposed to the application on several grounds including proximity to houses, odour, noise, truck and traffic concerns, operational matters, flood and water issues and a desire to retain the current Gillies Street saleyards.

Due to the sheer number of submissions – and the fact the council alone will never be able to adequately resolve these concerns – the application should go to an independent arbiter.

Given the length of time – five years and counting – that this application has been in the pipeline, it needs to be done right and done right now. 

There seems to be much opposition to the proposal in Miners Rest. 

People in favour of a state-of-the-art saleyards might refer to them as NIMBYs but the residents have every right to express their concerns.

Once a complex of this size is in place, it will not be moving for a very long time, if ever.

They need to know their homes and lifestyle will not be affected.

But the city as a whole also needs the issue resolved. 

Either we get a new complex that rivals the best in the state as promised by operators Palisade Investments, without negatively impacting on nearby residents, or the current site gets a multi-million dollar overhaul.

However, an independent umpire is needed to make the recommendations that are in everyone’s best interest so the application can move forward. 

It has been dragging on for way too long.