THE City of Greater Bendigo moved to bail out Bendigo’s struggling ice skating rink with a $100,000 interest-free loan on March 5, 2008.
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The council made a three-year loan to the privately owned skating rink in Golden Square on the condition it met requirements to upgrade and maintain the facility, met a financial plan, increased its level of volunteerism and continued with a council representative (Councillor Rod Fyffe) on its management team.
Cr Fyffe, who was a BISA (Bendigo Ice Staking Association) member, said the rink was a valuable asset the council needed to keep open while the BISA met the council’s stringent parameters.
It is a pity he did not say that about his local swimming pool.
The council voted unanimously to support the skating rink’s rescue package, which included help to cover the $82,000 debt the centre owed the landlord and the YMCA, and $9702 expected in upgrade costs to improve the rink’s safety, performance and efficiency. Cr Fyffe said the facility needed to be kept open as it was a point of interest and differentiation for Bendigo.
The point is, did the council ever recover the $100,000 loan given to a private facility?
