IMPORTANT community events in Wagga have been given a boost with council increasing its annual budget allocation from $40,000 to $60,000 for on-street events traffic control.
Wagga City Council (WWCC) is considering the $20,000 budget variation for the 2015/16 financial year due to an increased number of events planned.
There are seven events held on an annual basis, such as Wagga Gold Cup and Anzac Day service and morning parades, but irregular or one-off events also require traffic control.
There are 12 events earmarked for the first half of the 2015/16 year, including Freedom of the City and the Kangaroo March re-enactment, both requiring significant traffic control.
The Kangaroo March event in September will see streets from the Victory Memorial Gardens along Fitzmaurice Street, Travers Street and Hampden Avenue be closed, costing an estimated $5000.
While efficiency gains have been made over the past five years by contracting traffic controllers, the cost of the operations has still increased due to higher expectations around the management of risk associated with traffic control.
Traffic control will also be provided for an additional six events, such as New Year’s Eve, funded from a separate budget for the specific event or a grant made to the organiser.
The variation is likely to come from the events sponsorship budget, which has an allocation of $100,000 in 2015/16.
