“We are meeting with council’s general manager Adrian Butler for the official signing on the second of January hopefully, of the documentation to run the event,” lions club president Stuart Whisson told The Free Press.
“We’ve met with council for the past 12 months about this event and the possible running of it. Our members are keen to take it on and we’ve had talks with the Rotary club. We have a good working relationship with Rotary and we’re confident we can run it.”
With the national championships attracting plenty of participants and a huge number of tourists, the Corowa Lions Club know the event’s significant economic boost to Corowa, for accommodation outlets and business trade.
“It’s a boost for our store holders,” Mr Whisson said. “It’s always a good day, always sold a lot of retail.”
For over 20 years and up to 2020, Federation Council has conducted the iconic event which attracts around 5,000 people. The event stopped in 2020 due to Covid 19.
At its monthly meeting on December 17, Federation Council unanimously agreed, on the motion of Crs Andrew Kennedy and David Bott, to transfer the ownership and operational responsibilities of the Australian Billycart Championships, including associated assets such as ramps, billycarts, and naming rights, to the Corowa Lions Club or another appropriate organisation, should they wish to host the event in future years.
Cr David Harrison said that Corowa has been the poorer for not having the billycart championships. “The last few years have shown that we can’t rely on high river levels,” he said.
“We need to promote other attractions in Corowa apart from water skiing and wake boating, so this a very good thing to have back in Corowa.”
Cr Kennedy said the shops in Corowa need the tourists at Easter which is boosted by having the billycart championships. “The river went down last year and they all left,” he said.
Councillors asked how council can assist as there are sure to be some council-related costs to be incurred, such as street cleaning, an example which has been discussed between council and Corowa Lions Club members, which total 43.
Cr Derek Schoen suggested council’s street sweeping before the event could be conducted later in the week. The suggestion was well received. Mr Butler added there would have to be an after event street clean up with costs.
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