Short-term reprieve for Mallee research station
Posted
The Mallee research station has been given a six-month reprieve and will stay open at least until the end of next year.
Agriculture Minister Joe Helper made the announcement at the site yesterday, but said there would be no rethink of the Government's plans.
A local research group that has been working for two years on a plan to take over the site says it is upsetting it has been undermined by the State Government's decision and will now have to go back to the drawing board.
Chairman Peter Walch says the group planned to take over the operation of the site, but the plans were based on the Department of Primary Industries remaining involved to meet some running costs.
"[These include] who pays for light globes and who changes light globes and who pays for the power to run the lights," he said.
"We also need security there, we need people to unlock the door in the morning, we need people to shut the door at night, it's the boring details that organisations need."
