GAWLER Council and event organisers could have to fork out more than $2500 every time an event is held at the newly-revamped Walker Place.

A report presented at council’s Corporate and Community Services committee meeting last night revealed the costs associated with holding a community event in the space, which forms part of the wider $2.2 million revamp of the Julian Terrace precinct redevelopment.

To hold events in the space, council needs to close down the one-way road which cuts through Walker Place, meaning it needs to put its traffic management plan in place.

The report showed it would cost between $1100 and $2300, depending on the number of attendees and the day of the week, to put that plan into practice.

On top of traffic management costs, the council also needs to spend $485 for council workers to remove and reinstate bollards.

If a community group is running the event these costs will ultimately fall onto council, while if the event is run by a business the commercial entity will foot the bill.

The council-incurred costs are included in its 2020/21 budget, passed a fortnight ago, which includes $5000 in the Walker Place activation budget and $10,000 from a COVID-19 community event stimulus fund.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on community in a number of ways and has seen the cancellation or postponement of several large community events,” the report read.

“The activation of Walker Place for small to medium-sized events is timely. Since its redevelopment, Walker Place can now be utilised by community organisations and groups as a safe, accessible and useable venue to facilitate a range of activation opportunities.”

The report also discussed the viability of moving the Aussie Produce Market, currently held at the Gawler Visitor Information Centre carpark on Lyndoch Road, to Walker Place.

It found a move would be financially unviable, as it would cost the market’s operators an extra $130,000 per year.