Festival director David Frazer says council's decision has left him questioning where his event, which attracts 5000 people annually and is held at the reserve, "goes from here".
“Our event relies on the support of the local community and particularly this year you would hope council would come out and do all they could to support it,” he said.
As a major stakeholder of Aquatic Reserve, Mr Frazer said the festival's investment had been substantial in the past 10 years.
“Which has seen Riverboats built as a flagship, national event,” he said.
“It’s surprising and disappointing to hear a council, when given an opportunity to upgrade and beautify the precinct, would reject it.”
Mr Frazer said $3 million should be spent in Echuca when the economy had been crippled by COVID-19.
“To reject this proposal on the basis that there is so much uncertainty is counter-intuitive and the community has a right to be outraged,” he said.
“There is enough lack of confidence around.
“The council’s role is to instill and prop up a community and here is an initiative that can do that.”
Council was split 5-4 on its decision to snub government funding and a rescission motion has been submitted.
Those who voted to reject the Regional Development Victoria funding were concerned that more than $500,000 of ratepayers’ money had to be contributed and there was not enough information - including set plans or business case - to support the project.
But the four councillors in favour of the project believe rejecting $3 million from the state government could have far-reaching consequences and will also delay the project for several months.
A Victorian Government spokesperson said the funding, which was part of the building works package, was to stimulate the economy by getting Victorians back to work on hundreds of small projects.
“This is a matter for the local council, but they need to explain why they have knocked back the opportunity to have more locals back in work building the projects Murray Plains’ residents deserve,” the spokesperson said.
Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh said councillors had to answer to the public after turning down funding that represented years of work by council.
“Campaspe Shire’s councillors now have an obligation to explain in detail their reasoning behind rejecting a grant to further enhance Echuca’s vital riverfront development,” he said.
“The shire has put some years of hard work into getting its community plan in place and to have reached the point of being offered a multi-million-dollar funding package and then rejecting it is both disappointing and confusing.
“Councillors have literally voted against their own plan and without any apparent reason – as far as you can tell looking in from the outside – and that is why the ratepayers and residents of the shire must be told the full story.
“Grants of this magnitude are very hard to get and the shire has now sent clear signals to the Victorian Government that they don’t want this kind of assistance.
“I am gravely concerned about how this will impact on future grant applications for other projects right across the shire.”
A Facebook page has been created since the decision was made, calling on the community to pressure council into reversing its decision.
At the time of writing, Stand Up Echuca, the community page set up in response to the decision, had close to 100 likes. It is not known who created the page.
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