LAUNCESTON aldermen have unanimously endorsed a proposal for council general manager Robert Dobrzynski to negotiate with Lethborg's Smallgoods over the sale of the council-owned Killafaddy livestock market.
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The council decided last year to close Killafaddy and offer it up for expressions of interest as a going concern.
A 2012 review of the facility found that there had been a decline in usage of the livestock yards usage by the region's producers who now either sold direct to processors or used other corporate saleyards in the state.
Roberts Ltd, one of two livestock agents that sell at Killafaddy, has this year decided to move to its own upgraded livestock market at Powranna - about 40 kilometres from the Launceston facility.
Lethborg's Smallgoods neighbours Killafaddy.
Company managing director Heath Lethborg last year said Lethborg's had a $10 million redevelopment planned for its site over the next two years.
The facility's operating deficit averaged over five years was $70,267, while the last financial year's deficit was $124,098.
It has cost the council $436,000 to run the site over the past seven years.
A facilities management report to aldermen anticipated legislative changes in stock-handling requirements and ageing infrastructure would have resulted in up to $2.8 million in capital expenditure on Killafaddy by the council over five to seven years.
