At the July meeting, Upper Hunter Shire Council accepted a recommendation to put future Warbirds Over Scone events out to tender.
After the event suffered two financial losses both years they have run it, a review found the best option is for Council to step away from being key organisers of the airshow.
“The staff put the recommendation up and councillors agreed that we’re not going to run another one, but we’re certainly keen to go out and ask other people if they wish to run it,” Mayor Maurice Collison said.
“I was one that pushed for the original airshow, and I was probably one to give it one more crack, but you’ve got to be professional enough to say let’s have a real close look at this.”
Warbirds Over Scone, held in March of this year, sold 4,100 tickets, and put an estimated $2.8 million into the local economy.
However, this was not enough to justify the $133,976 loss that council suffered, in addition to the $219,878 loss recorded in 2023.
“It didn’t fail, but it still lost over $100,000, but we go around and ask all the business houses, and people were travelling to Quirindi and Tamworth for accommodation, Scone was booked out,” Cr Collison said.
“We are fairly proud of what we put in there, but that’s not fixing the Councils bottom line.”
It is hoped that someone in the business of putting on airshows will take on Warbirds Over Scone to see the event continue, with Cr Collison expressing that he would hope future councils would elect to support it in the same way they do the King of the Ranges Stockman’s Challenge, Aberdeen Highland Games and the Merriwa Festival of the Fleeces.
