The Warrnambool council last night voted against closing the city’s saleyards.

Only Mayor Micheal Neoh voted in favour of the proposal which would have closed the saleyards and seen the Victorian Livestock Exchange (VLE) build a regional saleyards facility at Cudgee.

A motion by councillor Jennifer Lowe to set up a reference group which will consider all options and report to council in three months was adopted.

VLE director Greg Walsh says the company is unlikely to make another proposal to the council.

“Council have decided to go the same way that the Ballarat council went two years ago. We don’t want to be part of that process,” he said.

The president of the Warrnambool Stock Agents Association, Kieran Johnstone, says the decision validates its campaign against closing the saleyards.

Cr Neoh says it may be hard to select who will make up the reference group.

“One would imagine that the planning needs to be done by the municipality where the proposal will go, so that’s another debate, how much funding we put into this process and whether councils want to develop a position or a policy before they even set up the reference group,” he said.

More than 500 people attended the meeting.