The Goulburn South Caravan Park sale on Friday is some $250,000 above expectation and a handy injection for currently unfunded projects.

It joins $2.5 million fetched last October from the sale of Goulburn airport. Like the airport funds, money from the caravan park sale will be quarantined in a reserve.

The villages wouldn’t mind a sizable chunk to replace bridges like that on Currawang Road, constantly put on the backburner. It could help upgrade roads or pay for projects identified in village plans several years ago.

Goulburn also has claims for a slice of the pie, whether for CBD improvements or an archival storage centre.

Privatisation has landed Council much needed funds but also mixed success.

Most would agree the caravan park has thrived under lease to a private party.

Old cabins have been replaced with new ones and amenities upgraded to entice travellers. It is now regarded as one of the better facilities to visit.

The jury is still out on Goulburn Airport and whether its sale is a benefit. Users would say not, for the higher fees they’ve been slugged with and the slow pace of improvements.

Its sale price was also widely regarded in the industry as cheap and Council’s policing of sale conditions drew criticism.

The 2000 sale of Goulburn saleyards for $100 tops the lot in terms of dud deals for the community. A promised new saleyard has not eventuated, agents have been hit with higher fees for the current site and Goulburn has been leaching stock.

Last year the council agreed to hand management of the Goulburn Aquatic Centre to the YMCA, following a 12- month trial. Here, fees have also been a sticking point but the organisation has transformed the facility into a much more vibrant one and pulled people through the door.

We hope the same can be said for Goulburn’s new multifunction centre in years to come. Its management has also been outsourced.

Mayor Geoff Kettle does not hide his privatisation bent and drive for outside money. He argues Council has to work smarter given tight state and federal funds.

That’s understandable and a sign of a more business minded Council. New general manager Warwick Bennett will likely take this to another level.

But in the rush to ‘asset rationalisation,’ the community’s needs should figure just as highly.

From reaction to date, the move to sell off even some of Goulburn’s parks will hit strong resistance.

For Council it could just be a bridge too far.