A PORT Stephens Councillor wants the state government to enforce a moratorium on major infrastructure developments until more is known about the proposed merger with Newcastle City Council.
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Geoff Dingle, from Medowie, believes the new council will be “loaded … with debt and low cash levels” unless more is done to control spending during the period between now and an eventual merger.
In particular, Cr Dingle wants the state government to intervene to stop the council going ahead with a new sports complex worth between $3 and $4 million in Medowie.
The complex includes a club house and bowling green, and is supported by the majority of the council.
But Cr Dingle opposes the plan, and believes funding it could breach state government guidelines issued to councils subject to a merger that state councils “should only expend monies in accordance with the detailed budget adopted for the purposes of implementing their Operational Plans”.
It also states council’s “should not enter into a contract or undertaking involving the expenditure or receipt by the council of an amount equal to or greater than $250,000 or 1 per cent of the council’s revenue from rates”, unless the decision was made before the beginning of the merger proposal period. The council adopted the plan for the club on December 8. The state government announced the plan for the merger on December 18. The development application for the project was lodged on December 21.
But Cr Dingle says the project should be halted because the council intends to fund it through developer contributions and borrowed money. The council want to allocate $1.5 million to the club from the Medowie Section 94 plan, borrow the remaining $2.367 million, and fund repayments “through future general rate revenue and future Section 94”.
The sport’s complex is part of the council’s overall Medowie master plan, but the $1.5 million is not part of the council’s Section 94 developer contributions plan.
“A moratorium must come into play or we will see millions of dollar of ratepayers capital resources spent on follies,” he said.
The club has been pushed by Deputy Mayor Chris Doohan, who said he didn’t understand Cr Dingle’s opposition.
“It’s a political position,” he said.
He said Cr Dingle was using the amalgamation as a “stalling technique … to deny the people of Medowie a facility they desperately need”.
“As far as I’m concerned the fight over the amalgamation is not done and dusted and I’ve still got the gloves on,” he said.
“One thing is for certain if Newcastle gets hold of Port Stephens’ money the people of Port Stephens will never see this club.”
