18 NOVEMBER 2020
ISSUE 215
REAL INDEPENDENT LOCAL WEEKLY NEWS
News
Public housing vacant for eight years
The award winning and internationally recognised program at The Glen has achieved formal approval to build a 20-bed drug and alcohol rehabilitation service at Wyong Creek. See page 3
Out&About
A boarded-up and neglected townhouse duplex at Bateau Bay is one of 58 vacant public housing properties across the Central Coast.
Freemasons on the Central Coast, along with the Lodges of District 21, have donated $8,000 to support Camp Breakaway... See page 14
Education
See page 4 for more The Entrance MP David Mehan, with Debbie outside neglected townhouses at Bateau Bay
Council now has two $50M loans Central Coast Council Administrator, Dick Persson, has continued on with a councillor resolution to secure a $50M loan. Council now has two $50M loans, one is for debt refinancing and capital works taken out in May as a normal part of their ongoing processes while this latest loan is for operational matters. Persson, installed by the State Government on October 30, called an extraordinary meeting on November 11 and immediately went into a confidential session for 10 minutes before re-emerging to publicly accept the loan. The Administrator said he had convened the meeting to deal with a matter of financial
urgency. The loan is a principle and interest loan with a fixed fiveyear term amortised over 15 years. No interest rate was mentioned. Persson said he understood that it was Council’s commercial advantage not to name the institution, but he sought assurances from CEO, Rik Hart, and CFO, Natalia Cowley, that the loan was from an institution with a top credit rating. Persson’s confidential dealing of the loan comes after the councillors were criticised for hiding behind confidential meetings as they attempted to deal with the Council’s financial crisis. The councillors, who were
suspended the day Administrator Persson was appointed, voted on October 12 to secure necessary external borrowing up to $100M. At that time, Council said that it could attempt to get the loan from TCorp, or any other emergency funding sources. It was for the purposes of maintaining Council’s liquidity until such time as the actions within the then draft 100 day recovery action plan were implemented. At the October 12 Council meeting, the now suspended councillors Greg Best, Bruce McLachlan, Jilly Pilon and now former councillors, Troy Marquart and Rebecca Gale, voted against getting a loan. Councillors were alerted
earlier in the month to an expected deficit that had more than doubled to $89M and immediate and serious liquidity issues. Council then approached the State Government for permission to use restricted funds for operational cash, but the State Government refused. Parliamentary Secretary for Central Coast, Adam Crouch, said on October 14 that the NSW Government “will not bail out Central Coast Council from its financial mismanagement”. Council met on October 20, and again on October 21, to make urgent representations to the Minister for Local Government seeking permission for the partial utilisation of restricted funds to
In its final year of a four-year Disability Inclusion Action Plan, Central Coast Council has already chalked up a long list of significant improvements... See page 25
make staff payroll for the week ending October 18, and that should the Minister’s permission not be forthcoming, 2,157 Council staff might not be paid. The State Government then bailed out the council with $6.2M. The bail out was from the Office of Local Government’s early provision of Council’s Financial Assistance Grant Payments, but along with the cash came a “please explain”. Council was given seven days to explain why it should not be suspended. The suspension came on October 30 and will be reviewed in three months.
Ben Cohen starred with the bat for Lisarow Ourimbah in the first grade cricket T20 match on Thursday, November 12, versus Northern Power.
Merilyn Vale
See page 32
Sport
Puzzles page 19
Office: Level 2, 86-88 Mann St, Gosford & 3 Amy Close, Wyong - Phone: 4325 7369 - editorial@centralcoastnews.net - www.coastcommunitynews.com.au