By JOLENE OGLE
MAYOR Noel Playford has labelled the decision to award Noosa just a portion of the requested de-amalgamation settlement as “ridiculous, outrageous and politically motivated”.
Mayor Playford’s comments come after Minister for Local Government David Crisafulli announced last Wednesday Noosa Council would receive just $1.6 million of the $20 million sought in de-amalgamation settlement.
Mr Crisafulli said it was clear Noosa was owed $400,000 from the repeal of the carbon tax and a further $1.2 million from Unitywater, but the remaining $18.9 million would remain with Sunshine Coast Regional Council due to the review being unable to reach a decision.
Mr Crisafulli, who promised a decision on the matters by the end of the year, said both councils should take responsibility for the lack of a decision as both were not forthcoming with information.
Mr Playford said the Noosa Council staff worked more than 500 hours to collate the information needed and said he expected there would be “all sorts of claims from armchair critics” about the decision, but urged the community to be understanding.
“Before they throw mud, I want to let our community know that some council staff have spent a huge amount of their own time in an attempt to see Noosa people get a fair share of the split cash following de-amalgamation,” he said.
“Imagine their disappointment when the independent consultant’s recommendations on the big ticket items were ignored and the Minister made his own outrageous, politically-motivated decision.”
“I feel sorry for the (Noosa) staff who put in an incredible amount of time.”
Mr Playford said Sunshine Coast Regional Council (SCRC) staff hindered the process by supplying the wrong information to the review consultant, but Sunshine Coast Council Mayor Mark Jamieson said the claims were “untrue”.
“Sunshine Coast Council thoroughly, expeditiously and repeatedly provided all information requested throughout the review process,” he said.
“Any suggestion to the contrary is completely untrue and uninformed. Sunshine Coast Council officers spent more than 600 hours dedicated to collecting the information and responding to requests for information as part of the review. This included the provision of 57MB of data.”
Mayor Jamieson said the final de-amalgamation cash allocation was in line with the Queensland Treasury Corporation’s prediction at the beginning of the de-amalgamation process.
“The Queensland Audit Office also tested the proposed balances to be transferred to Noosa Shire Council, and noted this council’s methodology was consistent with that of Queensland Treasury Corporation,” he said.
“Sunshine Coast Council has received its sixth consecutive unqualified audit report from the Queensland Audit Office under extremely challenging circumstances throughout de-amalgamation, substantiating our financial accountability and soundness.”
Mr Palyford said Mr Crisafulli ignored the recommendations of the consultant and gave “all the money to the Sunshine Coast Council”.
“This includes $7 million of developer contributions that Regional Council staff transferred out of a Noosa reserve fund after the successful de-amalgamation vote, last year,” he said.
“Sunshine Coast Council staff included expenditure of $383,000 on the Coolum Sports Complex as justification for taking the $7 million from Noosa’s development contributions.
“Of course, Coolum isn’t in the Noosa Shire, so that just shows how ridiculous the Minister’s decision to allow them to keep Noosa’s money was.”
Mr Playford said Noosa Council would seek legal advice on whether the move was legal.
“Our understanding is that development contributions must be used for specific infrastructure and cannot be spent elsewhere,” he said.
An additional $11 million was also sought as Noosa’s contribution to the current water reserve, which Mr Playford said was built up prior to the creation of Unitywater in 2010.
“The Noosa community contributed $22 million of the $48 million total water cash reserve at amalgamation. Now we get $4 million from the current reserve of $35 million following the Minister’s outrageous decision,” he said.
“Is it any wonder, with blatant political decisions like this just before an election, that politicians have such a poor reputation?”
Mr Playford said the council would now look forward to the new year and what 2015 would bring for the Noosa community.
