$1.17m charge halts project

Mayor Phillip Silver.

A BALLINA aged-care development has been put on hold after the developer refused to pay Ballina Shire Council more than $1.1 million in contributions for sewerage and water.

Croft Developments has deferred further work on its $15 million, 120-bed aged-care facility after the council set the contribution at $1,176,116, and will now move its staff to Queensland.

“We have funding approved and are ready to start work on the Ballina structure, but we will not pay the exorbitant fees charged by council that are excessive and founded on a poor basis,” the company’s executive director, Graeme Croft, said.

He said the project team would be redirected from Ballina to other company developments in Cairns and Tugun, where developer costs were significantly lower.

However, the council said Mr Croft had known about the contribution since the project was approved in April, 2009.

Mr Croft accused the council of being opportunistic and greedy and said it had not considered the social and employment opportunities that would be lost if the project did not proceed.

“This development will create more than 100 new jobs, pumping $5 million of new employment in the Ballina,” Mr Croft said.

The council has said the contribution would assist with the ongoing need to upgrade and expand the capacity of sewerage infrastructure.

The council has also asked Mr Croft to show how the method used to calculate water and sewerage costs were wrong and to provide technical advice on how the demand for water and sewerage would be less than that calculated by the council.

“It is important for any council to ensure that adequate infrastructure is in place to cater for new development and that the burden of financing this infrastructure is not placed entirely on the existing population,” Mayor Phillip Silver said.