Skydive the Beach got its way at Monday night’s Wollongong council meeting, with a majority of councillors voting to deal directly with the business instead of calling for public proposals.
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After more than two hours of heated debate, Labor and Liberal councillors, along with the Lord Mayor, agreed to negotiate exclusively with the multimillion-dollar company to work out the terms of a land lease and drop-zone licences in Stuart Park.
The decision was welcomed by skydiving bosses Anthony Boucaut and Anthony Ritter who watched from the packed public gallery with a large group of their blue-shirt wearing employees.
They said the vote paved the way for Skydive the Beach to ‘‘cement its future in the region and expand its head office team in Wollongong’’.
The debate about the use of the North Wollongong park – which has been a skydiving landing site for nearly 20 years – had been sparked by the firm’s plans to build a new headquarters.
The current licences, which allow skydivers to land in Stuart and Dalton parks, have expired and need to be renegotiated, and there also needs to be an agreement over how much the company should pay to build on public land.
In arguing the case to skip a public process, Liberal councillor Michelle Blicavs said the council needed to recognise businesses that had done well for the city.
She said the council would be able to overcome any concerns about transparency and integrity by creating a probity plan when setting the terms for the direct deal.
Leigh Colacino highlighted the value the brand and intellectual property Skydive the Beach had built up over the past 16 years, saying this gave it the right to continue operating in Stuart Park.
He also said the council should not risk losing a long-standing local company.
‘‘I’m sick and tired of being told we’re not following correct governance,’’ he said.
‘‘Good governance does not just revolve around probity and transparency, we must also be mindful of risk.’’
Labor’s David Brown outlined a series of potential issues with the direct negotiation, originally saying a public call for proposals was the best way to balance the competing interests of transparency and support for the business.
He eventually agreed to support his colleagues, but warned the NSW government could still say no to the deal as it had to be assessed under a stringent ‘‘uniqueness test’’ and Independent Commission Against Corruption guidelines. This means the government may reject the direct deal and ask that a strict tender process be instituted, he said.
‘‘This is going to require a black-belt submission to get this through the probity process to get that state body to say you can negotiate directly, so staff should go their hardest,’’ he said.
‘‘What we are saying is that we are happy to support one player to the exclusion of all others, and we should not take that position lightly.’’
Greens Jill Merrin unsuccessfully asked for the council to review its support for skydiving in Stuart Park, and to cease allowing the activity altogether in that space in five years.
She said skydiving should be moved to the less central Dalton Park due to community concerns about private use of public space, and called for a ‘‘free and open’’ competitive process to decide who should hold the licences.
In a similar vein, independent councillor Vicki Curran said she was concerned about the legality of the direct deal and said councillors needed more information about the procedure before making a decision.
The direct deal with Skydive the Beach was eventually supported 8-4, with the Greens and two independent councillors voting against.
The council resolved to seek two independent valuations for the land lease and drop zone licences before beginning the negotiations, and to use the highest value as a starting point for the lease.
Liberal councillor John Dorahy did not vote or contribute to the debate, as he is a shareholder of the newly listed company.