Shellharbour council’s efforts to protect the future revenue from Shell Cove from the clutches of Wollongong residents have been all but snuffed out, with the NSW government advising staff they “cannot do anything” to quarantine the millions during a merger proposal.
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In March, councillors agreed to investigate how to protect the multi-million dollar surplus, which has now been estimated at just under $72 million.
However, the Office of Local Government has now advised the council “cannot do anything to safeguard the Shell Cove distribution during the period when the council is under a merger proposal”.
Mayor Marianne Saliba said the Shellharbour community had “taken the risk for this state-significant entrepreneurial development and deserves the financial windfall in return”.
“We don’t want to see the Shellharbour’s ratepayer’s $71.9M dividend from the Shell Cove Project being spent to fill the void in the infrastructure backlog at West Dapto, Wollongong’s CBD or anywhere else other than in the city that worked so hard to earn these returns over the last 30 years of development,” she said.
“The driving force behind this development was to diversify the local economy and provide a financial return to our residents, and we need to honour that by retaining this money to be spent in the Shellharbour City area.”
The council’s last resort will be to write to Premier Mike Baird and Minister for Local Government Paul Toole to ask that the money be “ring-fenced as part of any proclamation for the sole benefit of the citizens of [Shellharbour]”, if the Wollongong/Shellharbour merger goes ahead.
The Shell Cove project – which includes the housing development, town centre, golf course and marina – is estimated to be finished by 2025. At that time, the council and developer Australand are expected to share in the surplus from the project.
Councillors will vote on the Shell Cove motion at their meeting on Tuesday.
