MEMBERS of Warilla RSL Sub-branch are concerned the Shellharbour Air Force Cadets could be without a facility and end up on the streets.
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The Shellharbour City 338 Squadron has been eagerly waiting to move into the new purpose-built cadet facility at Illawarra Regional Airport, since talk began more than eight years ago.
Construction of the new facility was stalled when asbestos was found on site in 2006 and again this year. Shellharbour City Council own the land and are in an agreement to lease process with the Australian Defence Force, who undertook the work.
Currently the building is complete, however mounds of contaminated material sitting on the land are stalling the final construction phase of landscaping and civil works.
A Defence spokesperson said they were working with the council “through the complexity of removal and remediation activities”.
“The cadet facility is in the final stages of completion … it is estimated that this work will take approximately 10 weeks. Works can commence immediately after contamination removal and remediation work is completed.”
With the sale settlement for the current cadet facility, the Old Warilla Chambers set for this week, Warilla RSL vice president Don Briggs said it was a case of ‘the building’s up, the lights are on and none one is home”.
“Finally we get to the last hurdle of the construction and for six months it has been sitting here almost finished while they sort out what to do with this contaminated material,” Mr Briggs said.
“It’s basically all ready to go, all that has to be done is to seal the ground with bitumen.
“We need the council to step-up or at least decide what they’re doing with it, because now almost 40 cadets won’t have a place to go.”
A council spokesperson said they understood the cadets were in negotiations with new owners of the old chambers to extend use and that they had offered the Centenary Hall as an alternative location.
Following the completion of the cadet facility work, a formal lease agreement- between council and defence - will be entered into for a 10-year period.