Independent councillor Vicki Curran has asked senior Wollongong City Council staff to consider installing “24/7 security” at Skydive the Beach’s existing Stuart Park headquarters.
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Since a document recommending the old building – which stands nearby the site where Skydive the Beach plans to build a new headquarters – be heritage listed surfaced this week, a number of Mercury readers have raised the prospect that there may be a “mysterious fire” and referred to the history of nearby Stuart Park restaurant, the Lagoon.
In an email to three senior staff, Cr Curran said she was concerned about the comments about the cottage, which have suggested someone should “just burn the thing down”.
“Some are already predicting in print and social media the likelihood of a fire burning down the caretakers cottage,” Cr Curran wrote. “Perhaps 24/7 security of the cottage should be considered.”
On January 9, 2001, a fire destroyed the old kiosk housing the Lagoon restaurant (pictured above), which – owned by then Lord Mayor George Harrison’s family – had previously been embroiled in controversy over plans to expand.
After the fire, arson was immediately investigated, however the Harrisons rejected any suggestions it had been deliberately lit and the coroner ruled there was nothing suspicious about the fire.
Plans to rebuild emerged almost immediately after the incident, but took several years to come to fruition due to heated debate within the council over the terms of the lease.
Three and a half years after the fire the restaurant was rebuilt. The Harrison’s were granted a lease extension to 2026. In 2015, company was paying the council $58,365 a year to lease the land where the Lagoon stands.
Asked if they were concerned about the threat of a fire at Stuart Park’s Caretakers Cottage, or whether they would heed Cr Curran’s warning the council said it did not “believe a ratepayer funded security guard posted at the site is warranted at this point in time”.
Likewise, Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said he believed there was a significant amount of public surveillance in the area and did not believe concerns about the increased prospect of fire were necessary.
Meantime, council staff said they had started work on “identifying, gathering and collating relevant background documents pertaining to the Skydive The Beach proposal” to place on a public website about the vexed issue.
“Given the long and complex history of the matter, this will take some time to compile in full,” a spokeswoman said.
“Council is working to build the web page and commence publication of these documents as soon as possible.”
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
