Kiama councillors knocking back the release of a range of Blue Haven documents were "voting against transparency", a councillor claimed
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At Tuesday night's meeting, Cr Imogen Draisma called on council to release a suite of documents linked to Blue Haven by July 15.
These included the executive summary of the recent council forensic audit carried out by Forsyths as well as documents related to the Blue Haven independent living units.
"This motion seeks to do exactly what the community is asking for and what a number of stakeholders are asking for," Cr Draisma said.
"Blue Haven is already a stressed asset, there is already public information available to anyone who wishes to seek it that there are issues related to the operation and to the finances of Blue Haven."
Mayor Neil Reilly and other councillors were concerned about the motion in light of advice given by council CEO Jane Stroud.
... you are voting against transparency.
- Kiama Cr Imogen Draisma on a proposal to release Blue Haven documents
"Council have been advised of the legal advice, inability and concerns with the release of the forensic audit," Ms Stroud's advice in the business paper stated.
"That process is still being worked on and implementation of that resolution will not at this time be possible until some matters are resolved."
Cr Reilly said that, while he agreed with the spirit of the motion "we really and truly cannot expose council at this stage to any legal recourse".
Cr Draisma said there was no issue with the legality, given that "it was a given" with any motion that it would be subject to legal advice.
Cr Mark Croxford felt the motion "does not pass the pub test" and called on Cr Reilly to rule it out of order.
Cr Croxford later moved to rule it out of order, which failed.
Before councillors voted down Cr Draisma's motion she made a plea to them.
"I say to those councillors who are voting against this motion, you are voting against transparency, something that you all seem to hold to the highest standard how you wish to conduct yourself in this chamber," she said.
"We are here for the community, so please do your job."
Meanwhile, Kiama councillors voted to release more than 200 pages of historical documents related to the design, construction and funding of Blue Haven Bonaira dating as far back as 2003.
The current council claims that in September 2014, Bonaira was projected to cost $58 million but the final cost in 2019 was actually $106 million.
"It is unclear from the information currently available, how the shortfall was intended to be accommodated," Mayor Neil Reilly said.
"What we can say is that a significant cash shortfall for Council from the Blue Haven Bonaira project clearly exists."
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