Despite claims to the contrary, the sale of parts of Kiama's Blue Haven aged care business won't be completed until next year.
In October, a Kiama Municipal Council statement said the aim was to wrap up the sale before councillors' Christmas break.
"Council is currently finalising the expressions of interest evaluation process after which time the shortlisted parties will be invited to formally tender for the purchase of Blue Haven Bonaira," the October statement read.
"This process is anticipated to commence before the end of October and is intended to enable council to make a decision on the sale before the end of the year."
However, delays in the tendering process have torpedoed those plans.
The formal tendering phase, which was supposed to start last month, only began on November 10.
Those bidders on the shortlist are required to lodge a formal tender for the purchase, with the deadline for lodgement being December 19.
That deadline rules out any chance of the council finding a buyer before the end of the year - because the final council meeting for 2023 is on the same day.
The ultimate decision to accept a buyer for the site rests with Kiama councillors, who will vote on it at a formal council meeting.
However, with the tender deadline falling on the same day as the last council meeting, it is unlikely the council's tender evaluation panel will be able to sort through the offers and rank them in a day.
Also, the likelihood of calling an extraordinary meeting would seem slim, given there were just three working days between the December 19 meeting and the Christmas-New Year break.
While the council meeting dates for 2024 have yet to be released, this year councillors didn't meet for the first time until late February. Though there is the possibility of holding a special January meeting to deal with the Blue Haven sale.
The name of the successful purchaser would not be made public until after contracts had been exchanged.
Kiama Council has been working towards the sale since councillors voted to sell off the Bonaira part of the business in October last year.
Since then there have been a number of steps the council needed to complete - including the reclassification of the land Bonaira sits on from community to operational.
That reclassification was overlooked when the construction of Bonaira was completed and no sale could take place while it was tagged as community land.
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
