A Extraordinary Meeting of Kiama Council to be held today (Thursday 1 February) to try and stop the sale of Blue Haven Bonaira residential aged care facility is being opposed by Council CEO Jane Stroud, who has put the sale of the facility out to tender.
The Council (pictured above), located 120km south of Sydney in the Illawarra region, backflipped on a decision to sell Blue Haven Bonaira in May 2022, and in October 2022 again decided to sell off its aged care assets due to the home's poor financial performance but intended to hold onto its Independent Living Units.
A tender process for the sale commenced in August 2023, with StewartBrown Advisory appointed to coordinate the tender and sale.
Greens Councillor Kathy Rice is now seeking to suspend the sale of Blue Haven Bonaira and, secondly, wants the NSW Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig to independently review the sale process. The decision to call the Extraordinary Meeting was made days after the United Services Union (UWU) called for the Council to be sacked and an administrator appointed due to its poor financial management.
Ms Stroud said the motion to suspend the sale "is intentionally politically motivated and not in the greater public interest", adding her professional advice is that the motion to stop the sale "is unlawful". She said for the motions to be debated, there would need to be three clauses for Council to consider:
- End the sale tender for Blue Haven Bonaira.
- Ask the Local Government Planning Minister to intervene to stop the sale of Blue Haven Bonaira
- Kiama Council urgently considers its cash flow without the sale
Kiama Council spent $105 million building Blue Haven Bonaira. Auditors Forsyth Accounting in July 2023 found Kiama Council underestimated the cost of building the aged care home by about $30 million.
The auditors said the cost of the project was the main factor in the Council’s deteriorating financial position. The Council is currently $8 million in deficit, largely due to Blue Haven Bonaira.
A loan to TCorp, due to be paid on the Blue Haven Bonaira sale, is attracting interest of $700,000 per annum.
