Call for public view of Shell Cove

MAIRI MANLEY

SHELLHARBOUR Deputy Mayor Michele Greig wants the council to release the Shell Cove Management Agreement for public viewing.

She is also asking that the agreement be made available for councillors to view in their own time to gain a better understanding of the document. Cr Greig said councillors had been invited to view the document by appointment at the council office.

"Most councillors work through the day," she said. "The management agreement is a large and complex document, with very detailed jargon.

"I feel that viewing the document under the watchful eye of a council officer would be intimidating to most councillors."

A council spokesperson said the council would not be acting in the best interests of the community if the agreement was made available in its entirety for general viewing because it contained material that was "commercial in confidence".

"This classification is used to preclude commercial competitors from obtaining information that may compromise the financial viability of the project or obtain intellectual property on the way it has been structured," the spokesperson said.

"The Shell Cove Management Agreement was signed in 1993 with the council resolving that many parts of the document were "?commercial in confidence'.

"This position was tested in 1994 when an opponent of the development applied for release of the document under an FOI. Council referred the document to the Office of the Ombudsman for an opinion on the confidentiality of the document.

"The Ombudsman ruled that the only way the document could be released would be if significant portions of the document were deleted.

"Following that opinion council resolved to release the edited document and it has been available to the public since under FOI."

Cr Greig said that while council agreed in 1993 that the document should not be made public, changes had been made since that time.

"These changes have been described as minor on a number of occasions," she said.

Cr Greig said one of those changes was the adjustment of the end date of the term to December 31, 2020.

"It can be argued that adding an extra eight years to an agreement is a major change," she said.

Cr Greig said there was a need for public confidence to be lifted and that trust needed to be re-established between Shellharbour City Council and the community.