Liberal Councillors allege that Blacktown City Council broke the law when it sold its buildings to a major Sydney developer last year. They say the council now has to pay $45-million-dollars to rent back the properties and cover other charges over the next 7 years.
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00:00It was a deal set to transform Blacktown.
00:04This is an investment into our city.
00:08Last year, the Labour-controlled council sold these sites to Walker Corporation for $42
00:13million.
00:14Liberal councillors are now claiming it was illegal.
00:16I absolutely believe that the way we've gone about things has absolutely breached the Local
00:21Government Act.
00:22The Local Government Act stipulates disposal of property of the council, or any contract
00:27with installments over a period of two years must go to tender.
00:31A copy of the contract of sale acquired by the ABC clearly defines it as sale of property
00:36with installments over 36 months.
00:39I'm confident that our expert legal advice, that we have abided by the New South Wales
00:46Local Government Act, that this was a sale of land.
00:50Liberal councillors say Blacktown will have to pay millions of dollars to rent the sites.
00:54It is so bad for the people of Blacktown.
00:57An earlier version of the deal estimated the sale price at more than double what was
01:01paid.
01:02That's an objectively worse deal, isn't it?
01:04We've got independent legal evaluators that evaluated the land, and we got what the proper
01:11value is for our land.
01:13The legality of the deal is not the only thing being questioned.
01:16In 2021, ratepayers were told proceeds from the sale would significantly fund new council
01:21buildings.
01:23According to the Liberals, Blacktown would still be hundreds of millions of dollars short.
01:27We have to find reserves that we can sell, and then that's not even enough.
01:34It's just a Liberal party on the eve of a local government election try to be relevant
01:40because they haven't been able to contribute in the last eight years.
01:44Liberal councillors say if they win control, they promise to review the deal.
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