A NSW Government decision to walk away from a golden goose offer for the state-owned Jetty Foreshores land has baffled City of Coffs Harbour who planned to secure the parcel for the community.
The City had tabled an offer of $6.7 million for the land – roughly three times more than what Property and Development NSW paid Transport for NSW for the land in October.
The City's offer to the state government was further gold-plated as it included two prime location CBD blocks of land, where zoning would permit builds of up to 14-storeys.
"Those blocks alone would have enabled the state government to pursue its goal and pledge to the electorate of delivering increased stocks of affordable housing," City of Coffs Harbour Mayor Cr Paul Amos said.
"Everyone knows the inner city is the best placed location for affordable housing – not some pie-in-the-sky thought bubble that it could happen on waterfront land at the Foreshores."
NSW Minister for Lands and Property, Steve Kamper, this week advised the state would not take up the offer for the Jetty Foreshores land as it does not "create significant value for the state" or "deliver identified government priorities for the region".
The City and the state have been in a tug of war over the Jetty Foreshores land, with the council wanting to upgrade the precinct and preserve it as part of the public's inheritance. By contrast, the state has proposed a future which would see some of the waterfront land sold to private developers.
"The City's offer to buy the land represented full market value," Mayor Amos said.
"It opened the door for the state to build immediate affordable housing in the CBD and to support the NSW Government's plans to establish a services hub in Coffs Harbour."
The generous cash component of the City's offer was not publicly disclosed while the deal was on the table, but can now be revealed after the NSW Government's formal rejection of the bid.
"The reasons given by the Minister are very disappointing because they talk only to the needs of the state government and not those of the community," Cr Amos said.
