Skydive the Beach will continue to use Stuart Park for a skydiving landing site and construct a new building as Wollongong City Council agreed at the meeting on April 27 to negotiate an agreement directly with the company instead of announcing a public tender.
Subject to approval by the Crown Lands Division, the negotiations would cover licences to land in Stuart and Dalton parks, and facilitate the construction of a new building on the site with the existing building being demolished and returned to parkland, said Wollongong City Council in a statement.
The company is currently on a month-by-month contract for its licence to land in the parks, and its lease on its headquarters located in Stuart Park.
“Council has made it clear that skydiving in Stuart Park is an important part of the Blue Mile Masterplan and that we want to see this popular activity continue,’’ Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said.
According to him, the process includes two independent valuations of the landing point to make sure ratepayers are getting the best value possible for the use of this land.
Started in Wollongong in 1999, Skydive the Beach has expanded to include 11 drop zones across 4 states.
The company had more than 40 000 tandem skydive jumps in the 2014 financial year.
In March, the company offered 100 million shares at 25 cents each, raising AUD 25 million in an initial public offering ahead of its float on the Australian Securities Exchange.
With the acquisition of Skydive Australia, the company will bring the total number of drop zones to 16 expanding to Queensland, with estimates to triple tandem jumps in financial year 2016.
