A presentation and subsequent discussion at a Bega Valley Shire Council meeting about the Cattle Bay Marina DA continue to have consequences for council through a code of conduct issue and now a hearing in the Land and Environment Court.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
An independent investigation has made findings of inappropriate conduct by councillor Robyn Bain during discussion of the Cattle Bay Marina and recommended she publicly apologises. Cr Robyn Bain said she was “considering her options”.
A presentation about changes to the DA the company wanted, and discussion during the council meeting of December 14, 2016, were the backdrop for three complaints made in relation to council’s code of conduct.
The matter of the proposed DA changes is now destined for a Land and Environment Court hearing after a conciliation meeting on Monday, May 29 failed to reach a compromise between council and the Cattle Bay Marine company.
Councillor Robyn Bain was found to have breached the code of conduct with a significant non-pecuniary conflict of interest through her association with the Port of Eden Marina (POEM). Cr Robyn Bain’s husband is secretary of POEM, which has been seen as a competing project to Cattle Bay Marina by the independent reviewer. POEM made a submission to council regarding the Cattle Bay Marina project prior to the decision to grant the DA to the organisation by the Joint Regional Planning Panel.
Dr Bain said this submission did not oppose the Cattle Bay Marina but objected to the Snug Cove project being placed second to the Cattle Bay Marina.
It is understood that the reviewer saw the two organisations as in competition.
Councillor Russell Fitzpatrick was also investigated but council unanimously resolved not to adopt the independent reviewer's recommendations.
Cr Robyn Bain and Cr Fitzpatrick made presentations before leaving the closed session meeting where the independent reviewer’s findings were discussed. Mayor Kristy McBain said that councillors did not see a copy of the report but were given a summary of the issues.
Under procedures for the administration of the model code of conduct, as a general rule, councils should close their meeting to the public to consider investigators’ recommendations. Where a council does not adopt the investigator’s recommendations, it is required under the procedures item 8.57, to disclose its reasons in the minutes of the meeting but council has not done so in respect of Cr Fitzpatrick.
The Cattle Bay Marina DA was approved by the Joint Regional Planning Panel in late 2015 after the land was purchased about 16 years ago. Director of Eden Cattle Bay Marina Pty Ltd and Eden Resort Hotel Pty Ltd Henry Ruiz de Roxas said the company was committed to building the marina “but ultimately it had to stack up”.
