By ALEX ARNOLD
THE credentials of the company behind plans to develop Killalea State Park have been questioned by the Save Killalea Alliance and the South Coast Labour Council.
On the same day as 70 people gathered at the Links Golf Club to express opposition to the Killalea proposal, embattled Mariner Financial, which controls Killalea Coastal Investments, announced it had agreed to sell management rights of its property trusts.
Mariner's shares are suspended as they prepare to announce the appointment of new directors.
The company's executive chairman and managing director, Bill Ireland, also faces examination in court over a subsidiary - Mariner Treasury - which was placed in receivership last September. Mariner's Ecopoint Management, the company that was to manage the Killalea resort, has also been placed in administration.
Despite its woes, Mariner has assured the State Government it can continue with plans to develop a 106-lodge complex at Killalea.
At Tuesday night's meeting, Greens MP Sylvia Hale said community opposition to the commercialisation of Killalea remained strong, and the next step was to publicise the inappropriate nature of the agreement and the questionable nature of the companies involved.
"This will be all the more important in the lead-up to the March 2011 election ... it will be a critical issue in seats such as this," Ms Hale said.
South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris said Mariner did not appear to be in any position to continue.
"It's crunch time for the trust and for the Government," Mr Rorris said. "Cowboys such as Babcock & Brown and Mariner have gone too far.
"They couldn't manage their own backyards. Why should we entrust our park to them?"
Save Killalea Alliance secretary Mairi Petersen said the meeting resolved to continue to campaign against the development, however the alliance was willing to work with the trust with the aim of securing sustainable funding for the park while at the same time keeping the park as public land.
Illawarra Mercury – 11 June 2009
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