COUNCIL WANTS TO FLOG MORE LAND

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IN THE EXAMINER CLICK HERE .... THE [PROPOSED?]  sale of the Penny Royal car park to the JAC Group has been recommended for approval at Monday’s Launceston City Council meeting ... [WHAT IS THE HURRY?] ... Property co-ordinator Robert Holmes has authored a report in Monday’s agenda recommending the land be sold to the owners of the Penny Royal site for a price ‘‘at not less than valuation advice’’. .... [WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?] ..... Under current arrangements the site is leased to JAC group for a peppercorn rent of $10 a year until 2028 .... [WHAT COULD THAT MEAN?] ..... JAC Group managing director Dean Cocker said the plan to buy the site was not related to the Gondola proposal, and that the land would remain a car park. .... [WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?] .....  Mr Cocker said he believed the council had plans to expand existing car parks in that area, and the sale would provide them with additional money to do so. .... [COMMERCIAL-IN-COBFIDENCE?] .....  ‘‘[Those upgrades] will obviously involve quite a bit of money, so one way to help to fund that ... would be for us to buy that car park from council, and then they can use the money from the sale to basically go towards helping to upgrade and develop other car parks around the area,’’ he said. .... [WHAT MIGHT THIS MEAN?] .....  ‘‘In this situation we’re the ones who are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to make it all presentable and modern for the next 50 years or more – it makes sense that we would spend that money and we’re the owners of it.’’ .... [WHAT DOES THAT ACTUALLY MEAN?] .....  City of Launceston general manager Robert Dobrzynski said the land was not public land. .... [REALLY?] .....  ‘‘An independent valuation has been obtained, in accordance with Section 177 of the Act, and this figure is commercial in confidence,’’ he said. .... [WHAT MIGHT THIS MEAN?] .....  The council will also consider adopting the Reimagining the Gorge Project 2030 Vision on Monday..... [WHY RIGHT NOW?] .....  The final plan has been recommended for approval with the inclusion of a statement that the council would support any commercial development within or adjacent to the Gorge utilising the vista ‘‘provided they are sympathetic to the vision and values of the Cataract Gorge’’ .... [WHAT DOES THAT ACTUALLY MEAN AND WHO ASSESSES?] 

11 MORE QUESTIONS: 

1. How did this land fall off the PUBLIC LAND REGISTER or why didn't it ever get there? 
2. Is its absence on the register here just TOO convenient and WHY just now??
3. Why the secrecy here under the guise of "COMMERCIAL-IN-CONFIDENCE" ??
4. Has the VALUE been INDEPENDENTLY tested?
5. If 'value' has been tested, HOW, WHEN and by WHOM?
6. If it is to be disposed of, WHY and why not BY OPEN TENDER??
7. Who're the LOSERS, who're the WINNERS and WHAT are the other OPPORTUNITIES?
8. What other COUNCIL land is  NOT on the REGISTER? 
9. Has an audit of PUBLIC LAND been done??
10. Before this point, WHICH aldermen were engaged in this SALE PROCESS?
11. What "PUBLIC CONSULTATION PROCESS" informs this land sale?