The organisations fighting a legal battle over the sale of El Caballo lifestyle village have signed a confidential deed of settlement, a court judgment reveals.
The organisations fighting a legal battle over the sale of El Caballo lifestyle village have signed a confidential deed of settlement, a Supreme Court of Western Australia judgment reveals.
The dispute arose when the Equity Trustees sold El Caballo lifestyle village to Aspen Group in 2023, with the Aboriginal Housing Recovery Centre Limited (AHRCL) claiming it held an equitable interest in El Caballo.
AHRCL filed a writ in the Supreme Court of Western Australia against Equity Trustees, the registered proprietor of the land at the centre of the dispute, in early 2023.
In a judgment delivered yesterday, Supreme Court of Western Australia Justice Fiona Seaward found Equity Trustees was justified in entering a proposed settlement.
ASX-listed Equity Trustees bought the lifestyle village in 2020, as part of a $12 million for the Wundowie site that includes the resort.
The Spanish-inspired El Caballo Blanco resort was established on the Wundowie land by Perth entrepreneur Ray Williams in 1974, and was known for its dancing Andalusian horses.
El Caballo was shut down in 1999 and the properties sold for $12 million in 2020 to be redeveloped by the Aboriginal Housing Recovery Centre, a registered charity, and Equity Trustees.
Equity Trustees is the trustee of the Noongar Charitable Trust, with the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council the founder of that trust.
AHRCL and Equity Trustees planned to redevelop El Caballo into social housing, buying the property with funds from the trust in 2020, the judgment said.
However, AHRCL claimed it has poured in more than $5 million when Equity Trustees announced it no longer wanted to commit to the joint endeavour.
In a statement, South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council said its board did not approve buying any property by the Noongar Charitable Trust, particularly El Caballo.
AHRCL alleged Equity Trustees did not want to share the proceeds from the sale of El Caballo, according to the judgment.
Equity Trustees has denied, in the judgment, that AHRCL made the contributions it claimed and rebutted the existence of the joint endeavour.
The court judgment revealed Equity Trustees and AHRCL settled the dispute through a confidential deed of settlement in January.
Equity Trustees sought a court order, to establish that it was justified in settling the claims through the terms in the settlement.
According to the judgment, Equity Trustees claimed it was in the best interests to settle the proceedings through the settlement deed to preserve the assets of the trust.
Justice Seaward said she had reviewed the terms of the confidential settlement deed and the finances of both AHRCL and Equity Trustees.
“As a result of my review of the affidavit evidence, I am satisfied that Equity Trustees has taken proper advice and given full consideration to all relevant matters, including those referred to earlier in my reasons, before arriving at a reasoned and appropriate decision in relation to settlement,” she said in her judgment.
“I am therefore satisfied that Equity Trustees is justified in entering into the proposed settlement.”
Justice Seaward also ordered Equity Trustees’ costs for the application to be paid from assets of the trust.
In February 2023, the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council requested the WA Charitable Trusts Commission to investigate the purchase of the Wundowie properties.
