THE state government appears to have removed a small but irritating hurdle to its plans to build a $700 million sports stadium on the Burswood Peninsula.
The business that has operated the Burswood Park Golf Course has been dealing with considerable uncertainty over the future of its operation, given at least part of the course was expected to be needed for the stadium and adjoining infrastructure.
It took more than a year since the plan was announced, and various attempts to negotiate a settlement with the state, before Golfwest Trading Company Pty Ltd, which has a management agreement until 2019, managed to close a deal for an undisclosed sum.
Earlier this year the company made an offer for the state to pay it more than $12 million to relinquish its rights to manage the course. The offer was rejected.
The settlement, or at least an agreement inprinciple, is understood to have occurred at a snap meeting called on Tuesday after WA Business News asked the state government about the matter and why it had not been settled so long after the stadium plans had been announced.
Court action on such a matter, despite its relatively small size in relation to the cost of the stadium, could have bogged the state down in litigation, casting a pall over another pet project of Premier Colin Barnett in the lead-up to the state election.
Hotchkin Hanly Lawyers partner Michael Hotchkin said he was engaged to take up Golfwest’s case earlier this year after the state government’s announcement in 2011 that the course would form part of the new stadium development.
Mr Hotchkin said Golfwest had found its business was being damaged by customer uncertainty surrounding the proposed $700 million stadium development, which was mooted by Mr Barnett in June last year and formally unveiled in December.
Golfwest claimed its bookings were drying up, notably corporate golf days, because of concerns about future availability. That affected course use, pro shop sales and bookings for functions.
Mr Hotchkin said golfers had also found themselves confronted on the course by drilling rigs testing the stability of the ground where the stadium would be built.
He said the earlier $ 12 million offer figure calculated by accountants and included the expectation that Golfwest would have had its lease renewed until 2029.
A spokesperson for the premier maintained that negotiations were continuing.
