Tenders for Shire of Coolgardie’s Bluebush Village close, but number received not yet public

Tenders have closed for the Shire of Coolgardie’s controversial Bluebush Village, which is hoped to be the lifeline that pulls the shire out of its crippling financial position.

While the number of tenders received cannot yet be revealed, shire president Paul Wilcox confirmed tenders for the workers’ accommodation facility in Kambalda were closed and probity work was now starting.

Cr Wilcox said the matter would eventually come to the council for consideration, which could result in a recommendation to move forward with one or more of the tenders, and a business case would then be developed around the potential sale of the camp.

“The business case . . . might include an option of retaining the camp — but what does that mean, what is the pay-off time and what sort of vacancy rate is allowable for that to occur?” he said.

“And then there’s that public consultation period as well, so the business case will go out for comment and people will have the ability to say ‘this sounds good’, or ‘I’ve got concerns about that’.

“My intention is probably to do things a bit differently from when the camp was built, in ensuring that we’re answering the questions, even if people don’t agree with what we’re actually saying.”

City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder chief executive Andrew Brien recently shared his view on the shire’s pathway forward, saying without selling the camp, the shire could not close its debt.

“They’ve got a residential population of about 3500 people, and they’ve reduced the debts a little bit over the last nine to 12 months so they are on the right track, but there’s still a long way to go to close all that debt off,” he said.

“They have also moved to interest-only component offered to reduce their repayment, so they’re not actually paying down the debt in that time.

“They are going to have to sell assets, and the problem of selling assets is you can only sell them once, so unless they’ve got some other revenue streams coming in, or can restructure the rest of their services, then they’re going to be under pressure.”

Cr Wilcox agreed selling the asset meant the shire would lose potential profits from the camp.

He said the shire retaining the camp would also be explored through the business case.

“At the moment, without the business case, I’m quite agnostic about the outcome,” he said.

“But (Mr Brien) is right that once you sell it, you’ve got no income coming in other than rates.

“But the profits we are getting at the moment are being generated because the occupancy rate is quite good at the moment. So part of the business case is looking at what the projected occupancy is.

“Because, like every other council that exists, we can’t really just rely on rate bases to get money to do things.”

Whether the shire decides to hold on to the camp or sell it, Cr Wilcox said the shire should also be looking at other opportunities to diversify its business ventures.

“My view is that perhaps it’s an opportunity to reset,” he said.

“If the camp is sold, then potentially it’s a case that then allows us to change direction a little bit.

“We could go back to the community and say ‘we’re still in the situation where we need to have a profit-generation exercise, but what is that going to look like?’

“We need to continually keep looking for those opportunities to diversify our income base.

As a business owner himself, Cr Wilcox said he always had “ideas”, but he would have discussions with his fellow councillors to work out what was the best way forward.

However, he suggested something in the tourism and heritage industry could be a good focal point for the shire moving forward.