A notice of motion has been put forward for tonights council meeting calling upon the General Manager to investigate how Port Stephens Council can give relief to property owners and residents in the Williamtown contamination zones.
Under the Local Government Act 1993 council is not empowered to write-off or reduce rates where ratepayers are experiencing hardship. Under provisions of the Council's Hardship Policy, the preference is to negotiate regular, manageable repayments with ratepayers experiencing financial hardship.
Port Stephens Mayor Bruce Mackenzie said this is an issue that needs to be fixed by the government not ratepayers.
"The federal government should be subsidising rates, guaranteeing loans if people want to sell their property and the potential buyer can't get a financial institution to give them the loan due to the area they are buying in."
Council property records indicate there have been eight completed sales within the investigation area since the announcement, with a total sale value of $3.295M.
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| Port Stephens Mayor Bruce Mackenzie. Photo courtesy of The Newcastle Herald |
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| Williamtown contamination zone. Photo courtesy of EPA. |
