Blue Mountains Council Loses $7 Million

The council behind moves to charge tourists to visit the Blue Mountains has lost $7million of ratepayers’ cash on bad investments in the past two financial years.

Blue Mountains City Council said it was considering gouging tourists who want to see the world heritage listed forest in order to pay for its roads and infrastructure backlog.

Latest financial reports revealed the council lost $3million in investment and interest for the year ended 30 June 2009 and another $4million in 2008.

The tourism industry is seething that the council wants to funnel money back into its coffers using a travel levy, after having lost $580,000 buying into Icelandic banks in 2007-08.

The council spent $600,000 on collateralised debt obligations on the promise of marginally higher returns but lost 96.67 per cent of that when Iceland’s financial sector melted down.

Tourism leaders have vowed to fight the proposal to squeeze every cent from visitors in the wake of the global financial crisis, which also left domestic tourism suffering.

Three Sisters Plaza owner Lesli Berger from Fivex Commercial Property said the council made $15,000 a year from his business  in tourism fees, charged drivers $4.40 an hour to park there and did not deserve a cent more until it could manage its own investment portfolio.

“I will be putting together a submission calling for the Minister for Local Government to put a stop to this,” The council sees tourism as a honey pot, but this time their hand has been caught in the jar. This blatant cash grab.

“It would be terrible for economy. The impact of the wider tourism market would be enormous the plan is ill-conceived and outrages.”

A BMCC spokeswoman said the plan was “just one of eight concept proposals” to raise more money, including gouging home owners by beefing up the emergency services levy by 39 per cent.

Councillors have deferred their decision until after a briefing next week.
The Daily Telegraph

Travel

By Vikki Campion