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30 JULY 2022
L’Etape cancelled Lateral Events has cancelled its L’Etape Australia Tour de France event for this year, over concerns Jamberoo Mountain Road might not be open in time for the race on 27 November. “Following advice from Kiama Council concerning the three to four months required for the repair works, L’Étape Australia cannot be 100 per cent certain the road will open in time for the 26-27 November event. Therefore, L’Étape Australia will not take place in 2022,” says a statement from the organiser. Sixty metres of Jamberoo Mountain Road has failed, with erosion of the base and fracturing of the tarmac. This section of road was to be used twice for the 2022 Race route and once for the Ride route. The cancellation happened despite reassurances by Council that the road was likely to be fixed, and Council committing more than $30,000 in support of the event. The July Council Meeting, held just two days before the cancellation, heard the Director of Engineering & Works, Mike Dowd, say he could not provide a guarantee the road would be open then, “I hope and plan to have it reopened by then – if not, then at least a single lane.” The event had been heavily promoted during the Tour de France coverage. All registered riders will receive a refund. This is the fourth time the scheduled event has not
taken place, and it is very disappointing news for the local tourism industry and Council. Sally Bursell, Council’s Tourism and Events Manager, acknowledged the challenges L’Étape had experienced to date with postponements and cancellations due to weather events and COVID when attempting to bring the event to the region. “When the L’Étape Australia race organisers came knocking on our door with a new and fantastic route to deliver this world-class event for 2022 in and around Kiama, both Destination Kiama and Council offered complete commitment to the cycling race and were excited to see the planning and community excitement that we had garnered from previous years finally come to life,” she said. “It saddens us to hear that race organisers have made the decision to cancel as we know many competitors, sponsors and spectators would have loved to see this event in our region. “Our support for cycle tourism remains strong and we look forward to supporting Wollongong’s upcoming UCI event in September.” “Despite having spent three years planning for L’Étape, we will now turn our attention to seeking out other significant events that will add value to our region and continue to bring our community to life.” The section of Jamberoo Mountain Road, between The Abbey and Misty’s Lane,
has totally failed due to a landslip and flood waters eroding the base and fracturing the tarmac. “The slope under a bend in the road collapsed due to the sheer weight of stormwater, which then undermined the road,” says Mr Dowd. “The challenge is to totally rebuild the road and to find a way to reinforce the slope underneath to withstand future events.” The best option for the repair is still to be decided upon and funding is needed to be sought. Discussions have begun with various agencies, including the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, Transport for NSW and Resilience NSW.
Accounts need disclaimer On the advice of its Audit Risk & Improvement Committee (ARIC), Council has released its draft annual financial statements for 2020/21 as the first step in preparing to present them to the Government Audit Office. The accounts show, without a non-cash fair value revaluation of investment properties, a net loss of $9.5 million for that year, following on from a loss of $8 million in 2019/20. Given the audit by Deloittes is still ongoing, and long overdue, ARIC recommended Council accept these accounts as the best that can be achieved given the circumstances.
The accounts will be lodged with a joint statement by management and the Council outlining the challenges experienced and an explanation of why the audit is still ongoing. “It is in the best interests of the Audit Office and Kiama Council to be able to draw a line under this,” says Mayor Neil Reilly. “They will have to be qualified by a statement that reflects what we have said in the State of the Organisation Report and the Strategic Improvement Plan, and says that what we have now is as best we can do. “It is impossible for us to get any closer to an accurate
representation of Council’s financial situation than what we have at the moment.” While the usual cost of an audit is $68,000, the audit for this year has now reached $330,000. “That is because there are significant matters of concern and question that our auditors are going through,” says CEO Jane Stroud. “The reality for us is we are the only council in NSW with an unaudited opinion and an audit process ongoing, and that is largely due to going concern and liquidity issues, as well as concerns about financial records and accuracy of the information reported.”
Amongst the issues found by the auditors was a doubling up of accounting for costs, which resulted in a prior year adjustment of $1.8 million. The current liquidity issue was also highlighted in the Statement of Investments for June 2022 included in the July Meeting Business Papers, which showed a negative cash balance of $1.2 million for the month. This urgent lack of cash is being addressed through the sale of Akuna Street and other elements of Council’s property divestment portfolio, but due to legal reasons raised after the tender the contract is not yet signed.