IPSWICH City Council has approved a controversial arrangement to provide five free car parks to the Ipswich Trades Hall and Labour Day Committee in the Nicholas Street Precinct, at an estimated cost of $32,500 per year.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding, who voted against the move, said Council had decided to re-establish what had been an informal, non-transparent arrangement under previous councils, going against Council officers’ recommendation to refuse the request due to no contractual or legal obligation to provide the free car spaces.
“Council officers provided a detailed report and supporting evidence which clearly demonstrated Council had never had a contractual or legal obligation to provide free car spaces to the Ipswich Trades Hall, nor had the committee provided any legal basis to support their request,” Mayor Harding said. “It was made clear as part of this decision that establishing a special deal just for the Ipswich Trades Hall and Labour Day Committee went against Council’s existing policies and funding guidelines and would deliver no commercial benefit to Council or its residents and ratepayers.
“It was certainly my argument that it was these types of special deals, that existed without any formal Council resolution, documentation or public scrutiny, that arguably contributed to the dismissal of the previous Ipswich City Council in 2018.”
The initial agreement for free car spaces was made between the Ipswich Trades Hall and the private developer of the Ipswich Mall back in the 1980s.
Despite this deal being voided when the property was then sold to another developer and ultimately to Ipswich City Council, the arrangement for free ratepayer-funded car spaces continued for many years.
“While I am happy to support the success of the Ipswich Trades Hall in my private capacity, I personally don’t believe it is Council’s role to provide this special deal when there is no policy position or legal justification to support it being offered at ratepayers’ expense.”
