IT SEEMS ludicrous that when the Department of Local Government warns Shoalhaven City Council that its dealings with a developer, Huscorp, over the sale of community land lack due transparency that the council proceeds to attempt to keep the letter containing that warning secret.

Even stranger is the fact that the department’s intention in directing council to table its warning letter was to make its concerns public yet the very opposite has occurred because it was dealt with in confidential session.

The public has every right to know in detail the department’s concerns with the negotiations over the so-called gateway site on the corner of Bridge Road and the Princes Highway; it is its land at the centre of the deal, after all. And if the land is to be sold, it must first be rezoned in consultation with the community.

By taking its well-worn route to secrecy, council has only raised further suspicion over its dealings and given fuel to a perception that it has been attempting to cover its tracks. Yesterday’s revelation that it had been strongly advised by the department a month ago to suspend negotiations with Huscorp, only serves to heighten those suspicions.

Much has been made of the need for transparency in local government in the Shoalhaven and this latest sorry episode adds weight to those calls.