RECOVERY PLAN PROPOSED
A WAY forward has been proposed for the long-suffering investors and d lot owners of the Port Hinchinbrook k resort and marina development at
Cardwell.
Liquidator Michael Brennan
(pictured) has set out his plans in a report to creditors.
He wants to see lot owners take ownership of the resort by establishing a body corporate that can own assets including the resort’s sewerage treatment plant.
Otherwise, the resort, estimated to be worth between $4.5m and $6m, will have to be sold “as is”.
Mr Brennan, liquidator of The Passage Holdings Pty Ltd, is seeking to apply to the Supreme Court of Queensland to bring matters to a head.
He wants the liquidators to be appointed receivers and managers and for the court to rule on whether lot owners are liable to pay basic area maintenance levies including sewerage charges.
The resort was crushed by Cyclone Yasi in 2011, silting in its marina and entrance channel formed from One Mile Creek.
It has never recovered with two resort owners subsequently failing and falling into liquidation.
Mr Brennan says resolving the issue of whether lot owners have to pay levies will pave the way for any future investment.
According to his report, many of the lot owners, angry at increases in levies and that the resort’s marina has never been reinstated, have been refusing to pay.
Since his appointment in 2017, Mr Brennan says lot owners will owe $1.8m in levies.
He says regardless of the outcome of the court application, it will resolve the issue “once and for all”, allowing parties to plan for the future.
If the court finds lot owners are liable, it will provide an income stream for the owner of the resort’s sewerage treatment plant.
If not, Mr Brennan says Passage Holdings could take action against the insurer of law firm Clamenz Law because its contract to purchase the resort included a provision for income from the levies.