In a publicstatement on Monday,the council’s chief executive Wayne Rylands said “numerous important community works” were in jeopardy as a result of the funding shortfall which had left the council in a “precarious financial position”.
An extraordinary council meeting was called for next week to debate the project,including the possibility of selling the site to developers for apartments.
“Who told you that?” asked Ryde mayor Sarkis Yedelian when contacted by theHerald. The meeting was abruptly cancelled late on Tuesday.
“We thought maybe it was that urgent but it looks not that urgent,” Yedelian said.
But the council reported itself to the Independent Commission Against Corruption in March,saying that funds earmarked for the new development were wrongly transferred from a fund supplied by financial contributions from developers.
The Ryde civic centre site was identified for redevelopment more than a decade ago and the former council building was demolished in 2021.