Buti said Zempilas contacted him shortly after receiving the letter and he clarified that a purchase offer was not on the table.
“He rang me and just wanted to clarify that,and the clarification was that,no,we would be taking that land,” Buti said.
The Queens Gardens car park is split into three parcels of land that cannot currently be developed because they are covered by legacy legislation prohibiting the land’s use for anything other than a car park.
Buti said the government had never intended to pay for the land,but the city would receive huge economic benefits when the government rescinded that legislation,and would be allowed to develop the third parcel of land.
He said it was not unusual for the state to acquire local government land for nothing,citing Ocean Reef Marina as an example.
“This isn’t unprecedented,I mean the City of Joondalup gave 11 hectares of waterfront – pristine waterfront land – to the state government in order to build the ocean marina in that part of the world,” he said.
“Eleven hectares of waterfront property were given to the state,because it was better it was for the economic development of the greater area of the City of Joondalup.”
However,Zempilas told this masthead the city had done its due diligence,and that process had told it that it should not be giving away a $40 million parcel of ratepayers’ land for zero compensation.
Zempilas disputed that Buti had clarified the government’s position in a text exchange but rather when he questioned the fair market value offer Buti said “we better meet.“
“State governments do not do land transactions via text message,” he said.
He said at that meeting Buti then clarified the government would not offer financial compensation but following that Zempilas asked the governemtn would they consider a land swap which was rejected by the government in the past week.
“Our valuers and their valuers say it’s worth $40 million,it’s the first thing we’ve agreed on in four years,” he said.
“As if we’re not going to get fair market value for that land or at least a fair deal for that land.”
Premier Roger Cook echoed Buti’s comments and said the situation was “extraordinary”.
“I can’t believe that the City of Perth would stand between the opportunity for great economic and cash outcomes for the City of Perth and great social outcomes for the people of Perth by some sort of obstructive strategy in relation to this matter,” he said.