The Collie Shire Council is suing the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to recover some of the $200,000 it is owed in unpaid rates from the Wellington Heights development, a land parcel embroiled in the finance brokers’ scandal of three years ago.
In the past three weeks the shire has lodged writs against ASIC totalling about $70,000. MJ Hayter and Co partner Mike Hayter, the lawyer representing the shire, said the legal writs were a procedural matter needed to recover the unpaid rent.
He said under corporations law, when a company was deregistered, ASIC became the legal owner of its assets and, in the Collie case, those assets were land.
Collie Shire CEO Ian Miffling said the legal action would enable the shire to claim the land and sell it for non-payment of rates.
He said the shire only needed to take legal action in some of the cases.
Mr Miffling said the council had been able to recover some of the blocks and sell them to recoup the rent owed.
He said a number of finance brokers had been involved with the Wellington Heights development.
One of those lots has been sold for a motel site.
It is understood the land in question covers about 10 hectares split into about 40 residential lots and a number of larger super lots.
The blocks in question are at the main entrance to Collie from Bunbury.
