Wyndham council has refused to release the business plan for its leisure centre management company.
The council knocked back a Freedom of Information request Star Weekly submitted in May, which asked for documents relating to the establishment of Western Leisure Services [WLS], including its business plan.
The council established the company last year to manage Wyndham’s three major leisure centres: AquaPulse (excluding the adjoining Encore Events Centre), Eagle Stadium and the Werribee Outdoor Pool.
In a response received on October 15, Freedom of Information officer Joy Painter denied Star Weekly’s request in full.
Would ‘promote divisive debate’
Ms Painter ruled the documents contained “sensitive commercial information” that “could undermine or jeopardise the commercial viability of the facilities”.
“The documents show possibilities considered but ultimately not adopted and are likely to lead to inaccurate assumptions (spurious) and promote divisive debate in the community,” Ms Painter said.
“Decisions of council should be judged on the final outcome and not what may have been considered or recommended at preliminary stages of the decision-making process.”
Ms Painter offered Star Weekly the chance to meet with corporate services director Steven Lambert to discuss the establishment of WLS – providing a list of questions was supplied in advance.
The council formally approved the contract for its subsidiary leisure services company in June, despite concerns by councillors Gautam Gupta, Heather Marcus and Intaj Khan after a council report found WLS would not turn a profit for three or four years. At the time, the three councillors repeatedly questioned why the business plan could not be made public.
The council has budgeted $1.33 million to cover the expected operating loss for the current financial year. This would be in addition to $2.9 million in start-up costs.
