None of the tenders for the sale of the George Town Airport demonstrated "significant value" to warrant the sale, the George Town Council says.
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At its meeting on December 20, all plans to progress the sale were halted after a recommendation from the general manager Shane Power.
"We ran a tenders process similar to if we wanted to procure good or services, but we did it in this case for the sale of land where we invited interested parties through expressions, and through advertisements interested parties," he said.
"As part of that we had different criteria. So, we had a number of points that every tendered had to demonstrate such as if you bought the asset what would be the benefit for the community, what development ideas did they have and any development time frames associated with it as well."
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Mr Power said three tenders were received and none warranted the sale of the airfield.
A submission from a group expanding tourism offerings, one looking to establish industry relations and another from the George Town Airport Association were submitted.
"What we can do now is explore how we can try and accommodate all those uses Under a third party management arrangement," Mr Power said.
The closed-council agenda item recommended not to accept any tenders, which was passed six votes to three.
"The recommendation was to not accept any tenders, and to make a provision in next year's budget to engage the services of a professional aviation consultant and get a report done on how council may be able to retain the site into the future, but consider what management options it will put into the site, whether it be third party or council run with a view to accommodate the interest of all parties concerned," Mr Power said.
"This is probably the best outcome because it allows council to have a more informed basis for the future of that site moving forward. But it also demonstrates, I believe, confidence from council about their financial situation as well."
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Despite Councillor Heather Barwick moving a motion to have the item discussed in open council, it was held in closed session because of the information enclosed in the tender documents.
Mr Power said he was unsure when or why plans to sell the airport had originated, but was confident about the council's financial future.
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