Chinese theme park backers yet to stump up $3m first payment for 15.7ha of Warnervale land

A ‘CHINESE Disneyland’ once touted to rival the Sydney Opera House as a tourist attraction remains in limbo with the project’s backers yet to pay $10 million for 15.7ha of land on the Central Coast.

A Buddhist temple was part of plans to build Chinese theme park at Warnervale.

IT’S the Chinese year of the rooster, but there’s still nothing to crow about for the backers of a much-hyped oriental wonderland at Warnervale.

The Chappypie China Time project has been dogged by controversy since plans for a ‘Chinese Disneyland’ to rival the Sydney Opera House as a tourist attraction­ were unveiled to great fanfare on August 4, 2014.

A shares storm and the planning department sending the project back to the drawing board in mid-2015 put a smog cloud over the once-touted $500 million tourism game-changer for the Central Coast.

Saying their prayers: ACTP boss Bruce Zhong, former Wyong Mayor Doug Eaton, Master Yao Lai and Master Yao Ru with the proposed Chinese temple model on display in August 2015 at Westfield Tuggerah.

But even more grating for ratepayers has been the project’s backers, Australia China Theme Park Pty Ltd (ACTP), failing to pay $10 million for the Sparks Rd land on which it now plans to build a scaled-down Buddhist religion park (a new $20.1 million development application is being assessed­ by an independent planner).

The company failed to meet the first land payment deadline on December 2, 2015. It came after the former Wyong Council’s acting chief executive Rob Noble recommended just days earlier that it should cut links to the company. But in a confidential meeting, councillors instead voted 5-4 to instruct Mr Noble to renegotiate a new agreement with the company.

Mr Noble did just that and a new deal was struck on February 3, 2016.

The site of the proposed Chinese theme park on Sparks Rd in Warnervale.

The council said that contracts had been exchanged at that time and the company had 12 months to make a first payment of $3 million for the 15ha of land on Sparks Rd (the remaining $7 million is required in the next 12 months), otherwise the deal was off. It also said it had received $600,000 in deposits from ACTP.

A year on and Central Coast Council says it still hasn’t received the $3 million. But it now says the money is not due until next month.

Asked whether this was yet another deadline extension, it simply reaffirmed that a March settlement was part of the terms of agreement.

The Express Advocate tried to break through the company’s great wall of secrecy­ for the umpteenth time to find out if it was on track to make the land payment.

However, we could not contact any of the directors in recent days.

Part of the planned oriental wonderland for Warnervale.

The project’s opponents doubt ACTP — which had a credit rating last year of just 22/100 despite claiming to have a billion-dollar asset base — has the $3 million to meet next month’s deadline.

They say ratepayers have been dudded by council over the new land deal.

The latest update from the NSW Valuer General said land across the state had increased by more than 11 per cent to July 2016. In the three previous years it had increased by 10 per cent.

At this rate, NSW Opposition Central Coast spokesman David Harris said on Friday that ratepayers could have expected at least $1 million more in the deal.

State Labor Member for Wyong David Harris has labelled the ongoing controversy surrounding the much-hyped Chinese theme park as a “complete farce”.

“Land valuations have consistently gone up in recent years,” NSW Opposition Central Coast spokesman David Harris said.

“The whole thing is a complete farce. It’s gone on for far too long. And it’s ratepayers who are the losers in all this.”

Originally published as Chinese theme park backers yet to stump up $3m first payment for 15.7ha of Warnervale land