Cordwell’s boss Dave Cordwell slams Noosa Council over business ‘shut-out’

The head of a longstanding Sunshine Coast concrete and supply company claims Noosa Council is freezing him out of business in the region amid a bitter court dispute.

The head of a longstanding, family-owned concrete and supply company claims his firm is being frozen out of doing business in the Noosa region by council.

Cordwell Group managing director Dave Cordwell slammed the Noosa Shire Council after he said his company was dropped on two significant jobs commissioned by the organisation in the past few months.

Cordwell Group is made up of Cordwell’s Concrete and Cordwell Resources.

The latter is involved in an ongoing legal dispute with the Noosa Council over its Kin Kin Quarry operations with local residents vocal in their opposition to the quarry and the impacts they say it has had on their lives.

Mr Cordwell claims Noosa Council has issued a directive to several successful tenderers for council jobs not to engage Cordwell’s Concrete on their projects.

Mr Cordwell said his company had supplied the successful tenderers and had been ramping up operations in anticipation of upcoming work on the Beckmans Rd bypass before he was told his company would not be engaged as a supplier.

He said his company had already started delivering supplies to another project on Noosa Parade involving road widening and beautification when he was told his company’s services were no longer required.

Mr Cordwell said the family business had taken a hit of several hundred thousand dollars already since late last year as a result.

“It’s put a massive hole in our budget,” he said.

“This is firmly about stopping us from making a living.”

Dave Cordwell, managing director of Cordwell Group. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Mr Cordwell said the group employed 17 family members as well as about 60 other people plus subcontractors.

He said they’d geared up operations at the quarry and put on extra people in anticipation of the Noosa Parade and Beckmans Rd jobs.

He said Beckmans Rd was a “well over $5m job” and his company had been told the firm they supply to was close to getting the nod and to prepare accordingly.

Mr Cordwell said they’d put extra staff on but when they were cut off from the jobs it left several subbies “in the lurch” over Christmas.

“It doesn’t seem too fair,” he said.

“All I want is a fair crack with making a living.”

He claimed the council was now sourcing its goods from a quarry further afield which he said was at odds with its own procurement and emissions reduction policies.

The Kin Kin quarry owners say they are addressing community concerns.

Noosa Council’s procurement policy states council officers involved in purchasing are to behave “with impartiality, fairness, independence, openness, integrity, and professionalism in their discussions and negotiations with suppliers and their representatives”.

Its emissions reduction policy states the council seeks to “take meaningful action to reduce the organisation’s impact on climate change and to achieve environmental benefits and/or long term cost savings by reducing our overall energy requirements through a combination of energy efficiency measures and transitioning to renewable energy sources”.

Mr Cordwell said his company had a long history of working in Noosa including the Six Mile Creek dam and bridge back in 1965, major works at Cooroy Brickworks and many other jobs for private contractors in the region.

“There’s really no need for it (council’s actions),” he said.

Dave Cordwell. Picture: Patrick Woods.

He refused to speak at length about the ongoing court case but said the quarry was in the council’s own documents as a key resource area and it was there to supply aggregates for the concrete plants.

“We need that to be a part of the success of the quarry,” Mr Cordwell said.

“We’re 25 minutes away from Beckmans Rd and they’re bringing it from over an hour away.”

In response to a series of questions put to the council a spokesman said Noosa Council “requires all major construction contracts to nominate proposed subcontractors at the time of lodging their tender”.

The council’s chief executive Scott Waters said with the council currently in legal proceedings against Cordwell Resources over the operations of the Kin Kin Quarry it would be “inappropriate to make any comment specifically relating to company until the matter is finalised in the courts”.

Originally published as Cordwell’s boss Dave Cordwell slams Noosa Council over business ‘shut-out’