52 years ago, a botched property deal resulted in Council receiving significantly less money than anticipated plus a failed special council rate increase that resulted in Labor Aldermen voting against their mayor and local party members resigning.
The Blacktown Advocate reported on its front page of 21 August 1974 that the Equity Court ruled Council must sell its property in McCoy Street, Seven Hills for the agreed sum of $5,000 even though it was said to be worth $74,450 at the time of the decision.
Council attempted to rescind the contract, due to the failed valuation process under the direction of the mayor and administered by the town clerk (today this title would be known as the chief executive officer or CEO).
The Blacktown Advocate reported: “The matter was also the subject of a dramatic split in the ranks of Labor aldermen on council when five members of the Labor Party, supported by four Independents, carried a motion directing the mayor, Ald P. R. Stone to resign his office because of the implications of the McCoy Street land sale.”
Labor party member and then SES controller Mr M Towner resigned from the party and contested the 1974 council elections as an Independent.
Mr Towner claimed that Labor aldermen suffered under the Labor administration and they couldn’t speak out until McCoy Street issue resulted in five Labor aldermen demanding their own Labor mayor to resign.
This resulted in labor alderman Laurence Doolan filling charges against his colleagues which was not supported by the ALP head office as “no action, no publicity” was deemed the best course of action.
Mr Towner said, “they [labor aldermen] put their consciences and the council and the community before their party loyalties.”
Blacktown Advocate page one story on 4 September 1974 was Finances Show Alarming Drift, $585,000 deficit forecast with Independent alderman George Nicolaidis claiming the only way to salvage council’s finances was either to increase 1975 rates or decrease its works programme.
1974 also had the Labor council reeling from a decision by The Land and Valuation Court to invalidate its special rate increase on the commercial area of Blacktown to construct a 10 story Colo Lane Carpark.
Botched civic property sales; failed special council rate increases; financial crisis; and funding problems with new council buildings; and chaos in Labor ranks seem to have returned some 50 years later.
Fast forward to 2025, two senior Labor councillors, Cr Carol Israel and Cr Bob Fitzgerald have resigned from the party and will continue to serve as Independent councillors.
Controversies have emerged as to what was the real return, if any, over the sale and lease back of Blacktown Civic Centre and surrounding CBD lands. Some councillors claim the originally anticipated value of approximately $100M has become a net loss.
Council also reported in 2023 that the new civic centre was to cost about $150MM but by 2025 was reported that the funding proposal was $605M.
Council proposed special rate variation (SRV) was defeated at the 26 November 2025 council meeting, only to be resurrected by the mayor notifying on Friday 12th December 2025, for an extraordinary council meeting to be held on Monday evening, 15th December.
Labor mayor Cr Brad Bunting took advantage where one Liberal councillor was away on holidays and another where Council was seemingly having IT issues to connect him to the meeting.
Today’s Labor Mayor Cr Brad Bunting might wish that the comparison with his 1974 predecessor, Labor Mayor Ashley Brown, ends there.
The community backlash from what was happening in 1974 resulted in Mayor Brown leading his Labor team to a landside defeat with no Labor representatives elected in 1974.
The current lineup of six remaining Labor councillors is the lowest number of Labor councillors on Blacktown Council since 1974 and Labor should be concerned if the current mess is not sorted out.
