Author: Ashleigh Fielding

CREDITORS have accepted a plan receivers say will save all 221 jobs at floundering company Quintis that owns Albany’s Mt Romance sandalwood factory, and provide a better return for unsecured creditors than available under a liquidation scenario.

McGrathNicol partners Jason Preston, Shaun Fraser and Robert Brauer – who in January were appointed receivers of Quintis – say that on Monday the company’s creditors voted for an arrangement that “represents another important step in seeing the business emerge as a private company”.

The three receivers said Quintis would emerge in “a very strong financial position and well placed to continue its strategy as the world’s leading marketer, producer and seller of sandalwood timber, oil and products”.

Last week, the men said the arrangement would mean Quintis’ 221 workers – which includes staff at Mt Romance – would retain their jobs (‘Creditors to vote on Sandalwood jobs plan’, 7 June).

The men now say the vote is an endorsement of their strategy to recapitalise Quintis and its subsidiary companies with between $125 million and $175 million new cash.

They say the cash will be injected into the business to fund long-term operations, and the arrangement is the “best path forward for all creditors, including employees and growers”.

The men aim to complete the recapitalisation by late August.

Last week, they said the arrangement would see workers who were made redundant in the early stages of the receivership have their entitlements paid in full.

In March, a McGrathNicol spokeswoman told The Weekender none of the redundancies would be from the Albany factory (‘Sandalwood jobs axe misses Mt Romance’, March 1).

An additional $20 million had been made available for ongoing operations while the receivership concludes.

The 60,000sqm Mt Romance plant on Albany’s northern outskirts is the world’s largest distiller of sandalwood oil.

DEVELOPERS have been granted twice as long as usual to build a tourist resort at Frenchman Bay, which has been on the drawing board in one shape or another since 2009.

As revealed last week (‘Frenchies resort approval primed’, June 7), the $10 million project came to a State-convened assessment panel on Monday with a recommendation of approval from City of Albany staff.

In an hour-long meeting, the panel – comprising three State-appointed planners, Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington and his councillor colleague Bill Hollingworth – unanimously approved the 24-villa resort and 76-seat cafe.

But not before David Congdon of Harley Dykstra planners, acting on behalf of land–owner MTK Ventures, sought an extension of the allowable completion timeframe from two to four years.

Mr Congdon said the extra time was needed to monitor groundwater before construction commenced, and to comply with management plans mandated for the elevated beachfront site that commands majestic views over King George Sound.

He said the caravan park, which closed in 2006, had been “an important meeting place” for the Albany community and the resort would “reintroduce this offering” in a contemporary way.

If built as approved, the resort will be the end of a protracted process that in 2009 saw Dykstra Planning unsuccessfully apply for 100 units at the site on behalf of an entity called Frenchman Bay 5 Star Resort Unit Trust.

More recently, MTK Ventures withdrew an application for 30 units, including 10 unrestricted-stay ones, after 28 objections were lodged.

Mr Congdon said the approvals process for the current project had been “a lengthy journey”.

Cr Hollingworth agreed.

“It certainly has taken a bit of time to come together,” he said.

Mr Wellington said planning conditions for the resort were “extensive and very well worked out by all parties”.

“I think it will be a very, very good development,” he added.

At the meeting, Frenchman Bay Association President Catherine Macdonald said the residents’ lobby group supported the resort “in general”, provided all conditions were complied with “in full”.

Last year, her predecessor Tony Kinlay (‘Goode plan, wrong place’, October 19) and Traditional Custodian Lynette Knapp (‘A mighty Wagyl breathes here’, November 23) said a resort at the defunct van park would be better, environmentally and culturally, than one planned for a greenfield site at nearby Goode Beach.

RECEIVERS have floated a plan they say will save all 221 jobs at floundering company Quintis that owns Albany’s Mt Romance sandalwood factory, and provide a better return for unsecured creditors than available under a liquidation scenario.

McGrathNicol partners Jason Preston, Shaun Fraser and Robert Brauer – who in January were appointed receivers of Quintis – have proposed to voluntary administrator KordaMentha an arrangement the three men say would inject between A$125 million and A$175 million of new cash into the business to fund long-term operations.

The McGrathNicol partners say the arrangement is supported by Quintis’ secured creditors.

An additional $20 million has been made available for ongoing operations while the receivership is concluded.

The partners say the plan would mean Quintis’ 221 workers – which includes staff at Mt Romance – would retain their jobs.

The men said the plan would see workers made redundant in the early stages of the receivership have their entitlements paid in full.

In March, a McGrathNicol spokeswoman told The Weekender none of the redundancies would be at the Mt Romance factory (‘Sandalwood jobs axe misses Mt Romance’, March 1).

The partners said the plan would see Quintis emerge as a private company in a “very strong” financial position.

“Under the proposal, Quintis’ bond holders will recapitalise and acquire control of the subsidiaries of Quintis Limited and the entirety of the group’s business and assets,” the men advised.

“The proposal represents a very favourable outcome for growers, employees and creditors as it preserves Quintis’ vertically integrated business model.”

The partners said the plan would immediately make funds available to provide a return to unsecured creditors that would be better than achievable if a liquidation were to occur.

A meeting of creditors to be held tomorrow will consider a recommendation from KordaMentha that the McGrathNicol plan be accepted.

The partners advised that if creditors approve the plan, recapitalisation would likely be completed by August 31.

Perth-based Quintis is the world’s largest owner and manager of commercial Indian sandalwood plantations.

The 60,000sqm Mt Romance plant on Albany’s northern outskirts is the world’s largest distiller of sandalwood oil.

DOUBTS remain over whether a $10 million gated development recommended for approval at Frenchman Bay will be a boutique retreat for weary travellers or an expansion of McMansions for the rich and famous.

On Monday, a State-appointed assessment panel will decide whether the project, dubbed The Frenchman Bay Retreat by owners MTK Ventures, gets the nod as recommended by City of Albany staff.

As previously revealed (‘Developers’ picnic at Frenchies’, January 11), the project at a 3.26ha site encompassing the former Frenchman Bay Caravan Park will have 24 two-floor villas and a caretaker’s residence with 76-seat cafe, kiosk and conference room attached if approved.

Last year, then Frenchman Bay Association President Tony Kinlay (‘Goode plan, wrong place’, October 19) and Traditional Custodian Lynette Knapp (‘A mighty Wagyl breathes here’, 23 November) said a resort at the former van park would be better, environmentally and culturally, than a controversial one planned for nearby Goode Beach.

Extracts of a Frenchman Bay Association submission seen by The Weekender support the direction of MTK’s application for the van park site, but say a more inclusive approach to the on-ground design could see an “outstanding” project emerge.

“A lingering concern is that the proponents intend to convert some of the units, which are, in effect, extremely large houses, into unrestricted-stay at a later stage,” the residents’ lobby group warns.

The Association’s submission was one of 11 to support the resort.

Twelve people objected to the project, including one who argued it would “have a terrible impact on the ecology of the adjacent beaches and other sites”.

“Given that a large hotel complex is already proposed in a sensible location at Middleton Beach, it seems the height of foolishness to destroy one of the jewels in Albany’s crown,” the objector argued.

Another objector submitted that plans for the resort revealed a “great discrepancy as it is neither a boutique hotel nor retreat”.

“The latter term is subject to interpretation but retreats are never described as ‘24 two-storey accommodation units with a double carport’,” the objector opined.

“It would be odd to take two cars to a ‘retreat’ and why a ‘retreat’ should also require it to be double storey with a large walk-in wardrobe and recreation room [sic].

“The plans are for time share apartments or a small estate development and should be described as such.”

MTK has advised that the three-bedroom, 208sqm, two-garage, ensuited villas will each have a strata title.

This would allow separate ownership of each.

City of Albany staff have recommended the villas be approved for short stay accommodation only, with any single tenant permitted to stay for no more than three months a year.

City staff have also recommended the eventual operator be required to maintain a register of occupants and keep a receipt book.

Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington and Councillor Bill Hollingworth will be the only elected members on a five-person panel otherwise comprised of State-appointed officials, to decide the project’s fate.

The panel meeting will occur at 11am on Monday at Albany’s council chambers on North Road.

AS the City of Albany comes to terms with the effects of last week’s maelstrom of fires, the restricted burning period for the region has been extended to reduce the risk of a repeat episode.

More than 50 fires blazed across the City in a space of four days last week after a weather system brought unexpected northerly winds up to 100kph and failed to deliver substantial rainfall.

Volunteer and career firefighters from across the state fought flames in conditions described as “pretty close to hell” in Torndirrup National Park, Stirling Range National Park, Redmond, Napier, Goode Beach, Peaceful Bay and Elleker.

The escaped prescribed burns in Torndirrup National Park and Stirling Range National Park burnt through 730 hectares and 18,100 hectares respectively.

The Napier fire tore through 705 hectares and the Redmond fire through 1456 hectares, and both were triggered by escaped private burns.

The Torndirrup fire was the first reported, with emergency services on the scene on Wednesday afternoon at approximately 2.30pm.

Fire crews worked through the night to defend homes, and the area was placed under a bushfire ‘Watch and Act’ by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES).

On Thursday, another prescribed burn had escaped control in the south-east of the Stirling Range National Park.

From then, the situation quickly escalated; calls for assistance inundated authorities as more than 50 fires required attention at the peak of the crisis, including in areas of Redmond, Napier, Goode Beach and Peaceful Bay.

One house was completely destroyed in Napier, holiday retreat Nutkin Lodge in Peaceful Bay suffered significant damage, and hundreds of hectares of farmland were ruined across the region.

The City of Albany handed control of coordinating the firefighting effort to DFES at 4.15am on Friday and more than 50 heavy duty appliances were called upon to assist in the effort, with additional crews coming from the metropolitan and South West regions.

An evacuation centre was set up at Albany Leisure and Aquatic Centre for Thursday and Friday to provide relief for residents who evacuated their homes.

After hundreds of strenuous hours on the fire ground put in by volunteer and career firefighters defending residents, homes and livestock, all areas were cleared from bushfire threat by Monday.

At a community meeting at ALAC on Friday, Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington told media he had never seen such a scenario occur in Albany in his 68 years of living in the area.

“This is the biggest disaster I’ve seen,” he said.

“This is our traditional time to have prescribed burns; you see a storm with a predicted 40mm of rain, you expect it from the south-west and you burn off before then.

“We don’t expect storms from the north.

“It’s just an absolute bonus that no lives have been lost; we have been very, very fortunate no one has been lost.”

Premier Mark McGowan made a whirlwind trip to Albany on Saturday to get an update on the fires and to tour the fireground at Redmond as the mopping-up effort began.

Mr McGowan acknowledged the efforts of those involved in fighting the blazes and said he did not want to start a blame game over what triggered the maelstrom of fires.

“We know there’s been a significant amount of fires out there and that it has been difficult to deal with,” he said.

“We also know that Council, DFES, the volunteers and Parks and Wildlife have done a terrific job.

“I put that down to the levels of firefighting capacity working together so effectively in these extreme circumstances.”

Mr McGowan confirmed the crisis would be investigated.

“After this event, there will be a full review about what occurred and why it occurred,” he said.

“I don’t intend to get into blaming anyone; I’m here to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of the people involved who risked their lives on behalf of their community in this very serious situation.”

The City announced earlier this week the restricted burning period for the north-east and south-west sectors of the region has been extended until June 15, effective immediately.

During this time, a permit will be required to conduct a burn-off.

Executive Director for Development Services Paul Camins said the City will review conditions before the extended restricted period ends to assess whether further extensions are necessary.