Smiths Beach: How the CCC and Silverstone were manipulated. Part 2

The Players: Bill Mitchell. The Links between Smiths Beach Action Group and competing developers.

This article is the second in a series that shows how the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) was manipulated by greedy developers that wanted to maintain their control of development in the Busselton Shire area.

Bill Mitchell, the second and pivotal player is also a spokesperson for the Smiths Beach Action Group (SBAG). Like Merrifield, Bill Mitchell is also a significant property developer and landholder in the Busselton Shire area and has played a much more public role than Kevin Merrifield in his opposition to the Smiths Beach development.

Bill Mitchell was one of the SBAG spokespersons depicted as an ageing surfie and environmentalist when interviewed at the beach side by ABC TV's Four Corners program. There was no mention of Bill Mitchell being a significant property developer and landowner in the area. During that interview, Mitchell claimed credit for making the Smiths Beach complaint to the CCC?

Bill Mitchell lives in a grandiose house on a prominent ridge above the Smiths Beach overlooking the the bay and David McKenzie's proposed development. Mitchell was involved in the development of four properties on the top of the ridge and has retained at least one for himself.

Bill Mitchell will look down on the Smiths Beach development area and it will affect Mitchell's beautiful panoramic view of the bay, the natural surrounds and the now undeveloped private land on which David McKenzie wishes to develop for a range of accommodation.

The Smiths Beach development is not allowed to obscure the view from any of the five or six ridges below Mitchell's much higher ridge. How did Bill Mitchell get approval to build on a ridge which breaks the skyline? Different rules for different people?

Interestingly, Bill Mitchell's property on top of the ridge has a restrictive covenant which prevents the clearing of natural vegetation. It now has rows of planted olive trees and pines. The Busselton Shire Council advised Mitchell was in breach of the covenant but he has done nothing about it and strangely, the Shire have not pursued to breach with any vigour.

Mitchell also built a house at Cowaramup for himself in 2004 and during construction rock from the excavation spilled over into the adjacent CALM reserve. He was prosecuted but came to an arrangement with CALM.

Bill Mitchell was the developer behind Regency Park on the site of the old Greenacres Caravan Park located 1 to 2km west of Dunsborough. Mitchell tried to get the beach privatised! The development was to be prestige apartments and homes and the reason he sought a private beach was that "schoolies" were detrimental to an up-market estate. About a dozen beautiful trees in the development mysteriously died overnight.

Mitchell was responsible for the development, some would say environmental vandalism of the beautiful Gunyulgup Valley some 5 to 6kms from Smiths Beach. This pristine area was sub-divided into 80 to 100 large individual lots.

It was Bill Mitchell pictured on Smiths Beach with the opportunistic Geoff Gallop 3 weeks prior to the 2000 election with Allanah McTiernan and Adele Farina, the latter at least seems to have a very close working relationship with Mitchell. More of than anon.

Mitchell and Merrifield had two meeting with Allanah McTiernan and Adele Farina and there was at least one private dinner held in Mitchell house on the ridge overlooking Smiths Beach. McTiernan refused to meet with David McKenzie to allow him to put his case.

Brian Burke and Norm Marlborough played a role in getting the reluctant Allanah McTiernan, later as the Minister for Planning, to meet with the frustrated David McKenzie the proponent of Smith Beach development who had been 'locked out' of all discussions with the Minister.

Bill Mitchell claimed in the ABC TV Four Corners interview that he was the person who initiated the Smiths Beach CCC investigation. The Desert Rat has been told that he openly bragged about being the "whistle blower".

If so, what then did Bill Mitchell tell Senior Investigator Mark Raymond Ingham and Executive Director Mike Silverstone of the CCC, that was of such gravity for the required affidavits to successfully apply to have phone tapped, bugs placed in the houses and camera surveillance of Brian Burke, Julian Grill and David McKenzie for three years? The Desert Rat has been told by a highly placed source, which is difficult to verify, that Kevin Merrifield and Bill Mitchell met with Jim McGinty about the Smiths Beach lobbyists and McGinty is alleged to have advised them to take the matter to the CCC.

A simple denial that none of these three met or discussed Smiths Beach lobbyists would put that allegation to rest.

The thickening plot lends itself to a remake of 'How Green was my Valley'.