The owners of Mr Spokes bike hire say they have been bullied and unfairly treated by the Land Development Agency over 18 months of negotiations as the government tries to force them off their West Basin site without paying proper compensation.
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Jillian Edwards and Martin Shanahan bought the business and building nine years ago for $480,000. They also pay $14,000 a year in land rent. Their Crown lease runs until 2027 with a 25-year renewal option, but the government wants them off the land so it can redevelop it for apartments, shops, a park and boardwalk, with plans also for hotels, a swimming pool and a convention centre near London Circuit spanning a sunken Parkes Way, joining the city to the lake.
The government also wants the site of the paddle-boat hire, run by Jim Seears.
Ms Edwards and Mr Shanahan have reached the end of the road in what they say has been a stressful and frustrating series of negotiations, and on Friday were told they could stay put and the government would simply develop around them.
"The LDA's a bunch of bullies," Mr Shanahan said. "We feel we've been hoodwinked into this long drawn-out process and it's taken a huge toll on the whole family."
But the agency rejected the accusation, insisting it had negotiated in good faith and was willing to continue negotiations.
The couple say the government warned them early on that it could compulsorily acquire the land, and told them it would be a "brutal" process they should try to avoid. They were encouraged instead to negotiate. But the negotiations had been unfair and one-sided, they said.
They were told in June last year that their land would be packaged and sold to a developer, probably for apartments. Again in November they were told it would not be viable to run a business from the area during construction as there would be hundreds of trucks a day and it would be noisy and dusty.
They had been asked on several occasions this year to hand over their financial records so the business could be valued, but they had refused unless the government agreed to outline how the valuations would be done, show them the valuations, and pay their costs, including legal fees, already at $25,000.
In April the government told them the conditions were unreasonable, and in June, they received another letter saying the valuations had been done, without their records. On Friday, they were called into a meeting and told they could stay put. The agency handed the couple a letter saying it "no longer needs to pursue the acquisition of your Crown lease". The agency would pay reasonable legal fees incurred to date and try to limit disruption during construction.
"However, a level of noise and other disruption will be unavoidable," the agency wrote. "We will endeavour to notify you in advance of any contracted works that may be disruptive, subject to notification from the contractors."
Ms Edwards and Mr Shanahan believe the letter is another bullying tactic, designed to force them to accept any deal the agency has in mind. They say their business will lose customers as the area becomes a construction site, taken over by heavy equipment and difficult to access.
"We just wanted detail, a more transparent process, assistance with costs, and negotiations in writing," Ms Edwards said.
The Land Development Agency said Mr Spokes had always maintained it wanted to stay until the end of the lease and the agency had agreed. It also "remains open to acquire the Mr Spokes lease".
"The LDA has been negotiating in good faith with the owners of Mr Spokes and are willing to continue to negotiate should the owners be prepared to do so."
