It is to be business as usual for one of Canberra’s leading building and land-development companies, Consolidated Builders Ltd, after the election of a new five-person board of directors, which included two from the old board.
The company’s solicitor, Bernard Collaery, said yesterday that shareholders had agreed on Thursday night to have a five-member board of directors, rather than four, as recommended by a committee of inquiry into the company.
The committee had criticised three of four former directors for administrative irregularities and for buying land for themselves in Queensland near land they had bought on behalf of the company.
There were no censure motions against directors at the meeting. The director not criticised in the committee report, John Juric, was not re-elected.
The chairman of the board of directors, John Sostarko, and the treasurer, Anton Abramovic, were re-elected and the other previous director, John Ikic, narrowly missed re-election. The new directors are Frank Crnkovic (CRNKOVIC), Josef Zivko and Branko Hribar (HRIBAR).
Mr Collaery said that the directors had said that some of the committee’s recommendations had been adopted, but there would be no major change in policy or direction of the company.
The company is made up of about 100 shareholders, nearly all Croatian builders. Collectively they are able to bid against the other major land development companies for the broadacre lots in Canberra’s privatised land-development system. This then gives small builders access to single blocks or small groups of blocks.
Some small builders and others have asserted that the major companies have tied builders and real estate agents shutting them out. But the larger companies say they are happy to sell to individuals or small builders.
There have been arguments within Consolidated for some time over the direction and running of the company with several court cases among members afoot.