Clarity sought over Main Arm property offers

With a recent Echo advertisement offering ‘ten legal house sites soon to be available’ at a property in Main Arm, The Echo sought clarity around the estate.

Located just past the primary school, Maccas has been renamed the Funny Farm by presumptive new owner, Chris McIlrath.

The back page Echo advertisement from February 22 said off-grid homes in an organic macadamia orchard would cost $300,000 and were ‘negotiable’.

Late last year, Macca’s Camping closed, with Chris telling The Echo Council closed the campground as the ‘licence lapsed owing to failure to submit drinking quality water tests’.

Probate not lodged

Maccas owner, David McIlrath, died in October last year, and according to his brother Chris, probate is yet to be lodged by the executor.

Chris told The Echo he and his children are beneficiaries of the estate, and he has already lodged a caveat around the probate to secure ownership of the estate.

Given Chris says there is a ‘substantial mortgage’ on the property, The Echo asked, ‘Are you under any threat of foreclosure by the bank?’

Chris replied, ‘One of the two directors of the lender, a private company, has told me and emailed me that they can do nothing until probate, and are ready to assign the mortgage before probate (which may take a couple of months to be granted)’.

He said, ‘The DA is finished and ready to submit, but the executor wants to delay submitting, even though their delay of over a year so far has cost us around $500,000 in interest’.

Chris dismissed another DA that has been lodged by a claimant, and another caveat by another claimant, saying he is confident it will all be dismissed in court.

‘Our DA for Community Title (CT) has been prepared by Chris Pratt who, prior to being an independent consultant, was chief town planner for Byron Council, so the DA will certainly be passed when submitted’.