May 11, 2014
Wyong Shire Council has rejected a Church of Scientology proposal for a controversial drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in the Yarramalong Valley in the central coast hinterland.
A church offshoot, the Association for Better Living and Education, lodged a development application last year but did not bother to await Wyong’s decision, outlaying $3.8 million on February 7 to buy the 30-hectare Yarramalong property owned by Albert Bertini, a financially troubled millionaire who left Sydney two years ago.
ABLE planned to use the property to house 20 participants in a controversial substance abuse treatment program, Narconon, that has been associated with deaths in the US and Europe. Several governments have forced the closure of its centres.
Yarramalong has been an upmarket weekender spot for generations of the rich and powerful. John Laws, John Singleton and the late Neville Wran have called it a home away from home.
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Residents became alarmed when word of the proposed drug rehab centre became public.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/scientologists-da-for-yarramalong-valley-drug-rehab-centre-rejected-20140511-zr9do.html#ixzz31XEVhTmw