Mr Brown, the Member for Kiama, said he and his Shellharbour colleague had asked the council's administrator, David Jesson, to review the contract and provide advice on getting it publicly released.

The move follows Australand's decision to defer work on the Shell Cove marina.

"People are concerned about the transparency of the agreement between Australand and Shellharbour City," Mr Brown said yesterday.

"We want to get to the bottom of this delay and I think one of the best ways for that to happen is to have this contract released.

"I totally understand there will be matters that are commercial-in-confidence and of course they should not be made public, but there will be a lot of aspects of the contract that I'm sure can be made available.

"The public want some reassurance about the project; they are nervous when they hear the word 'delay' and so am I."

Last week Shellharbour council general manager Brian Weir announced that the council's development partners, Australand, had indefinitely delayed construction of the $100 million marina due to the downturn in the residential market.

The marina is the centrepiece of the $1.5 billion Shell Cove development.

Mr Brown said the MPs had received an assurance that Australand was not allowed to mortgage any of the site's property.

"They have not sold the very valuable foreshore land yet," he said.

Mr Brown said he had no issue with Mr Weir's involvement with the project.

"He has done a wonderful job with the council and I want to put all those issues aside."

Mr Weir said yesterday there was commercial-in-confidence and intellectual property contained in the management agreement.

"That would make me think it was not in the best interests of the project to release it," he said.