Supreme Court orders childrens’ charity Puddle Jumpers to vacate headquarters on prominent Le Cornu Anzac Highway site

THE wealthy Le Cornu family has won Supreme Court action to force a children’s charity from its Forestville headquarters, paving the way for the $25 million sale of the Anzac Highway site.

Puddle Jumpers chief executive Melanie Tate with Paulina, 9, Morrico, 6, Lisa, 7, Max, 10, and Oscar, 8. The charity has lost a court battle with the Le Cornu family to remain at its Forestville headquarters.

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THE wealthy Le Cornu family has won Supreme Court action to force a children’s charity from its Forestville headquarters, paving the way for the $25 million sale of the prominent Anzac Highway site.

Puddle Jumpers has occupied a house next on Maple Ave, next to the Anzac Highway furniture warehouse, since 2012 but Judge Katrina Bochner on Wednesday found the charity never had a valid lease over it.

The Le Cornus, through their business Le Cornu Transport Pty Ltd, own the land the furniture warehouse and the Puddle Jumpers office sits on. Le Cornus lease it to Fantastic Furniture.

The Le Cornu store closed in October last year.

Judge Bochner agreed with the Le Cornus’ lawyer, Tom Duggan SC, that a sublease signed in 2013 between Puddle Jumpers and Fantastic subsidiary White Label Innovations Pty Ltd was not valid because the actual lessee was called White Label Innovations (1) Pty Ltd, a separate business.

Puddle Jumpers, which provides camps and other services for children not living with their birth parents, will be able to stay in its Maple Ave premises until November when Fantastic’s lease over the property ends.

The prominent Le Cornu site on Anzac Highway is expected to sell for about $25 million Pic: Keryn Stevens

Puddle Jumpers founder and chief executive Melanie Tate said she and the organisation’s more than 500 volunteers were “devastated beyond belief”.

“Despite losing the legal battle with the Le Cornu family, we are going to organise a rally here (on Thursday) at 4pm.”

She said donors had spent more than $300,000 renovating the formerly dilapidated house over the past five years so it could be used as an office, community centre and soup kitchen.

“We had no kitchen, no running water, holes in the ceiling – it should have been bulldozed,” Ms Tate said.

“Our understanding was they were happy to have us on site and support us.

“I would not have gone to this level of renovations, nor led families and communities to invest so much into it, if I had thought five years down the track it would be the end of the road.”

Ms Tate said the school holiday camps were often the only respite carers and grandparents had from looking after their children.

“I’ve had carers and grandparents say they don’t have any other form of respite,” she said.

“The children might have their first experience of swimming or riding a horse – they belong somewhere so that’s a huge thing for kids and families.”

In his submission on behalf of the Le Cornus, a second lawyer, Michael O’Donnell, said Puddle Jumpers’ “groundless claim” to an interest in the property would interfere with the site’s sale.

He said “a number of parties” were interested in buying the 3.6ha property, including the warehouse and the house, and they were asking for $25 million.

The State Government is considering rezoning the site for apartments up to 10 storeys.

Judge Bochner said there was “never any agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant” and no evidence White Label Innovations was acting on the Le Cornus’ behalf.

She ordered Puddle Jumpers to pay the Le Cornus’ costs.

Le Cornu company secretary Phil Le Cornu declined to comment until speaking to other family members about the court proceedings.