Residents forced to live with shocking conditions at Gold Coast Couran Cove Island Resort
THE living conditions residents of an exclusive Gold Coast island resort have endured are 'unacceptable', Broadwater MP David Crisafulli says.
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THE living conditions residents of an exclusive Gold Coast island resort have endured are 'unacceptable', Broadwater MP David Crisafulli says.
The Bulletin on Thursday revealed residents in eco cabins at Couran Cove Island Resort could expect to wait another two months for hot water and heat for cooking to return to their homes.
In mid-August, evacuation warnings about a major explosion that could damage buildings and “even kill” led to the gas supply being turned off.
In an email to residents last week, the Community Body Corporate said it would take two months to change over the system to bottled gas.
Residents have been boiling water in buckets for bathing and were advised they could buy gas cookers from camping stores for hot meals.
Mr Crisafulli, whose electorate takes in South Stradbroke Island, said the reported conditions were shocking.
“This is a completely unacceptable situation,” the opposition leader said.
“For residents to live without basic facilities in an island paradise defies belief.
“The loopholes in state legislation continue to allow situations like this to occur when disputes go on for far too long.”
Mr Crisafulli did not respond to the Bulletin’s question about what action he would take to help the residents.
He wrote to Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman on August 25, highlighting the residents’ concerns about the gas supply.
“I would ask that your department review the current situation at Couran Cove with a view to incorporating the findings into the government’s current consideration of potential reforms of body corporate legislation,” the letter stated.
A Department of Justice and Attorney-General spokesman said affected owners should consider legal advice about the matter.
“In addition, the Building Unit and Group Titles Act 1980 (BUGT Act) provides for the appointment of referees, who can make orders to resolve particular disputes under the BUGT Act and the Mixed Use Development Act 1993 (MUD Act),” he said.
A Gold Coast City Council spokesman said it was not responsible for gas or any other utilities to Couran Cove and it had no jurisdiction to force the body corporate to supply gas.
“The residents need to escalate the issue through the body corporate.”
Residents to face foul conditions for months - September 9
In the meantime, they have been advised they can buy gas cookers from camping stores for hot meals.
Dozens of residents on Gold Coast’s South Stradbroke Island have been without hot water and heat for cooking for almost a month after evacuation warnings about a major explosion that could damage buildings and “even kill”.
This led to the gas supply being turned off for Couran Cove Island Resort eco-cabin residents and the body corporate said it was in the process of switching to bottled gas.
In an email to residents last week, Community Body Corporate chairman David Rosenblum said it would take two months to complete the change.
“The CBC and operator are moving as quickly as possible but there are a number of hurdles to clear before we are operational.” The email warned residents against organising their own gas supply.
“A couple of eco (cabin) owners/residents have suggested that each owner makes their own arrangements to install gas bottles … we advise you that this is a breach of the by-laws and should not be undertaken under any circumstances,” it said.
“Should any owner make any alterations to their dwelling, the CBC will be required to issue a breach notice to that lot owner and engage contractors, at the expense of the lot owner, to uninstall those works.”
His email went on to say: “You can purchase inexpensive gas stoves and ovens from camping supply retailers.”
Eco cabin resident Sara Skipworth said the email left her “shocked” and “in disbelief”.
“That is a quarter of a year where they are saying we won’t have those facilities,” she said.
Mr Rosenblum said all efforts were being made to resolve the issue and it may be fixed sooner.
“Owners in the eco precinct are part of Couran Cove and are accordingly bound to the long-term agreement with the CBC and the operator to provide essential services,” he said.
“All utilities infrastructure is owned by the operator and it is not lawful for any owner to deal with the operator’s infrastructure assets.”
In the meantime, Ms Skipworth said she had been having quick, cold showers “when it’s warm during the day”.
Other residents with children have been boiling water in buckets for bathing.
Residents were told they could access hot showers at the staff quarters which were unaffected by the gas failure.
But Ms Skipworth said this wasn’t a viable option. “There’s only two showers at reception – one ladies and one mens.
They want a whole family to pile into a bathroom and use one shower,” she said.
‘Disgusted’: Shocking conditions at Gold Coast resort
August 28, 2021
DOZENS of residents on an idyllic Gold Coast island have been without hot water and heat for cooking for two weeks after evacuation warnings about a major explosion that could damage buildings and “even kill”.
Sara Skipworth and her partner have lived full-time in Couran Cove Island Resort since buying an eco cabin in April.
Two weeks ago, the couple’s life on South Stradbroke Island was brought to a halt when they received an email from the body corporate for Couran Cove Resort Eco Lodges. It said there had been a serious gas leak and residents were told “to immediately evacuate our homes”, Ms Skipworth says.
“There was no evacuation plan – they just told us to evacuate the house.”
With no evacuation plan given, Ms Skipworth says she and her partner immediately rushed to the resort reception area.
The Bulletin has sighted a copy of the email sent to residents on the night of August 13 recommending an evacuation due to a “serious gas leak”.
It went on to say: “Given the volume of gas that we are currently losing, it will likely be a major explosion and dependent on where it surfaces, could damage buildings, cause harm to any person in the vicinity, or even kill someone,” the email stated.
“This is a very serious situation and needs to be acted on immediately.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ms Skipworth said resort reception staff did not offer any information about the emergency.
The couple said they spent hours trying to find out what was going on, only to be told there was no immediate danger.
“The emergency services, which were the fire service and police service, came to the island to investigate and after 30 minutes they left saying there was no major threat,” Ms Skipworth said
Families with young children and the elderly were also caught up in the evacuation chaos, she said.
Community Body Corporate (CBC) chairman David Rosenblum said the Couran Cove Eco precinct was working with the government and contractors to fix the gas leak, and had advised owners to make appropriate insurance claims through their body corporate.
“We followed the direction of the (government) inspector and are working with contractors on a solution to the gas problem,” Mr Rosenblum said.
“As the government has ordered the gas be turned off, it cannot be restored until the order is lifted.”
Another South Stradbroke eco cabin resident, Judi Williams, is legally blind and said she could not read the evacuation warning email from the body corporate.
Ms Williams said she only found out after other island residents came to check on her.
“I was confused, panicked – but also being blind with the guide dog – I felt vulnerable,” Ms Williams said.
“It was just a shemozzle.”
Ms Williams said she didn’t end up evacuating after emergency services told her there was no need for alarm.
Mr Rosenblum said: “Couran Cove holds significant insurance for matters such as this, and we have advised owners to make the appropriate claim through their body corporate.”
He maintained the CBC followed appropriate procedures to ensure the safety of residents.
“The pipes underground are 23 years old. One has failed, this will occur in all areas from time to time, and when it happens it is a serious issue to deal with.
“In this case, we will need to move from gas coming through pipes to bottled gas as the long term solution. This is being worked on now on an urgent basis.”
The Bulletin understands it could take another two weeks for the bottled gas system to be up and running.
Mr Rosenblum went on to say: “The Eco precinct is on over 40 hectares of land. It is not possible to fence it in its entirety.
“All we can do is make it safe, which we have done, and continue to communicate with owners and work constructively to resolve the issue, which we are doing.”
The gas dispute is the latest chapter in a long-running saga at Couran Cove. Bulletin investigations late last year and February this year uncovered messy internal fighting that included:
● Threats to cut the electricity, water and sewerage to more than 350 units unless debts were paid to two infrastructure companies.
● Residents paying up to $15,000 a year in body corporate fees who were unable to vote on contracts and work, given the resort’s governance structure.
● Dilapidated resources, including failing power generators leading to power outages.
● A $40,000 budget for Covid expenses, but residents said they hadn’t seen any hand sanitiser.
● The resort was without a water risk management plan more than 15 months since Gold Coast Health found a “relatively high” level of arsenic in the drinking water. Subsequent investigations found the water safe to drink. However, the resort would not confirm if a water risk management plan had been developed.
After the evacuation, a barricade with the words “staff only” was placed in front of the eco cabins and still remains in place.
“We also haven’t received any communication that it is safe to go back into our house, or any formal communication about the plan for restoring the gas,” Ms Skipworth said.
She said about 70 eco cabins on the island had been impacted. They are a mix of owner-occupied, rentals and holiday homes.
Ms Skipworth also said there was no offer of discounted body corporate fees or monetary compensation.
“We have small children living in some cabins and we have no gas, no heating. It’s cold, we have no cooking facilities.
“The way they’re treating us, I’m actually quite disgusted.
“We live in Australia, we’re not in a third world country. If we pay for those services, they should be there.”
Broadwater MP David Crisafulli wrote to Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman on August 25, highlighting the residents’ concerns about the gas supply.
“Clearly there are ongoing issues regarding the relationships between the various body corporate entities at Couran Cove,” Mr Crisafulli’s letter stated.
“I would ask that your department review the current situation at Couran Cove with a view to incorporating the findings into the government’s current consideration of potential reforms of body corporate legislation.”
Originally published as Residents forced to live with shocking conditions at Gold Coast Couran Cove Island Resort
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