Boardroom stoush threatens Beenleigh Historic Village
A boardroom reshuffle has sparked a bitter battle for control of a popular southside tourist village. WATCH THE VIDEO
Logan
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A landmark tourist attraction at Beenleigh has become the subject of a bitter boardroom battle over its future.
Five of nine board members running the Beenleigh District Historical Village have resigned or been removed in the past seven months.
The turmoil started after a commercial operator, Great Australian Experiences, leased part of the village for an indigenous show in 2017. The show called Spirit of the Red Sands was named Queensland’s best tourist attraction by the RACQ last year.
Great Australian Experiences also took over the lease of the village’s cafe.
Some volunteers and staff have since formed a group called Members for Change, which claims the commercial operation is risking the future of the village.
The group said it wanted to find ways to ensure the village was used for a range of different events and not just for the Red Sands show to ensure the venue stayed in local hands as a non-profit business.
They hired legal expert Dr Joanne Redburn, who wrote to the board claiming “multiple breaches” of the constitution of the village, which has been operating since 1969.
Dr Redburn outlined ways the board could fix the situation.
The board asked for time to seek legal advice and responded via lawyer John Mahoney.
“Our clients do not see it necessary to, and do not intend to, respond in any detail to the matters in your letter,” Mr Mahoney said.
“Our clients consider that they and the committee have acted in accordance with the constitution and do not intend to accede to your client’s demands.”
Calls to Great Australian Experiences and the secretary of the board Gary Hollindale went unanswered.
Beenleigh District Historical Society manager Barry Power said the disagreements between the parties over who had the right to schedule events at the site had been disruptive.
Mr Power, who has been associated with the village for 25 years, said both parties had good ideas for the future and he hoped the warring would end on May 15, when the board holds a special meeting.
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“It has been very tough, especially with Covid, and some very good people have resigned or been replaced,” he said.
“The functioning of the village has been affected by this turmoil and bickering and we can’t move forward until everyone is working towards the same goal.”
“Red Sands is not making a profit at the present time and so the Historical Society has assisted them with reduced (lease) payments.
“There was a time when we had considered asking them to leave but we decided it was better to have some income than none at all.
“We welcome all groups to book in their events if there is space in the diary.
“I don’t care who operates the cafe, just as long as there is a return that goes back to the village.”
Mr Power said the village was making a return from the hard work of volunteers and school tours of the colonial village.
Members for Change spokeswoman Bernadette Waters said her group wanted to keep the Red Sands indigenous program but allow other ventures to also use the venue.
“The board should no longer keep offering Great Australian Experience discounted rent as it is a commercial business,” she said.
“We want progress but we want it to be for the village and not just a commercially-run operator which gets government grants as well.”
Logan City Council said it had done all it could to promote the venue and its associated businesses.
The council said it would include Beenleigh village in a social media campaign to encourage tourism in the next school holidays and funded its Christmas carols event last year.
It also funded the Wild Foods and Cultural Festival at Spirits of the Red Sands in November.
Council also put forward both Beenleigh Historical Village and Spirits of the Red Sands for consideration for lifestyle television coverage and lobbied for inclusion in state and national tourism agencies.
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