HOMELESS HAROLD
FACING EVICTION
HEALTHY Harold has seen 160,000 Gold Coasters since setting up 30 years ago but volunteers fear Life Education’s mascot could be homeless by April.
Children’s health education charity Life Education Queensland built its Broadbeach headquarters on council land with money fundraised from the community in the late 1980s.
But three decades on the organisation’s long-term lease with the Gold Coast council has come to an end and directors say the charity’s future in Queensland is “in limbo”.
Council has hit back, saying it is still negotiating with Life Education to settle on another long-term lease.
Life Education Queensland Board Director Jack Ray said after weeks of negotiating with council, officers refuse to commit to a new lease agreement with the charity until after the Commonwealth Games.
Mr Ray claimed that council has also threatened to subdivide the hall to include other organisations and charge Life Education Queensland hundreds of thousands of dollars for an upgrade.
“Council’s response to us has basically been we’re going to see what we need to do with that space for the Commonwealth Games,” he said.
“(We were told last week) that there’s been no decision made as to our future there.
“To secure (the space) long-term … we would have to pay a sizeable contribution which we believe is totally unreasonable.
“The community’s basically fundraised that building.”
A council spokeswoman said the only part of the space that was likely to be taken from Life Education was a section of the property that was not used by the organisation and that this space would be used for the Commonwealth Games.
The representative said the charity would only be asked to contribute to a muchneeded refurbishment of the building.
“The decision will be made after the Commonwealth Games, as the premises will be used in the interim for Games purposes,” she said.
“Plans to renovate the site have been in development for a number of months, however renovations will not proceed before the Games. This will enable part of the premises that is not used by Life Education to be used ‘as is’ for Games purposes.
“The premises is a Council owned and controlled building which has been held under lease by Life Education for the last 30 years. It has not been renovated in that time and is in need of significant upgrading.
WE’VE GOT DESIRES TO RUN PROGRAMS OUT OF THERE … AND RE-ENGAGE WITH THE COMMUNITY. WE’RE IN ABSOLUTE, TOTAL LIMBO.”
“To enable Life Education to secure another long-term lease over part of the premises, contribution to upgrade costs has been sought.” Jack Ray’s father, the late Bryan Ray, helped to fund the construction of the Broadbeach headquarters and was instrumental in establishing Life Education in Queensland. Eighty-thousand children are said to have attended health programs at the centre in the last 30 years. Currently, the centre is not used for programs but as a base for volunteers. Mr Ray said Life Education’s plans to run new programs out of the Broadbeach headquarters could be at risk if council do not soon agree to a new lease arrangement. “We’ve got desires to run programs out of there … and re-engage with the community,” he said. “We’re in absolute, total limbo.”
JACK RAY