CAMPAIGN TO KEEP CAROUSEL
A COMMUNITY fight has begun to save the historic Broadbeach carousel.
Residents upset after a majority of councillors last week voted to remove the carousel from the Broadbeach mall accused the council of having “no heart or social conscience”.
“Hundreds of families stay in Broadbeach with their young children so that they can ride the carousel. This machine is so simple in construction that it could be maintained by a men’s shed,” a resident told the Bulletin.
Another resident described the council as “soulless and devoid of any kind of historical or genuine cultural sense”.
“All they do is kill history and pave over our identity.”
Former area councillor Eddy Sarroff, who is leading the campaign with charity workers, said: “I’m not going to let this family attraction be removed without a fight. I know the community feels very strongly about it.”
Southport Rotary Club acting president Greg Dux said yesterday the group, which runs the ride, was planning talks with the council with the hope of saving it.
“We’re hoping we can keep it going. It’s raised up to a million dollars in an eight- or nine-year period,” he said. “The money goes to charity.”
The council has safety concerns about the attraction and says maintaining it has become a drain on ratepayer funds.
It intends to call for “expressions of interest” from any groups wishing to secure it as the area is “turned into a suitable children’s play area”.
Area councillor Paul Taylor told a full council meeting he was concerned about the ride’s safety and “we’ve had all sorts of estimates for repairs and maintenance for this ride ranging from $40,000 to over $300,000”.
But the council has failed to detail exactly how much it would cost to repair the carousel, with the details hidden in a confidential report.
Mr Sarroff called on the council to provide details on how much it would cost to remove and replace the carousel.
When asked by the Bulletin about these costs, Cr Taylor said: “That is yet to be determined.”
He told councillors the ride was operating on a 120-yearold gun carriage and in an incident earlier this year “one of the horses jumped off the post during the ride operations”.
Cr Taylor referred to the Dreamworld tragedy and new criminal laws regarding ride attractions and gained support from all councillors apart from Peter Young, Daphne McDonald and Dawn Crichlow for removing the carousel.
Mr Sarroff said he understood the ride had passed a recent safety audit.
“Before the carousel was handed back to Rotary ... the auditor, along with council officers and maintenance staff, all inspected it and there were no concerns,” Mr Sarroff said.
Cr Taylor rejected suggestions from supporters of the ride that it was safe and that the council would benefit from fees by having it replaced by “dining table and chairs”.
“I refute that. I have made it clear that safety is our No.1 priority,” he said.