Two weeks without hot food and water
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 fulltime at 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 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.”
Ms Skipworth said resort reception staff did not offer any information about the emergency.
“The emergency services, the fire service and police service, came to the island to investigate and after 30 minutes they left saying there was no major threat,” she 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 insurances 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 said: “The Eco precinct is on over 40 hectares of land. It is not possible to fence it in it’s 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 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 who paid up to $15,000 a year in body corporate fees 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 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,” Ms Skipworth said.
She said about 70 eco cabins had been impacted. They are a mix of owner-occupied, rentals and holiday homes and she 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 residents’ concerns about the gas supply.
“I would ask that your department review the situation at Couran Cove with a view to incorporating the findings into the government’s consideration of potential reforms of body corporate legislation,” he wrote.