THE Cohuna Hotel was issued with an emergency order from the Gannawarra Shire last week, following concerns raised by the community about the structural condition of the balcony.
In a letter to the business owner shown to the Gannawarra Times, council ordered temporary fencing and pedestrian access to remain in place until a structural engineering report is provided, and the balcony is made safe.
Council’s municipal building surveyor stated in the letter that the emergency order was made due to “danger to life arising from the condition of the building in that: the balcony is structurally unsafe and is at risk of collapse.”
The letter also determined danger to life arising from the balcony being a risk to the public who access the footpath.
The owner’s daughter, Ananna Gomes, told the Gannawarra Times the family is stuck in the middle of a “horrible” situation.
In 2015, chef Paul Gomes put a $44,000 deposit on the hotel after being told by the vendor the property was in “excellent order” with a potential turnover of $1.4 million per year.
Ms Gomes said after the deposit had been paid, during the settlement period, the family inspected the building and found there to be significant structural defects and pest infestation.
After the discovery, the family no longer wished to buy the hotel and simply wanted their deposit back.
Ms Gomes said the family was advised by their solicitor at the time to continue with the purchase and to take the previous owners to court after the purchase.
“When a lawyer gives you advice you take it, right?” Ms Gomes said.
However, the litigation suggested by the Gomes’ solicitor never took place.
Earlier this year, the solicitor, Mr Sundar, was found to have breached a duty of care by not providing Mr Gomes with adequate advice.
Representing himself in the New South Wales Supreme Court, Mr Gomes was awarded more than $1.2 million in damages by his former lawyer.
Mr Gomes’ daughter said “a lot of people are going to say, why haven’t you fixed it? Or why haven’t you done this?”
“Dad never wanted this, we never wanted this; we only wanted our deposit back.
“You can’t operate on a dead body — it’s never going to be alive again.”
Ms Gomes said tradespeople had visited the site and advised that elements of the building were simply too far gone to be repaired.
The cost of demolishing the site and rebuilding has been estimated to be around $5-6 million.
Ms Gomes said the family and the business were under “massive” amounts of mental, physical and financial stress.
The Bangladeshi family said they have received a number of death threats and are scared to live in the community.
Ms Gomes said her family received a call earlier this year telling them to “get the f*** out of town”, saying “the whole community” is united against the hotel and that “we’re gonna kill you”.
“Of course, we feel scared living here,” the young mother said.
“It’s a horrible situation; we have spent 10 years of our life here. I had a daughter here; she’s almost nine and growing up in a place where she faces racism every day at school.”
Ms Gomes said the newly installed fences around the hotel have already increased the amount of hate and abuse the family receive.
Meanwhile, the fencing significantly restricts pedestrian access on the corner of King George and Market Streets, with four parking spaces also blocked off to provide for a temporary pedestrian path.
Cohuna resident Maryanna Adamson accesses King George Street from Market Street nearly every day via a mobility scooter.
Ms Adamson said the temporary fencing would be an impediment to her daily visit to the shops.
“It mustn’t be very safe, I probably wouldn’t really want to go under (the balcony) anyway,” Ms Adamson said.
“It’s not just me (who will be impacted), there are a lot of elderly people who rely on scooters and use this footpath.
“It’s a bit of a shame; I just wish the pub was fixed up.”
The hotel was previously issued with an emergency order in 2022 due to the same balcony.
Gannawarra Shire chief executive Geoff Rollinson said the measure was taken on June 19 to ensure public safety.
“Council continues to work through the appropriate processes with the building’s owner,” Mr Rollinson said.
