Hoofbeats Sanctuary chief executive officer Barb Blaski says the possible closure of a trauma healing charity in Doonan, due to a Sunshine Coast Council decision for relocation, will “cost lives“.
The centre, operated by local charity Kanyini Connections Ltd, has been given until 28 February to relocate.
Barb said, “Sunshine Coast Council has decided that the eight acres the Sanctuary operates from would better serve the community if it were given to a local pony club that already has over 30 acres next door to the site.“
Requiring privacy for its clients, Hoofbeats Sanctuary has been operating at 26 Fellowship Drive, Doonan under a sub-user agreement with Eumundi and District Pony Club since April 2020.
This agreement ended when the Pony Club ceased operations in February 2023. Since then, council has offered Hoofbeats a month-by-month tenancy while they sought alternative sites.
With all avenues of negotiation with council exhausted, the charity has launched a capital raising campaign to raise the $3 million needed to purchase a suitable property in the area with the necessary infrastructure to carry on programs without interruption.
Barb said the service has always been in huge demand with clients waiting up to 48 weeks for a program place in the Sanctuary’s equine therapy programs.
“How council could consider putting the future of a mental health charity at risk in the middle of a mental health crisis is just unfathomable,“ she said.
“This is not an action that is consistent with what the majority of the community would expect from a council meant to represent their best interests.
“Research shows that individuals with complex trauma may not respond well to traditional mental health treatments and that equine-assisted interventions can deliver significant benefits in shorter time-frames compared to standard approaches.
“We are the only organisation in Australia that provides free ongoing equine therapy services – there is nowhere else that financially disadvantaged clients can go to access the services that we provide.”
A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson said council has offered Hoofbeats a new location in Yandina, but according to Hoofbeats, the site being offered is a significantly smaller, flood-prone site that currently has no infrastructure, no water supply and no power.
“We are providing financial support for improved facilities such as drainage, an undercover night safe area, fencing, solar/ battery package, septic and office/ reception,“ a council spokesperson said.
“Hoofbeats accepted the relocation offer in November 2024 and council is now working on designs and contractor procurement.“
A council spokesperson said the Doonan facility, designed and built for equestrian sports, is not suitable for Hoofbeats Sanctuary due to zoning codes designating it as a District-level Sport and Recreation Precinct, intended to accommodate increased equestrian activity.
Council’s 2021 planning identified the need to relocate Yandina and District Pony Club to the Doonan facility as its current facility at Yandina is no longer suitable for its large membership numbers.
Due to the large membership and the privacy needs of Hoofbeats, both organisations advised council they could not share either the Doonan or Yandina facilities.
Council initially provided Hoofbeats 18 months to find an alternative location, and extended this by six months in September 2024, acknowledging their preference for a privately-owned facility and not a council-owned or managed site.
Barb said so many lives will be negatively impacted by this decision.
“We’re an incredibly special organisation, a community-based, peer-led mental health charity with a wholly lived experience workforce and mostly lived-experience volunteer team,” she said.
Without a home from which to operate, they will be unable to continue to provide vital mental health services.
“Our nine part-time lived-experience employees will lose their jobs during a cost-of-living crisis,“ Barb said.
“Almost 50 volunteers, many of whom are ex-clients, will lose their roles – roles that provide a crucial source of social connection in their lives.
“We sincerely believe that the closure of the Sanctuary will cost lives.”
Barb said council’s position has been extremely upsetting to their entire team.
“We have been given hope at numerous times throughout the process only to have that hope taken away again with backflip after backflip by council,“ she said.
“We have been tirelessly supporting the community for over five years through our work at the Sanctuary and we are now turning to the community and asking it for support to raise the funding needed to purchase a property that can enable us to continue to provide life-changing and life-saving mental health services long into the future.”
Donors can donate online on the charity’s website at hoofbeats.org.au
