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Thursday, 18 April, 2024
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Fighting for cafe By Violet Li Cranbourne’s beloved social enterprise cafe has been given a three-month eviction notice by Casey Council, leaving the business devastated and the community angered. A petition to save the L’Arte Central Social Enterprise Cafe, Catering & Florist in Cranbourne East has attracted more than 2500 signatures within three days. L’Arte Central is a not-for-profit cafe, florist, and art space located at the Casey Administration Building at Berwick-Cranbourne Road. It provides employment, training, and participation opportunities to vulnerable and atrisk youth. Director Anthony Cheeseman said he knew very well that the building would be eventually “decommissioned” sometime in the future, but said the council caught them off guard with a short notice. In May 2023, the council engaged with relevant tenants of the building, including L’Arte, to inform them of the plans for a proposed community hub, as well as the future closure of the building. The building has been assessed as an “endof-life” asset by the council. Mr Cheeseman said that a specific timeline for the closure was not pinned down at that meeting, nor were the preferred tenant partners at the new hub other than Cranbourne Library. He heard nothing afterwards until a month ago, when he was told that the council would not renew their lease and they would have to move out by the end of June this year. “Basically, the council would work with us [tenants in the building] to get us out over a period of time,” he said. “But we’re the first ones to be given the [eviction] notice. “Our lease expired in October last year, and I kept sending emails to council asking if we are going to get a new lease, they always say they are busy at the moment and they have not made the decision. “Now I got told that’s why they didn’t give me a lease, because they were never going to give me a letter of offer anyway.” The March council meeting revealed that the proposed community hub would be completed around 2028, and L’Arte was not identified as a tenant partner. Mr Cheeseman said all they wanted was an-
L’Arte Central director Anthony Cheeseman is fighting for the future of Cranbourne’s beloved social enterprise café. 400937 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS other 12-month holdover, which he believed was reasonable considering the completion time of the new hub. “We won’t be going down without a fight,” he said. Mr Cheeseman emailed Casey’s chief executive officer Glenn Patterson for help, but the response staggered him. “He said my enterprise and the community services it offers is beyond the remit of council,” he said. “So, the council doesn’t care about people
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with disabilities. That’s basically what you’re saying by ‘beyond the remit of council’, which is pretty brutal.” “We’ll look for somewhere else. Just give us the time to look for somewhere else. It’s unfair with what they’re doing. “If we’re not going to be here, they should be helping us to find somewhere else.” Mr Cheeseman said the short-notice eviction would leave 45 hardworking locals without jobs, including 30 staff and 15 participants with disabilities.
“They’re very shocked because they don’t know what to do. I think a lot of them have mortgages, personal loans, and families,” he said. “This social enterprise has been a cornerstone of our community since its commencement in 2019. “It’s not just a place where we get our coffee, our food, or our flowers. It’s where we connect with each other, share stories, and build relationships. Continued page 12
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