The Corporate Footprint Verses Denominational Ethics: The Storm Over Watagan Park Central Shopping Centre
The corporate footprint of the South Pacific Division (SPD) with President Glenn Townend and the Australasian Conference Association Ltd (ACA) is facing intense public scrutiny.
At the centre of the storm is Watagan Park Central (www.wataganparkcentral.com.au) in Cooranbong, where a 50/50 joint venture between the Church's property arm and Johnson Property Group (JPG - www.johnsonpropertygroup.com.au/watagan-park) has triggered accusations of institutional hypocrisy, forced Sabbath trading, and the commercialisation of alcohol. While leadership may justify the joint venture as a necessary financial mechanism to secure a AUD$50M capital injection for Avondale University, the reality on the ground is that the Church is increasingly seen as sacrificing its core doctrines for commercial profit. Relying on "indirect leasing" or "arms-length" management to detach our institutions from moral accountability has failed. The local community completely rejects this technicality. Public forums and Cooranbong community spaces are openly mocking the Church's stance, pointing directly to severe contradictions that Church leadership must answer for.
Contractual Violation of the Sabbath
The corporate structure of the retail precinct explicitly targets independent leaseholders through strict operational guidelines. By utilising the entity Watagan Park Town Centre Pty Ltd (ACN 666 903 573) which is shared equally between the ACA and JPG the Church is contractually bound to a commercial framework that strictly enforces mandatory 7-day trading. By co-owning an entity that contractually compels independent shop owners to operate on Saturday, the Church is actively forcing secular businesses to violate the Seventh-day Sabbath.
As one local resident pointed out on social media:
“Why is it that the owner of the mall is a Seventh-day Adventist and is requiring individual lease holders to be open every day of the week... his actions no longer follow the church principles and beliefs.”
This has created an untenable situation where non-SDA residents view our Church as the primary culprit operating with clear double standards.
The Alcohol Compromise
The presence of a BWS bottle shop (www.bws.com.au/storelocator/nsw-cooranbong-1021) on land historically known as the Avodrome owned by the ACA and leased via the master developer (JPG) framework is being condemned as blatant hypocrisy. The BWS footprint is highly visible from Avondale School grounds where students can see the signage.
We also note at the opening of Watagan Park Town Central shopping centre Church leaders from the SPD and North New South Wales Conference attended who all participated in a dedication prayer. Which of course was witnessed by the local the non-SDA community and featured in the local newspaper.
The community acutely remembers when the Church launched aggressive legal battles against a liquor licence application on Alton Road, Cooranbong, arguing alcohol was not safe or needed near our schools.
Locals are rightly asking;
“The church took the owners of the bottle shop on Alton Rd to court... as it was too close to schools and churches... Now you have a bottle shop BWS ' on church land right beside the school... Just a tad hypocritical... Funny how all these years ago the area couldn 't have a bottle shop as it was against church beliefs and now the church is receiving rent monies from BWS.”
Exploitation of Small Businesses
The rigid operational mandates enforced by centre management are crushing small, independent retailers. Local businesses face intense public pressure regarding operational hours, yet the strict lease structures leave them no room to breathe. Members of the community have expressed disgust at how corporate property tactics are actively harming local families trying to run small enterprises under the watch of Church leadership.
The Need for Transparent Rectification
The public does not separate the spiritual leadership of the South Pacific Division and President Glenn Townend from its corporate and property-owning arms. To the community, the Church is operating with flagrant duplicity forbidding alcohol consumption in its baptismal vows while quietly banking retail revenue tied to alcohol sales, and preaching Sabbath sacredness while contractually forcing weekend trade.
This situation requires immediate, transparent rectification. The South Pacific Division and President Glenn Townend must urgently review the governing agreements of Watagan Park Town Centre Pty Ltd and provide clear answers to two critical questions.
What legal mechanisms will be used to insert restrictive covenants prohibiting alcohol sales on this land?
How will the lease structures be amended to immediately release independent operators from mandatory Sabbath trading?
Without a clear time-line for action, the reputational damage to our mission, our schools, and our institutions will remain an unhealed wound in the Cooranbong community.
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Concerned Local SDA Church Members
The following posted on social media with "an alteration" taken from the original photo and article in the local newspaper of the opening of Watagan Park Central:
