Council to close most remaining public facilities amid national shutdown

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Published
23rd March 2020

Longreach Regional Council has taken the additional step of closing more of its public facilities, effective close-of-business Tuesday 24 March, in response to COVID-19.

The new round of closures includes all public swimming pools, visitor information centres, camping grounds, showgrounds, and community halls. They will join the Longreach Library in remaining closed until further notice; however, the Longreach Childcare Centre remains open for the time being.

Council was also able to confirm it will suspend its community funding streams. The funding is primarily designed to support community events – which will not be able to take place in the coming months.

Council has convened a COVID-19 Working Group to consider the organisation’s response to the pandemic. The group, chaired by Council’s CEO Mitchell Murphy, meets twice daily to coordinate Council’s workforce management and business continuity plans. These aim to ensure continuity of essential services such as water and waste. 

Council delegates also attended a meeting of the District Disaster Management Group today chaired by Inspector Julia Cook; District Disaster Coordinator. Following on from the meeting today Mr Murphy, who is the Local Disaster Coordinator, has confirmed that tomorrow (Tuesday) the Longreach Local Disaster Management Group will move to Lean Forward status and will, as a precautionary measure, be setting up the Local Disaster Coordination Centre.

The full list of public facilities closing from Tuesday is as follows:

Longreach

  • Apex Park Camping
  • Longreach Youth Hostel
  • Longreach Aquatic Centre
  • Longreach Civic and Cultural Centre
  • Longreach Visitor Information Centre
  • Longreach Showgrounds (Oval and Buildings)
  • Powerhouse Museum

Ilfracombe

  • Ilfracombe Pool
  • Langenbaker House
  • Rec Centre, Halls, Sheds and Wayne Taylor Oval 
  • Machinery Mile Buildings (Railway Shed, Oakhampton Cottage, Romani Hall, Gun Display)
  • Wellshot Centre
  • Ilfracombe Tennis Court


Isisford

  • Isisford Town Hall
  • Outer Barcoo Interpretation Centre
  • Isisford Library
  • Isisford Barcoo River Camping Area
  • Oma Waterhole Camping Area
  • Isisford Tennis Courts
  • Whitman’s Museum
  • Isisford Multipurpose Sporting (including, Pool, Skate park, and bowling green)
  • Isisford Racecourse

Yaraka

  • Yaraka Pool 
  • Yaraka Community Hall 
  • Former QR Goods Shed
  • Yaraka Tennis Courts
  • Yaraka Showgrounds
  • Yaraka Camping Facilities

Council is encouraging anyone who wants to stay informed about the pandemic to make use of official sites such as qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19 and health.gov.au.