Urban Utilities responds to criticism over decision to close Limestone St Ipswich office

The state water authority says staff forced to move after if closes its Ipswich CBD office will be accommodated elsewhere in the city.

QUU spokeswoman Michelle Cull says the water and sewarage authority is remaining in Ipswich, despite the decision not to renew the lease on office space in the CBD.

Urban Utilities has responded to recent criticism over a decision not to renew its lease on an office in the Ipswich CBD which it has occupied for a decade.

It had been reported over the past week that Urban Utilities was cutting the lease short on its Limestone St office and relocating staff to Fortitude Valley.

The report prompted a reaction from State MP for Ipswich Jennifer Howard, who on Monday said she was disappointed to hear Urban Utilities was moving its headquarters to Brisbane after long ties with the region.

The state government water and sewerage authority has moved to correct what it says are some inaccuracies in the information distributed regarding the move.

Spokeswoman Michelle Cull said the lease was set to run out on the Ipswich office in September, and the decision not to renew it was one that was made out of a desire to shed unnecessary cost.

Ms Cull said the office was under-utilised and existing staff could be accommodated in Urban Utilities’ other office in Ipswich.

“We remain committed to maintaining a strong presence in the Ipswich community and have five sites in the region with office space across Bundamba, Carole Park, Goodna and Karana Downs,” she said.

“Since we introduced more flexible work arrangements in response to COVID-19, an average of nine staff members per day have been working at the site, so we no longer need such a large space.

“We have recently leased a new purpose-built depot at Hoepner Rd in Bundamba which has office space to accommodate our Ipswich-based teams.

“Under our new ways of working, we will also have several staff who will continue to work from home in Ipswich as well as our other Ipswich operational sites.”

Employees still based at Limestone St will begin to move out at the end of this month.

Urban Utilities is set to spend about $65 million on water and sewerage infrastructure in the next financial year.