Cherbourg council water failure leaves town and hospital dry

An almost unbelievable series of council mishaps and failures has left a Queensland town and its hospital without any water.

A new report into regional water services has painted a grim picture of the Cherbourg Council’s management (CEO Chatur Zala pictured) with revelations the town’s hospital ran dry after the organisation failed to heed alarms when it’s treatment pant broke down.

A new report into regional water services in Queensland has painted a dire picture of the Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council’s management, with revelations the public hospital was left without any water after the council failed to heed alarms when the treatment plant broke down.

The failure was one of several problems with the council’s water services management identified by the Queensland Audit Office’s report released on Wednesday, December 18, raising questions over the council’s handling of the crucial service in the South Burnett township.

Cherbourg council was one of four audited by the QAO in the report, alongside Fraser Coast Regional Council, Western Downs Regional Council, and Winton Shire Council.

In the report, the office said proper preparation may have prevented the hospital taps from running dry when the Cherbourg treatment plant malfunctioned and drained water reserves.

“The water operators did not respond to alarms, and the council was unaware of the loss of supply until the hospital notified the council that it had run out of water,” the report said.

A new report into regional water services has painted a grim picture of the Cherbourg Council’s management (CEO Chatur Zala pictured) with revelations the town’s hospital ran dry after the organisation failed to heed alarms when its treatment plant broke down.

It found the council had not tested its own incident response plans.

Doing so “may have minimised” the impact of the treatment plant’s malfunction, the report said.

The office further found needed improvements at the council such as maintenance, training, standard operating procedures, or larger infrastructure upgrades, had been “pending” for four years, the council “lacked evidence their governance groups, such as councillors or audit committees, were monitoring progress of these activities”, and untrained staff had left the council at high risk.

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The Queensland Audit Office said in a new report on water management proper preparation by the Cherbourg council may have prevented the township’s hospital’s taps from running dry when the treatment plant malfunctioned and drained water reserves.

The Cherbourg council also did not follow its own management plan practices when responding to water service problems, with the council ultimately receiving an infringement notice when its failure to make corrections following an unidentified incident led to it happening a second time.

The council also “did not report all recorded incidents to the regulator between July 2021 and June 2023”.

Cherbourg Aboriginal Regional Council has been contacted for comment about the report’s findings.

The region’s water woes have been ongoing for several years, with $26 million invested by the state government in October 2024 to help fix the problem.

The QAO made four recommendations to all Queensland councils, including that they assess their record keeping, ensure oversight and compliance with management plans, that they identify any gaps in its staff capability and expertise, and that emergency response plans be tested.

The council, in a response to these recommendations included with the QAO’s report, agreed with the recommendations and most were expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2025.