Greens Senator Larissa Waters joins with residents of Wulguru at breaking point over sewage issue

Saying they have reached their “breaking point” Wulguru residents are calling on the Council to act on the horrific “Poonami” situation, which has left one mum having to travel to a shopping centre each time her child needs to go to the toilet.

Greens Senator Larissa Waters, with Wulguru residents Brittany Giudes and Leanne Dobbin. Picture: Nikita McGuire

A Wulguru mum of four says she has reached her ‘breaking point’, calling on council to act to stop the horrific “Poonami” situation that inundates in the suburb every time it rains.

Burnett Crescent resident Brittany Giudes, who the Townsville Bulletin spoke to back in February this year in the wake of the flooding event, said the issue of raw sewage is “affecting her mentally”.

When the heavy rain began earlier in the at the end of January, Ms Giudes’ house began to have sewage back up in her laundry overnight, resulting in a “waterfall” of poo and water inundating a large section of her house, causing $50,000 damage.

Inside Wulguru resident Brittany Giudes' property in February, where raw sewage flowed through during the floods. Picture: Leighton Smith.

The flood-affected parts of the house have since been gutted, with another sanitisation needed before builders can come in and redo the laundry, bathroom and storage areas.

The issue of sewage in Wulguru is nothing new for residents, with neighbour Leanne Dobbin saying the problem has been persistent for “decades”.

She has taken matters into her own hands, creating the ‘Poonami Army’, as well as making sewage stoppers for residents to block drains affected by overflowing effluent in several Wulguru streets.

She said the re-occurrence of the sewage spewing into the neighbourhood was ‘horrific.

“I would sit on my step and just cry every time,” she said.

“I go around every time it rains to put a plug in an 85 year old woman’s house to stop her bathroom overflowing through her house.

“I’m emotionally wrecked. We shouldn’t have to live like this.”

Inside Wulguru resident Brittany Giudes' property in February, where raw sewage flowed through during the floods. Picture: Leighton Smith.

Greens Senator for Queensland Larissa Waters, who first visited Ms Dobbin and residents of Wulguru back in 2021, was back to inspect the issue on Tuesday morning and called on the council to take further action.

“This is not the first time this has happened to the people here in Wulguru,” she said.

“Are we not a wealthy country? Is it not 2025? Why do we have raw sewage flowing through people’s homes?”

Ms Waters said after council commissioned a new Wulguru Pump Station in 2023, as part of the $20m stage three of the Southern Suburbs Rising Main Project, that it was hoped the problem would be fixed.

Ms Dobbin said the $20 million diversion pipe fixed her issue but caused others in the area to “cop her sh*t.”

“Every time it rains they open up these valves. There’s three or four of them, big ones,” she said.

“These go into Ross Creek, which goes into Ross River. So all that sewage … people going fishing eating contaminated waste. It’s not a fix.”

“Where is the $20 million fix? It hasn’t happened, it hasn’t worked.”

Inside Wulguru resident Brittany Giudes' property in February, where raw sewage flowed through during the floods. Picture: Leighton Smith.

Still unable to use anything in her families house that requires water, including showers, toilets and the dishwasher, Ms Giudes and her family have had to resort to using a camping toilet and shower outside.

My four year old won’t go to the toilet in the camping toilet, we actually have to take him down to the Fairfield shops to use the toilet,” she said.

Having raised the issue with council too many times to count, Ms Giudes said she is at her wits end and called out Townsville City Council.

“My kids are my everything and I’m just so disappointed and frustrated by this blatant disrespect and not being believed about what is happening to us, by the people that are meant to represent and protect us. That’s their role,” she said.

“If you can’t do this job, why put your hand up and stay doing it?”

Ms Giudes and Ms Dobbins said they have also been in contact with Federal MP for Dawson, Andrew Willcox, who has been informing council of what residents have been going through

Poonami Army leader Leanne Dobbin. Picture: Leighton Smith.

“The problem hasn't been fixed, it’s simply been diverted and now other homes are experiencing raw sewage going through their homes the moment it starts to rain,” she said.

“I don’t know what council is doing but they need to prioritise this, and if they are short of money and they need to ask the state government or the federal government for funds, they should get on and do that.”

Having written letters to the council since she first visited five years ago, Ms Waters said she was “disappointed”.

“The council’s got a lot of explaining to do, but if they need to ask for financial help – just do it.”

A spokesman from the Townsville City Council said the city has received record breaking rainfall in recent months causing inundation of the wastewater system across the city.

“The intensity and volume of rainfall during these events, which included two consecutive months with more than 1000mm caused significant pooling water and inflow to the wastewater network,” they said.

“Council has invested heavily in decreasing the number of sewage overflows in and around Wulguru in recent years which has seen a reduction of around 75 per cent in wastewater overflow events during the wet season.”

The spokesman said the Townsville City Council is reviewing how the system performed operationally during the wet weather and is developing a plan to further reduce the likelihood of wastewater overflows.

“These plans will require approvals from State agencies along with financial support from other levels of Government or available grants,”

Townsville City Council said they welcome any financial support from both the State and Federal Governments and candidates to assist in these efforts, however “it was important to note no wastewater system in Australia is designed to manage the unprecedented volume of water infiltration experienced during such intense, record-breaking weather conditions.”

Originally published as Greens Senator Larissa Waters joins with residents of Wulguru at breaking point over sewage issue