Townsville business owners Cindy Walker and Cassandra Jones left high and dry after council water pipe bursts

SMALL business owners are outraged at Townsville City Council’s handling of the city’s water crisis, saying they had no clear messaging and were left to guess how to best respond.

• A supply pipe has burst at the Douglas Water Treatment Plant
• Strict water restrictions remain in place for Townsville, Magnetic Island

SMALL business owners are outraged at Townsville City Council’s handling of the city’s water crisis, saying they had no clear messaging and were left to guess how to best respond.

First knowledge of an issue involving a burst pipeline came on Friday when the council released a statement shortly before 2pm warning residents to conserve water following a leak in the main pipe that feeds into the Douglas Water Treatment Plant. There was no mention of businesses.

The first text alerts weren’t received until about 11pm, and many residents and business owners said they didn’t receive them at all.

There was no mention of business operators in any of the text alerts sent between Friday and Sunday, with recipients advised to visit the council’s disaster management website for information.

Owner of Moksha Room Hair & Beauty, Cindy Walker, has had little communication from the Townsville City Council about water restrictions. Picture: Alix Sweeney

Moksha Room Hair owner Cindy Walker said she opted to keep her doors open over the weekend after feeling she’d been left to navigate her own way through the crisis.

“I got the text messages, just like everybody else but nothing about businesses,” she said. “The council should have a database for businesses so it’s very clear what businesses are supposed to do. And if we don’t have water, we can’t have any business sector growth in the city so they really should have thought about this years ago.”

Ms Walker said the salon already took an eco- conscious approach by using a natural, cruelty-free organic product, as well as water-saving measures so she felt it was OK to keep the doors open given it was the busiest trading time of the year.

“It would have been devastating for us because we’ve got not only the break coming for Christmas, but we’ve got all annual leave to pay,” she said.

“As a small business it’s very difficult to have that money on hand.

“We took a ‘camping’ approach by using buckets to wash anything, used paper cups for all our water and we already have water-saving eco taps, but even then we limited use.”

Gentleman Jones Barber Shop owner Cassandra Jones was furious over the latest water disaster.

Cassandra Jones from Gentleman Jones Barber Shop. PICTURE: MATT TAYLOR.

The February 2019 floods wiped out her home, forcing her and husband Stephen to move many of their belongings to their old shop on Charters Towers Road, before that too was inundated by a burst water main early this year.

Ms Jones said the council had a bad track record for water management and she wanted a formal apology made to business owners over the latest ordeal.

“We cannot believe this is happening,” she said.

“It’s already cost me $150,000 I didn’t have and now to have Townsville run dry because of another 1.3m pipe and the same system that burst outside us.

“They need to make a statement acknowledging the impact it’s had on businesses on the very first weekend we’ve been able to welcome tourists to the city, because they do not take accountability for water damage or water loss in any way.”

Ms Jones said she opted to close the barbershop and coffee shop inside because she couldn’t risk any further potential damage.

“We had to close our coffee business down because the water pressure could cut off at any time and result in tens of thousands of dollars in repairing machinery.

“Some businesses have been taking the risk but we just can’t, we don’t have the money.”

Originally published as Townsville business owners Cindy Walker and Cassandra Jones left high and dry after council water pipe bursts