Wellcamp quarantine hub offered to Toowoomba disaster group to help those impacted by flash flooding

As people in the Lockyer Valley begin the mammoth clean-up task from last weekend’s floods, Mayor Tanya Milligan has revealed her thoughts on the offer to temporarily house people at the Wellcamp hub.

The state government’s offer of using its Wellcamp quarantine hub to house people displaced by flooding has been questioned by Lockyer Valley Mayor Tanya Milligan.

With towns across the local government area devastated by last weekend’s deluge, Ms Milligan said 140 people were housed in evacuation centres but by yesterday that number had reduced to eight.

Ms Milligan said if the Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre was made available to people impacted by floods, it should be the victim’s decision on whether they stayed or went.

“I know what it’s like to leave your home with just a bag on your back and head to an evacuation centre, it’s an exceptionally emotional experience,” she said.

“Then once you get there and settle, if you’re told you have to move again it can add to the trauma, so I would say while it’s a good option to have, any evacuees should be asked if they want to go to another facility.

“We had about 140 people in our region displaced by the floods, if there were hundreds more we’d be reaching out but still we would need to ask the people being evacuated, we wouldn’t want to shift them from place to place.”

Grantham Flood clean up. February 28, 2022.

Ms Milligan said about 115 roads in the Lockyer Valley Regional Council area were still closed due to flood damage and flooding.

“At the moment I think we’re all breathing a bit of a sigh of relief, but the reality is there’s still a long road ahead of us,” she said.

“To get roads open and clean homes and start the repairs is going to take some time.

“Recovery isn’t a sprint, it’s definitely a marathon.”

Ms Milligan said after visiting some of the hardest hit areas yesterday it was hard not to make comparisons to the deadly 2011 floods that ravaged places such as Grantham.

“There’s as much debris and damage as there was in 2011 and 2013, it’s the same devastation and pain,” she said.

“The only positive has been we haven’t had the loss of life like previously, and like we’ve seen in other regions suffering with flooding.”

Grantham Flood clean up. February 28, 2022.

For some of the areas directly impacted by flood waters such as Grantham, Withcott and Murphys Creek, the council would be organising a kerbside garbage collection for flood damaged items.

Ms Milligan said she had made requests for clean-up assistance from Australian Defence Force personnel as well as Volunteering Queensland for on-the-ground co-ordination of the clean-up effort in the coming weeks.

“We are asking people to be patient, community safety is the priority,” she said.

“If you don’t have to travel please don’t be on the roads until they’re made safe.”

State government confirms offer of Wellcamp

The Queensland Government has confirmed an offer has been made to use the Wellcamp quarantine hub for emergency accommodation in the wake of last weekend’s devastating flash flooding.

As residents of the Lockyer Valley look ahead to the massive clean-up job, it is still unknown just how many people have been displaced as a result.

This comes as a spokeswoman from the office of Deputy Premier Steven Miles confirmed the state government had been in discussions with the Toowoomba Regional Council’s Local Disaster Management Group to use the Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre, built near Wellcamp Airport west of Toowoomba, to house people impacted by flooding.

Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio endorsed using the quarantine hub to host people affected by the floods, assuming it posed no security concerns for the wider community.

“I was told it was being considered, I have been having some discussions with our team about that,” he said.

“It’s simply about if there are people who are stranded, here is an opportunity to accommodate them.

“I think that’s a good idea, if it’s only going to be temporary and the separation can take place and is easily attainable.”

Grantham Flood clean up. February 28, 2022.

The offer comes less than a month after the centre opened to guests for the stated purpose as a quarantine facility.

The latest guest figures revealonly a fraction of the facility’s 500 bed capacityis in use.

As of March 1, 94 guests have quarantined at the Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre since February 5, while 25 people have been in isolation.

On February 23, a total of 28 people were in quarantine at the facility while seven were in isolation, an occupancy rate of about 14 per cent.

The State Governments Wellcamp quarantine facility, the Queensland Regional Accomodation Centre, is set to welcome the first cohort of guests, Saturday, February 5, 2022. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Toowoomba South MP David Janetzki said while it was confirmed that the state government had spent $50 million on building the centre, the final bill to the taxpayer was still unknown due to “commercial in confidence”.

“Because of the state government’s incompetence, it’s impossible for anyone to know whether (the centre) is value for money or not,” he said.

“Within 24 hours last week three senior figures of the government have a different interpretation to what is ‘commercial in confidence’.

“How can any business confidently engage with the government in the future?”