Collinsville Bakehouse reopens with help from old owners
Just three months after it closed a Whitsunday community welcomed back its only bakery, as the new owners worked with the old to bring fresh bread to the town.
Mackay
Don't miss out on the headlines from Mackay. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Less than three months after a mining town lost its only bakery, a new owner has swooped in and reopened it.
Collinsville Bakehouse brought fresh bread and sweet treats to Collinsville for 27 years before the family behind it, the Dawsons, made the difficult decision to shut it down.
Owner Tony Dawson said they shut the bakery because he and his brother were experiencing health difficulties and in August 2023 announced the business was for sale.
“We didn’t really want to close down,” Mr Dawson said.
“We put a lot of time and effort into building that business up.”
The bakery was closed in December 2024 for just under three months before new owner Prem Thotla swooped in and reopened its doors.
Mr Thotla moved from Collinsville to Bowen five years ago and is an avid fan of the bakehouse, particularly their fresh bread and cream buns.
“Every time we came here it was such beautiful fresh bread,” Mr Thotla said.
“They built so much in this town and delivered a quality product … small towns live on these things like custard tarts and birthday cakes.”
Mr Thotla bought the business from the Dawsons for a reduced price and reopened on February 3 with Mr Dawson and his brother working with him to train two new bakers.
“I want to have the same product that 27 years have been built on,” he said.
Mr Thotla said he wanted to do something for his town and he reached out to previous employees to offer them their old jobs.
“Kids are growing up and they don’t have a place they can go,” he said.
“All the miners who work, they stop here and I thought I wanted to do something for the town and they’re stopping and saying ‘we love you bread, your cream buns’.”
Mr Thotla said his plans don’t end with cream buns however, as he intended to expand the Collinsville Bakehouse into the community’s first cafe.
“I’m a coffee lover … imagine eating one our custard tarts with a coffee against a nice background in Collinsville,” He said.
“You would love it.”
He also intended to start serving organic smoothies and include more gluten free options.
“It’s not always about doing something for money,” he said.
“Sometimes you do something out of your good will and you see actually it’s making other people happy and it makes you just so happy.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Collinsville Bakehouse reopens with help from old owners
WATCH: Driver found stranded on ute roof in raging floodwaters
A North Queensland man is lucky to be alive after being swept off the road and stranded on the roof of his ute in raging floodwaters for hours — until heroic swift water firefighters came to his rescue. WATCH THE VIDEO.
Airport ‘evacuated’ and shut down amid fresh flood fears
A North Queensland airport has been closed with reports waiting passengers were being evacuated from the building amid flooding concerns as the region is battered by rain.
Driver rescued after hours trapped on flood-swept ute’s roof
A driver, whose ute was swept away in fast-moving floodwaters, has been rescued after more than two hours trapped on the sunken vehicle’s roof. LATEST.
Government waited six days to reveal hospital investigation
An investigation was launched into Mackay’s public hospital after staff raised concerns around recruitment and senior medical officers working out of scope — but the public was kept in the dark for almost a week.
Beloved pet reptile makes ‘miracle’ return home
A 1.4m cuddle-loving Lace Monitor that went missing from his Qld owners sparking a community wide search has made his way home.
It’s a disaster: Damning report exposes how system let Qld down
Jaw-dropping tales of failures in disaster communications – including one in which a stranded group had to phone relatives in Scotland for help – have been laid bare.