Our employees are part of the community – many living locally on Redlands Coast – and are committed to continuing to service the community through this challenging time.
However, just like the rest of the community, some of our people have been diagnosed as positive to COVID-19 and are absent from work, while others are away caring for family members affected by the virus or have been required to isolate under a public health direction.
This number is expected to increase over the coming weeks as COVID-19 infections peak in Queensland.
So, like many other organisations, Redland City Council has been affected by COVID-19 and this is impacting some of our non-essential programs and services. For that we apologise and ask for your patience and understanding.
To reassure you, no essential services have been affected and Council is in a strong position to deal with this pandemic.
Temporary program and service changes
Council has already made a number of alterations to non-critical programs and services as a result of reduced employee numbers or due to measures to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
These have included:
- Postponing the RPAC school holiday program
- Postponing some library events and the temporary suspension of in-library programs
- Closing the Dunwich library on Tuesdays
- Changing the format of the announcement of the Redlands Coast Australia Day Awards Recipients
- Splitting our Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony on 26 January into two smaller ceremonies
- Temporary closures of some aspects of services as required, to date including the IndigiScapes nursery (closed for several days) and Animal Shelter collection (closed for animal pick-ups from the shelter for three hours), with other arrangements made to assist customers.
It is unavoidable that temporary closures of some services will continue to occur as employees are absent from work over the coming weeks.
Council will continue to ensure services reopen as soon as possible, provide other ways of assisting customers where possible and continue online services.
We are communicating program and service changes through social media, our website and newsletters.
Plans in place
While there already are impacts to some Council programs, events and services, please be assured Council is prepared for these circumstances.
We have enacted plans to reduce the spread of COVID-19, protect staff and the community, continue our critical services and reduce the impact on all Council services.
We continue to strictly follow Queensland Health requirements for our customer-facing services such as our libraries, galleries, customer contact centres, animal shelter and Visitor Information Centre.
This includes a mandatory requirement for visitors and employees to wear masks.
Visitors and employees must also be fully vaccinated to enter Redland Performing Arts Centre and our IndigiScapes café.
From our team to you, thank you for your patience and kindness during this time.