An announcement by the Queensland Police Service that it would be cutting the opening hours of its Gayndah station starting later this month caused concern among residents of the North Burnett town – but police failed to mention the scheduling change would only last for two weeks.
The Gayndah police station’s front counter will be open just six hours on Mondays and Wednesdays starting from 16 June, the QPS announced on 27 May.
The station will open at 8am and close for an hour’s lunch at noon, after which it will remain open until 3pm.
Police at Gayndah are currently still reachable for seven hours and 15 minutes on the days the station is open, from 8am to noon and 12:45pm to 4pm every Monday and Wednesday.
The QPS has also announced further changes to the Gayndah station’s hours in the lead-up to the opening hour reduction on 16 June.
Between Wednesday 4 and Sunday 15 June the police station will be closed altogether, with locals missing out on three open days as a result.
Concerned Burnett locals took to social media to protest the scheduling change, saying it presented a risk to the community’s safety.
“So what happens when local establishments require immediate assistance?” one person wrote, with another stating the move was “[d]isadvantaging the locals as always.”
Following a request for comment by Burnett Today, a spokesperson for the Queensland Police Service stated the cut in hours from mid-June would only be temporary – a fact the organisation did not mention in its original announcement on 27 May.
The QPS spokesperson said the station’s hours would drop between 16 June and the first week of July “due to planned recreational leave.”
The police’s original statement on the change of the Gayndah station’s hours read “[f]rom Monday 16 June onward, our regular opening hours will be every Monday and Wednesday from 8am to 3pm (Closed between 12pm and 1pm).”
“While staffing figures will fluctuate from time to time, the Queensland Police Service has sufficient staff and resources to deliver professional policing services to all residents and visitors,” they added.
“Additional support is also provided from surrounding stations when required, in keeping with current QPS protocols,” the organisation’s representative said.
