Despite Ex-Cyclone Alfred being downgraded from a cyclone to a tropical storm, its impact has been deeply felt across Northern NSW and Queensland. The relentless wind, heavy rain and devastating floods have caused significant challenges for many communities.

Through it all, our teams on the ground have shown extraordinary resilience, dedication and care – not just for our venues, but for each other and the people they serve. We want to take a moment to sincerely thank each and every one of you for your unwavering commitment during this incredibly difficult time. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed, and we are truly grateful. Please read on for just a few examples of the hard work that the teams are putting into getting our venues up and running again.

South Queensland / Northern NSW

• On Tuesday 4^th March, managers Lucy and Dave swiftly evacuated Woody Head Campground which will remain closed until March 17^th. The pair have been busy clearing debris on the ground and fallen trees, as well as keeping the team safe by relocating them to higher ground.

• Manager Craig at Suffolk Beachfront Holiday Park navigated having no power for four days while keeping guests and permanents safe, ensuring they had support when needed.

• Nambour had some of the worst flooding and rain in nearly 40 years, with over 350ml falling in 4 hours, and a further 105ml throughout the day. Due to flooding, Nambour Aquatic Centre was inaccessible, however a small team of staff has now gained access to clean and prepare the centre, entry and car parks to welcome guests. Some staff and member’s homes have been affected, and the team are supporting these families where they can.

• Over at First Sun Holiday Park, Emma and Matt with their young family in tow have had to keep guests safe and informed whilst dealing with cancellations and re-bookings. The site experienced massive trees down, one of which was craned out yesterday. Power has been intermittent and the winds got up to 110km. The park reopened on the 10^th March.

• Kaytee (Area Manager) and Jye based at Lake Wivenhoe Campground worked tirelessly to dismantle all the glamping tents to avoid damage, being extra vigilant after the park lost all glamping tents twice in the last three years due to weather.  They did this whilst continuing to support our sites in Northern NSW and Lake Moogerah and Somerset. The venue is back open as of 11^th March.

• Carolyn and Dave at Lake Moogerah Caravan Park alongside relief managers Pam and Barry have been onsite helping and holding the fort and managing extensive storm damage, including downed trees and flooding while waiting for the site to be safe to reopen.

• Bec and Peter manage Ocean Beach Tourist Park on the Gold Coast. Despite days without power or phone service, they have been working through debris, fallen trees, some resistant guests and flooding to get the park ready for reopening.

• Julie, Area Manager on the Fraser coast/Hervey Bay and her team dealt with very heavy rain and a clean-up with dedication and positivity.

• The team at Mudgeeraba Aquatic Centre saw a torn shade sailing and trees down across the venue, with a big clean up required. The venue is now open. Nerang Aquatic Centre also had trees down with plenty of debris, with a team of four using diving gear to rake the bottoms of the pools. The venue is now open. Over at Cleveland Aquatic Centre, the swim school electrical board blew and a tree came down over the fence line and into the carpark. The venue is now open thanks to the team’s hard work.

Moreton Bay

It was a mammoth effort by all Venue Managers in the Moreton Bay region who acted quickly on the requests from Council to ready venues for closures and jumping in to assist sister venues if they could do so safely. After days of clean up, all venues are now open for their communities.

• Redcliffe War Memorial Pool resulted in some difficult challenges for Kylie and her team with the area being isolated with road closures, but the passionate team left no time to waste. With swimmers on they all jumped in the pools to ensure they could open as soon as possible after the clean-up.  At Lawnton Aquatic Centre the clean-up of the 50m pool, leisure pool and surrounding grounds was a huge task for Grace and her team, who also jumped into the pools as soon as it was safe to clean up. Surrounded by gum trees, the clean-up was made more difficult by all the debris blown into the grounds.

• At Murrumba Downs Community Pool, Maddie and her team have been all smiles as they worked hard to pick up debris in the pouring rain. At Caboolture Pool and Fitness, Kelly and her team also sprung into action for their local community, ensuring the pools and fitness were open as soon as possible for the members, and Mike and his team at Ferny Hills Aquatic Centre dragged out the rakes and bins whilst battling pump room issues.

• Albany Creek Leisure Centre also surrounded by huge gum trees, entered site to find quite large foliage obstructing areas of the carpark and venue along with shade sail damage and pump issues for their 50m pool. Samala and her team have done a great job and jumped into action to get their indoor pool and fitness facility up and running.

• Vuoche and his team were all on standby to be used as an evacuation centre albeit having a few issues of their own with roof leaks at South Pine Indoor Sports Centre.

• At Dayboro Pool and Gym, Michelle and her team opened their doors to the community, offering a place to charge phones and take hot showers during widespread power outages, whilst they too had the task of clean up. 

• Jason and his team at Woodford Swimming Pool had some setbacks trying to access the facility due to flooding but are happy to be open again, and at Deception Bay Aquatic and Fitness Centre Ali and her team have had some major sail damage and a minor clean up.

• Over at Burpengary Regional Aquatic Leisure Centre, Tanya and her team had a task ahead of them to ensure they were locked down tightly prior to the cyclone, and have escaped unharmed. At Bribie Island Leisure and Aquatic Centre, Tim and his team had issues with sails down, the pump rooms out of action and roads flooding. 

To All Our Teams

Whilst most venues have now reopened and are welcoming back guests into your pools, parks and gyms, we know that many of you are still in the thick of clean-up efforts, with some yet to share updates. Please know that we see you, we appreciate you, and we are incredibly grateful for everything you are doing.

Your dedication, teamwork, and care for the community have been nothing short of inspiring. Thank you for going above and beyond to support each other and those around you. Stay safe and know that your hard work is truly making a difference.

With deepest gratitude,
The Belgravia Leisure Team

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