General News
5 August, 2025
Attempted assault prompts relocation of information centre
Town Hall information centre relocated
An attempted assault in the Warwick visitor centre prompted council and councillors to quickly move the centre into new rooms in Warwick’s Town Hall on Palmerin Street.
The visitor centre had been located in a small area in the heritage-listed building which only had one door for access and exit. Earlier this year an incident occurred in which a member of the public followed a council staff member into the building and allegedly pulled a knife on the staff member. The matter is now before the Queensland Police Service.
“The issue has raised a significant safety issue for council staff, particularly our visitor information centre volunteers, who only have one point of entry and exit from the current visitor information centre space,” the council document read.
The new premises, where the previous Wattle-Doo shop was located, have both an entry and an exit.
While addressing the immediate concerns of a safer premises for the centre, the forever home for the visitor centre seems to be a 'touchy' subject with some councillors.
During the discussion in the last ordinary meeting of council, Cr Richters led the charge, saying, “How long are we going to talk about this for? So, we’ve had a presentation from our media team. We’ve had a presentation from other people who are interested in having it. How many more council information sessions…are we going to have before we can come to a decision?”
CEO Rachel Brophy replied with an update on the report on remediation of the heritage-listed building, the results of which may influence long-term decisions.
Cr Sheryl Windle, who also championed the visitor centre in the previous council, agreed with Cr Richters saying “we’ve talked about this off and on for quite a very long time. And I just want to see the long-term solution, whether it’s the Town Hall or whether it’s in Leslie Park, whether its wherever it is, but I want the long-term solution brought out so we can make a decision.”
Cr Windle suggested an amendment to the recommendation that a long-term solution for the Warwick visitor information centre be brought to a council information session in October 2025, which Cr Bartley and Wantling voted against.
Cr Wantling spoke against the amendment saying “because of the previous incident, is there any way that we can make this a priority or hurried up considering the incident that happened recently…I think the volunteer safety is a pretty important thing…”
The CEO replied that “that’s why we reported back for this council meeting as urgent business.”
Cr Wantling repeated, “But from now on can we actually make it a priority?”
Cr Cynthia McDonald spoke in favour of the amendment and returned to the topic of safety.
“And as the CEO has pointed out there has been a number of comments in the media in regards to council and its handling of certain situations…if our staff need to use body cameras to ensure that they are recording a situation that is occurring in front of them because they have no idea of what the situation is they’re walking into, then we, as councillors, have a responsibility to ensure their safety. Therefore, sometimes that type of equipment is required for the job that they are going into. There might be a dog on the loose that might be trying to attack them, you don’t necessarily know what the situation is and they don’t know what they’re about to be confronted with. It’s not heavy handed. This is about us as councillors making sure that our staff are looked after appropriately. We do not know. And in this case, the workers that were in that building had no idea of what they were about to be confronted with. And whilst that became a police incident, other people don’t know necessarily when they knock on a door what they’re about to be confronted with….”
Cr Sarah Deane thanked staff for taking the issue seriously.
Cr Windle commented that volunteers “deserve to be able to go in there each day and feel safe, so I think this is a great move in the interim to get them across the hall into the bigger space where they’ve got an entry and an exit.”
Oddly, after Cr Windle’s amendment was made part of the resolution, Cr Bartley and Cr Wantling voted in favour of it along with all other councillors.
The Warwick Town Hall was built in 1888 and entered into the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992 for its historical, architectural and cultural significance. Due to the age of the building, a condition assessment was commissioned and completed on September 29, 2024, with the report being provided to Council on October 23, 2024. This was presented at an Ordinary Council Meeting on December 18, 2024. Staff now await a plan for improvements to the building.
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