Barkley and Pips is a unique dog friendly cafe in Bundamba, QLD. We opened just before Covid hit & have experienced some of the most challenging times any small business could face in its infancy. 

Just as we were getting back on our feet, Ipswich City Council signed off for local road closures for a development by WALKER CORPORATION PTY LIMITED. These closures included Ashburn Road (which impacts our passing traffic & diverts it away from our business)

The roads closure was originally signed off for 7 months but now we’ve now been told it will be extended until at least December meaning a total impact of around 12 months. 

None of this was done in consultation with us or our neighbouring businesses. All of us are suffering significant loss of earnings, including having to take on additional work or another job to make ends meet. Our cafe being a “dog cafe” means that council regulations state we can only seat our customers with their pets outside. We now have massive noisy lorry’s going past (3 every 15 minutes) These lorries carry soil & are leaving our area covered in mud and orange dust.

With no through traffic past our cafe we have lost out on many of our early morning customers that stop to grab a coffee on the way to work.

We have received no compensation, no ongoing communication unless chased by us and no prior notification or warning to help us prepare for the closure. Ipswich City Council and Walkers Corp are going to end up putting us and our neighbouring businesses on the brink of closure on the back of the financial burden of Covid. 

We have been in contact multiple times with Ipswich City Council and we are at the end of our tether. Our last resort has been to go to current affair to see if they want to take up our story. 

We believe that a multi billion dollar property company should support small businesses if they are disadvantaging them due to their expansion plans. We also believe that the council should consider this when signing off on extended periods of closure and have caveats in place to enforce large property companies to reimburse businesses that are impacted for loss of earnings.

For more info about the wealth of the property company in question please read �    https://www.forbes.com/sites/christianbarker/2021/06/07/australian-property-tycoon-lang-walker-bullish-about-future-with-new-projects-in-the-pipeline/?sh=12a9562d3df5

We chose to open our Dog cafe in the place we call home. We are hoping that our neighbours & the wonderful people of Ipswich recognise that what is happening to this small family run business is wrong. Please help by signing our petition & hope to make a change. Thank you.