Toowoomba in the Southeast of Queensland is seeing the effects of the mining and investment slow down trickle through their community with many Toowoomba businesses laying off employees.

Toowoomba has been impacted by the coal mining downturn in the Bowen and Galilee basins, The Chronicle reported.

Toowoomba-based company Russell Mineral Equipment cut 13 engineering jobs yesterday. The company’s general manager Peter Rubie said the job cuts were unfortunate but indicative of the company’s position.

“We have had a reduction in demand for our mill relining machines,” Rubie said. “It was a very difficult decision for us. We are a very tight-knit company that value its employees. However, due to the sharp drop-off in the mining sector we were unable to maintain those staffing levels.

“The downturn in the mining sector is definitely starting to take an effect,” he said. Another Toowoomba company, Gieger Civil and Engineering, cut 20 jobs earlier this month after losing an Ergon Energy contract due to the slowdown in mining activity.

The company’s managing director John Geiger said yesterday the company was still optimistic on its prospects despite the mining slowdown.

“We had a long-term contract that finished last month,” Geiger said.

“Unfortunately it was not renewed so therefore we had to release 20 employees. On the positive side we were able to retain 20 employees associated with the contract,” he said.