JUNGLE DRUM: Come on community, have your say

LAWRENCE MASON COLUMN

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This is the final in my series on how to recover the Douglas Shire, first by research then by acting on it.

Here is my list. Let's add to it. Keep in mind this is MY list. Your list might look very different. Doesn't matter. A proper research project would take into consideration all opinions, and contrast that with economics.

Tourists would get a say, to what degree I can't be sure, but I do know you need to provide what they want, not what you want to provide. Likewise a non farming resident might have lots of wonderful ideas about growing some exotic superfood, but the farmer has to be able to make money.

Please, all of you, don't just wait for the shire to fail. Let's make sure our government and NGOs come together and do their very best to research a way forward for our wonderful shire. And I know I said it before, but the past is littered with FAILURES TO ACT on good research. Let's nip that in the bud now.

Roads:

⦁ Why nearly 20 years after Foxton Bridge built do the approaches still flood? Can we light a fire under TMR?

⦁ Why has Douglas' only secondary route out never been upgraded at Bushy Creek? Yeah I know it is another shire but it is our access too.

⦁ Why did Alexandra Range fail at points where remedial work had previously been done?

⦁ How is that it has taken EIGHT years to date and still no new bridge at Noah Creek?

⦁ Why are heavy trees not pruned on batters to prevent landslides?

⦁ Why has the ferry not been upgraded based on research?

⦁ Why is Ferry pricing inflation out of control?

⦁ Why does TMR not seem to talk to DSC?

⦁ Roadsides in the second most important tourism site(the Daintree) need to be looked after better. There have been improvements, but much more is needed.

Rural Land:

⦁ If cane is to end, what strategies will we use to ensure farmers can pivot to new crops? What crops?

⦁ Do we want all/any of the fertile cane land revegetated? Let's talk about it rather than watch southern charities decide for us.

⦁ Are smaller more sustainable farms the way to go?

Tourism:

⦁ Why is TPDD funding not a slam dunk? Do we not understand marketing as a shire?

⦁ Tourism needs new investment or becomes stale, how can we attract this?

⦁ Why is there no ongoing research into tourism needs in the shire?

⦁ Why do we keep approving road closures for bike races without funding flowing to affected communities?

Disasters:

⦁ Resilient Coast preparation was close to nonsense, it turned out we have an 'unresilient coast'. Can we build some real world unwoke plans?

⦁ Why have we not analysed Jasper 2023 disaster response?

⦁ Lets plan sea access for next time. Jetties? Helipads?

⦁ Where does the dirt go? Lets plan that now. Lets be proactive.

⦁ Nearly TWO years to move a landslide? Lets consult NZ to find out how to do it quicker.

Cultural Sites:

⦁ We should be noting all cultural sites along roads, in towns and anywhere where critical facilities go. So we can be proactive in protecting them when things need repair, not reactive.

Planning:

⦁ Buyback where development rights are then extinguished - having the ability to irrevocably change communities should require planning consent

⦁ Likewise significant revegetation of land should require planning consent. Or we lose our rural land and another source of income. Or do we want ot go that way?

⦁ Short term accommodation must be regulated. Not stopped. Regulated.

National Parks/GBRMPA:

⦁ Facilities must be funded so they can be adequately maintained over time

⦁ Permit moratorium must end

⦁ Feral animal control must be stepped up

⦁ QNPWS must develop a connection with tourism

⦁ We need some jetties for disaster access

Wet Tropics:

⦁ WTMA is little more than a no squad

⦁ Little no no engagement with the non indigenous community

⦁ Connectivity with the Tourism Industry mostly lost

⦁ WTMA are more slaves to UNESCO than citizens of our Shire, something we were promised would not happen

Communications:

⦁ Why are our comms so vulnerable?

⦁ If leave the cash economy, we need reliable comms, so do we leave? Or fix the comms?

⦁ Kempton promised comms trailers for disasters, lets follow up on those.

Electricity:

⦁ Again serious outages are common, can we upgrade the network?

⦁ Daintree is a fossil fuel disaster, if the state is going to go with upgrading stand alone a la Labor instead of a microgrid, let's do it. But don't do nothing. Because that's what the last 30 years has seen.

Over to you community. Add to the list.  Ring. Write. Publicise. Let's get the ball rolling.

 

*Lawrence Mason has lived at Cape Tribulation all his life, and has been involved in farming, timber and tourism. He is a former board member of Tourism Port Douglas Daintree, founding Chair of Daintree Marketing Co-operative, and has been a member of both Alexandra Bay and Mossman State High School P&C. He is also a member of the Douglas Chamber of Commerce and has a keen interest in local issues.

  • The opinions and views in this column are those of the author and author only and do not reflect the Newsport editor or staff.