Daintree River Crossing Consultation

Couldn’t attend a meeting? You can listen to a podcast of the presentation below.

Why is the single ferry not an option?

A single ferry solution was considered during the previous consultation and ruled out through the tender process because it was deemed inadequate for the future of the Daintree River crossing.

The current consultation is comparing the high-level costs between the two-ferry solution put forward by the successful tenderer and a possible bridge crossing.

A bridge crossing was not considered during the first round of consultation.

Previous community consultations were clear in that a single ferry was an inadequate service.

I heard that during previous consultation about the Daintree River crossing, only 5% of people supported a bridge. If this is the case, why are we doing the consultation again?

The consultation report for Round One said:

“Very few people [5%] proposed the ferry be replaced with a bridge and half of these said a bridge should only be an option if the ferry operations could not be improved.”

It may be useful to understand where the 5 percent came from. In Round 1, there were 117 responses to the ferry survey. 97 respondents lived north of the Daintree River, 13 lived elsewhere in the shire, one lived outside the shire and six did not respond to location.

There were four questions:

1. How often do you use the Daintree Ferry?

2. How would you rate the ferry service in general?

3. Please tell us why you believe the service is not satisfactory?

4. What enhancements to the ferry service would you like Council to consider under a new ferry contract commencing in July 2021?

In the analysis of responses to question 4, the number of people who mentioned a bridge were tallied up. Six respondents said build a bridge and three of these suggested a bridge only if ferry issues could not be resolved.

In summary, the Round One consultation does not enable us to know with any accuracy the percentage of people who do, or do not, support a bridge across the Daintree River.

• 117 responses is not a sufficient sample size to determine definitively what the Douglas Shire community thinks.
• Just 13 people from the rest of Douglas Shire responded. With a resident population of 11,000 people not living north of Daintree River, 13 is not a representative sample
• The questions were focussed on enhancing ferry services, and did not ask people’s preference between a bridge or improved ferry service.

 

How is Council ensuring the validity of survey results and maintaining confidentiality?

Council has engaged an external market research company called Compass Research.

Compass Research is a long-standing member of the Australian Market and Social Research Society and adheres to the Society’s code of conduct including maintaining strict confidentiality of individual responses received and confidentiality of results to the client.

Recent clients have included North Queensland Airports, Monash University, North Queensland Primary Health, Cassowary Coast Regional Council, Mareeba Shire Council, Cairns Regional Council and Cairns Convention Centre. The firm has carried out numerous previous surveying involving online response, mail response and QR Code Mobile response.

 

What’s the approximate cost for capital finance on a loan to build the bridge and across what time-frame?

If a loan is required, interest payments would be in line with current rates on offer by Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC).

 

What is the net revenue from the ferry to Council for previous financial years?

The net revenue received from the ferry has been:

• 2016/17 – $1.12M (no extraordinary issues in 16/17)
• 2017/18 – $0.82M (note Ferry closure lost revenue & additional costs)
• 2018/19 – $0.20M (additional dredging due to flooding events)
• 2019/20 – $0.36M (reduction due to Covid19)

 

What plans does Council have in place if there is outrage or protesting against the final decision?

In this case, Douglas Shire Council is seeking the community’s preference and will use the findings to guide it’s decision making. The plan is to listen to what the local community says and this approach is designed to minimise angst.

 

Have the financials considered the costs of running one ferry while the bridge is being built or are the financials independent of the build time?

The financials are based on the cost to build and maintain a bridge or operate two ferries, the cost of (or revenue obtained from) operating the current ferry operations during the construction period has not been included in the financial comparison.

 

What is the cost associated with testing visitor opinion about toll costs?

If a bridge was the preferred option, Council would then determine the need to test visitor opinion regarding a toll. In the past, Council has not tested visitor opinion about ferry fees.

Until it is determined that visitor research is required and what form it would take, we do not have a cost.

 

What is the likely cost to undertake thorough environmental, social, economic or cultural heritage assessments related to building the bridge?

If a bridge was the preferred option, Council would then need to determine what studies were required and prepare a scope of works. Until that is done, the likely cost is unknown. The

Options Report includes some typical assessment costs for developments of this nature at the usual industry standard of consideration.

 

Why was a contract not signed when the previous Council resolved to do so in December, 2019?

At its meeting of 3 December 2019, Council resolved the following:

“That Council resolves to:

1. enter into contract 2019 – 084 Daintree River Ferry Contract 2021 with Sirron Enterprises (QLD) Pty Ltd, ABN 36 325 937 550;
2. delegates authority under section 257 of the Local Government Act 2009 to the Chief Executive Officer to negotiate, finalise and execute any and all matters associated with the contract; and
3. allocates $250,000 from the Daintree River Reserve for the design of the landside infrastructure in preparation for the new service in 2021.”

Following the resolution, Council commenced negotiations and by the end of February, while much progress was made, the contract was not ready for signing. This is not an uncommon occurrence in Council’s experience for complicated and long term contracts

As the election approached, it was clear that the Daintree Ferry contract had become a key topic of conversation and candidates had opposing views.

Council staff received detailed legal advice stating that no action of a significant nature either deemed political or to have significant consequences for the next council should be undertaken during caretaker period.

After the election, the new Council made a decision to temporarily suspend contract negotiations, explore the option of a bridge crossing and conduct further community consultation.

 

How did Council pause negotiations? Was it legal?

At an Ordinary Council Meeting on Tuesday 28 April 2020, Douglas Shire Mayor Michael Kerr tabled a motion to:

1. Temporarily suspend contract negotiations for contract 2019 – 084 Daintree Ferry Contract 2021 while it:

2. Explores the option of a bridge crossing at various locations and the possible economic benefits to the region;

3. Conducts further community consultation including the bridge option and details of the costs of the two ferry solution provided for in the currently negotiated contract; and

4. Brings the results of the community consultation back to an Ordinary Council Meeting for further discussion and resolution.

The motion was supported by a majority of Councillors.

A complaint about the use of the Mayoral Minute was lodged to the Office of Independent Assessor earlier this year.

In their judgement, the OIA stated that the process used to repeal the Council resolution was compliant with the Local Government Regulation 2012. Read an open letter from the Mayor here. 

 

The report doesn’t address environmental, social, economic or cultural heritage implications. When will these be addressed and compared?

The options report focuses on the financial and service aspects of a bridge or two ferries. During the consultation process, views will be gathered from the community on the environmental, social, economic and cultural heritage issues raised and will be included in the report presented to Council.

 

Is Council’s focus only on gathering support for the bridge?

Council wants to know whether people prefer a bridge or a two-ferry service – there is no focus on gathering support for either option.

 

What is the time frame across which the loss or gain has been calculated for the two ferry and bridge options?

Per annum

 

Is the cost of land acquisition included in the bridge costs? If not, what is the likely cost of the land?

The cost of land acquisition has been included in the bridge options, however the cost of significant legal or court fees related to the land acquisition has not been allowed for.

 

What is the contingency plan and the related cost if the bridge is wiped out by flood or cyclone?

A bridge would be constructed to the suitable design standards that would make the destruction of the bridge unlikely. In the event of significant damage/loss from a declared event such as a cyclone, then the Disaster Relief Funding Arrangements would apply whereby State and Federal governments contribute almost all of the repair/replacement costs for a un-tolled bridge. Insurance or other similar mechanisms would have to be acquired for a tolled bridge.

 

How does Council intend to compensate the loss of 30 local jobs if the bridge were to be built?

Council has not at this stage considered the loss of jobs implications.

 

Will the speed of the ferry be controlled?

Council has not at this stage considered variation in travel time across the river between drivers. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will be set up as part of the contractual negotiations.

 

Is there any contractual obligation to run a second ferry at certain times? Or is just up to the operator?

The contract for the two ferry arrangement has not been finalised, however it has been proposed that a KPI related to wait times will influence the operation of one or two ferries, similar to the opening of the priority lane of the current setup.

 

Generally speaking will the contract be secret, or can we access the non-remuneration sections?

The tender documents (including the proposed contract) were already issued to a number of interested parties and are, therefore, not confidential.
Current contract negotiations were paused pending upcoming community consultation. If the ferry is a preferred solution, the final contract will be confidential as it is a commercial in-confidence.

 

Will emergency services be included in the consultation?

Council has requested a response from emergency services as part of the consultation.

 

Does the figure include the Daintree River permit fees to the state?

The Ferry figures include a permit for Environmental Relevant Activity (dredging) and the Marine Park permit which is valid for 10 years.

 

I have a different opinion to the other ratepayer in my home. How do we have two different options calculated?

Where there are two or more respondents living in the same household, individual opinions will be counted separately.

Survey results will be broken down as follows:

(1) total respondents

(2) individuals living in the shire (ratepayers and residents)

(3) individuals who are ratepayers but do not live in the shire.

(4) all other respondents i.e. those who do not live in the Shire, or pay rates. These results will be presented to Councillors – officers will not apply any weighting to a particular group.

Councillors may or may not give more weight to one or more of the groups in their consideration.

 

Do the figures include the cost of dredging nearly a million dollars last year?

The net revenue for the ferry option includes a typical value for dredging on a ‘normal’ year, i.e. one dredge event.

Before preparing tender documents,  Council sought feedback from the community with regard to any enhancements to the ferry service they would like Council to consider.

A full report on the Round One Community Consultation is available HERE

Detailed submissions are available below

• Tourism Port Douglas Daintree
• Douglas Shire Sustainability Group
• Daintree Marketing Cooperative
• Daintree Gateway – DMC