Dates announced || Daintree River Crossing community meetings

DOUGLAS locals can now register to attend one of seven COVID-safe community meetings, where they will be able to speak to engineers about the future of the Daintree River crossing.

The six-week consultation period officially opened today, with everyone invited to tell Douglas Shire Council whether they prefer a ferry or bridge crossing.

The Daintree River Crossing Options Assessment Report, which examines a two-ferry service and bridge option, and compares them against the current single ferry arrangement, has been publicly available for the past two weeks.

Douglas Shire Mayor Michael Kerr said the consultation would include an online survey, postcard delivery to all letterboxes in the shire, community meetings and written submissions.

“The next six weeks is your opportunity to tell us what you want for the Daintree River crossing,” he said.

“For the first time, our community will be making a transparent decision on this issue with a solid understanding of how much each option may cost them and the various engineering challenges involved.

“At the end of the day, I will be supporting the option that the majority of our local community wants and progressing that direction – it is time we put this issue to bed.”

Council has commissioned an external research agency to gather survey data, verify details against the electoral roll and present the results showing which option is preferred by all respondents.

The community meetings will give attendees a chance to ask further questions of Council engineers about the various options to make a better-informed decision.

The survey results will differentiate between the preference of Douglas Shire residents and ratepayers and those who live out of the shire, as well as which option is preferred by residents living north of the Daintree River.

The Options Report has been downloaded almost 350 times with hard copies available for viewing at various locations across the shire.

Postcards will be dropped to 7,500+ households across Douglas Shire and a further 3,300 mailed to non-resident, interstate ratepayers.

Please read the full Options Report here.

More information is available at the project page.