Friday 2 December 2011

Renewed push to deamalgamate

: The 'D' word. It's not divorce, but in the relationship between Cairns Regional Council and a new Douglas Shire, it will mean the same thing.

It's one of the most hotly debated issues in the Douglas region - deamalgamation from Cairns Regional Council.

Renewed efforts are being made to work towards the reformation of a Douglas Shire Council by the group - Friends of Douglas Shire (FODS).

The FODS push, which has been headed by Michael Gabour and Robert Hanan, includes a public meeting which will be held on Monday 12 December at the Old Mossman Shire Hall (Mill Street Mossman) commencing at 6pm.

According to FODS, the focus of the meeting will be:

To outline a potential pathway in the de-amalgamation process;
To present a model which demonstrates the likely costs of deamalgamation,
To outline a possible structure of a new Council and governance plan; and
To let the community have their say.

Speakers will include Robert Hanan (FODS) Mike Berwick (former Mayor of the Douglas Shire Council), David Carey (former General Manager of Corporate & Community Services of the Douglas Shire Council Michael Gabour (FODS) and other community members. Government, Opposition the Australia Party and Greens have been invited to speak.

Despite FODS' statement saying "the history of the Douglas Shire Council is a long and distinguished one" there are some who believe last former Douglas Shire Council was paralysed by infighting and ineffectiveness.

"Certainly in its last tenure there were problems of dysfunction," a statement from FODS read, "but this should not obscure the many remarkable milestones it achieved prior to amalgamation."

LNP's would be State Premier, Campbell Newman, told The Newsport in August that residents would bear the brunt of the cost of deamalgamation.

"The LNP believes that local government is about local communities and if Port Douglas residents overwhelmingly support the creation of a new council, we won't stand in their way, as long as the figures stack up," Mr Newman said.

"However ratepayers need to go into it with their eyes open, and because the Labor Government has put the budget in a parlous state, the state won't be in a financial position to pay for deamalgamation."

Is Cairns Regional Council representing our area well, or are we being ignored? Have your say below.

Related articles
De-amalgamation a costly can-do: Newman
De-amalgamation talk heats up

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michael , 14-12-11 23:12:

I can understand rivalry Aus v NZ and QLD V NSW but seriously Port v Cairns ...whats next Island point v Four mile .Lets take the heat out of the argument ... Cairns is not out to screw the Douglas Shire they just want special cuddles.

Jennifer , 08-12-11 09:02:

Its not all about the money the CRC took from the Douglas Shire, its about taking our local jobs and giving them to Cairns residents, and about hiking up rates and water charges and cemetry fees and lack of infrastructure to offer tourists a better lifestyle, and of course its about the Chamber of Commerce being at odds with the local community's ideals for a better Shire. So what's driving the lack of trust in the Council?

susan , 07-12-11 22:34:

Michael had a look at your link-

Some of the points from the link above

􏰀 remove inefficiencies resulting from duplication and sub-optimal use of assets
When l have spoken to Cairns Council recently seeking advice, l talk to employees who repeatedly respond your region in the Council comes under other guide lines and l don't know what l am talking about .

􏰀 enable growth of knowledge, development of capacity and fostering of innovation, and
􏰀 provide effective political leadership to, and advocacy for, communities facing fast-paced change.

l can't see any real illustration of the above 2, quite the opposite

Have to have a laugh at fast paced change! or leadership?

susan , 07-12-11 22:23:

Interesting point Jill, thought we had about 10mill in the coffers. Thought a lot of our infrastructure was sorted, We have a unique community that has certainly been hit hard. Guess its worth analysing the benefits pre/post amalgamation, would have thought that a lot of interest and investment was placed in the area when we were Douglas Shire and Council was in some part behind that. Do the benefits of having a larger council really benefit us more? Certainly think a sense of a small community has gone - no local politics to wind us all up at the very least LOL!
Urge everyone to attend on Monday, how about Steve maybe you have something to offer?

Michael Squire, 06-12-11 17:36:

Let's take the emotion out of this and look at the facts and practicalities. What was the reason for amalgamation in the first place? Apparently Labor reduced the amount given to Councils by 20% after amalgamation. What's the real story? We all need to go into this with our eyes wide open: Here's one document I found using a search engine: http://www.dlgp.qld.gov.au/resources/report/local-government/review-local-government-amalgamation-costs.pdf

Jill Booth, 06-12-11 16:57:

Peter, that has been the situation (being overlooked) from Day 1.

Douglas Shire Council was in a very strong position, financially, before it was taken over by Cairns. Will those funds be returned to us, do you think, should we manage to be our own masters once again?

Steve , 06-12-11 16:49:

What a joke! Seriously Port Douglas, deal with it... the town is dead, we need to focus on bringing tourism and economy back, not flogging this dead horse that makes no sense. Seriously, grow up.

Peter Wood, 05-12-11 20:59:

Basically, the previous Douglas Shire is being run nine councilors from Cairns (whose main interests are in Cairns)and one councilor for the Douglas Shire. Yet the Douglas Shire is about the same size or larger than Cairns area. Over time, all this will mean that the interests of the people up here in Port Douglas, Mossman and Daintree region will be overlooked. Fairly clear really!

This may well be our last chances to get our self determination back!

Please join this cause.

Peter