• Gary Hunt's open letter to Port community
• Size does matter says Hunt
• Lagoon consultation flawed
• Hunt warns community against complacency

by Gary Hunt

Having just read the Mayor’s comments on the lagoon I am so pleased to hear from Val (Schier, Cairns Regional Council Mayor) that the Councillors have an open mind on whether they take onboard the consultant’s recommendations and that ultimately the decision will be made by Council.

A couple of points need to be corrected.

Firstly Val refers to ‘Gary’s proposal in the tidal zone’.

It is not my proposal.  It is the site identified in the four and a half year community consultation process.  Yes John Sullivan and I did a quick computer rendering of how the pool might look but it is not my proposal – it is the community’s proposal.

The suggestion that I am frustrated at not being heard is hardly the case.  I have been contacted by numerous Councillors and the response from the public is monumental.

If there is any frustration it is related to the inability for the design team to listen and respond to the concerns of the community – not Gary Hunt.

In regard to Val’s comments on size I am reliably informed by members of the fairer sex that disappointment and lack of adequate performance often follows when it is a third the size of what is expected!!

The bottom line is this:

The consultant’s made a mistake in population comparisons of 400%.  And this was the justification for a pool a third the size of Airlie Beach. They also grossly overstated the visitor numbers for Airlie Beach.  Visitors to Port Douglas are higher than Airlie – not lower.

And let’s not forget increased visitors from an enlarged Sheraton, a redevelopment of Marina Mirage into a resort and other future projects such as Mango Beach. So the whole rationale for the selected site is simply wrong.  The report matrix comparing the sites is wrong.

We need to thank Val for spending three hours with UDAB (Urban Design Advisory Board) on site together with members of the Council’s design team. As the Mayor says there was healthy dialogue between the professionals on the Board and with the Council team.

A series of recommendations from the Board will be passed on to Council to consider as part of their consideration of the lagoon. These recommendations will refer to a suite of urban design issues ranging from adequacy of car parking at Rex Smeal Park to improvements to the design of the lagoon if it proceeds at Site 4.

In regard to Site 1 – the site identified in the tidal zone – all members of the Board recognise that the approval process is more difficult than for the site beside St. Marys’.

At the same time the Board – and for that matter the design team – recognise Site 1 has, quote from the design team, ‘the wow factor”.

My view is that at the very least we should explore the science and implications of giving Port Douglas the very best lagoon and not a second rate, undersized pool in the wrong location.

What concerns me is that in my personal opinion the design team and local management have already shown their bias towards their chosen site and I have no confidence that they would diligently champion the possibility of giving the community what I  believe the majority want.

Based upon their presentation to the Board we can expect that the design team will advise the Council that quote “the community has spoken”. They are relying upon a selective telephone survey (many people contacted were told they could not participate in the survey!!).  The survey was of 200 people and we are told that the majority of those are in favour of the St. Marys’ site. 

It is interesting to note that the previous telephone survey - only two months earlier -indicated that three times as many respondents were in favour of the tidal site than St. Mary’s.

Why the turnaround! Was it because of the biased display in the shop? It really puts a shadow over the second survey.

The Council may also be told that the majority of people visiting the shop were in favour of the St. Mary’s site. That is hardly surprising when the display and all drawings were for the St. Mary’s site! It’s like asking a strawberry icecream loving kid if he would like the last icecream in the shop which happens to be chocolate...

As far as I am concerned it is ludicrous to tell the Council that the community is in favour of the design teams chosen site because of a telephone survey that is opposite to a previous similar survey and response based upon a totally biased presentation on one site!

The response from community groups to the site beside St. Mary’s is bulldozed out of the way by total reliance on a telephone survey, biased displays and a huge sell-job by the local team.

I was also staggered to hear that Ms. Collyer (Douglas Regional Manager) advised the Waterfront Committee that she takes no notice of the responses of the community expressed within local media as in her opinion they are not truly representative of the views of the community. How arrogant.

So to everyone that writes to the Gazette or responds to The Newsport you are wasting your time.

Clearly the only way we can get our message through to the Councillors is to bypass the local team and let the Councillors know directly what views we may hold – positive or negative.

I have huge faith in the Councillors.  I work with them on various Boards and we have seen in Val’s comments that she will listen to the community.

Now is not the time for us to be complacent.

I urge all of you – whatever your view is – engage with the Councillors and let them know personally of your wishes and aspirations for Port Douglas.
Together we can ensure that Port Douglas get’s the best possible lagoon that typifies the Port Douglas lifestyle.

It will be a magnet for tourists and a fantastic facility for our kids, families and anyone just simply wanting to have fun in a beautiful setting. Let’s not be put off by the negatives and naysayers.

Let's see if we can find a way through the approval process and demonstrate to all levels of government that it is in their interest to support a project that can have a major impact on the local economy as evidenced in Airlie and provide a massive marketing tool for the town. 

After all it is a great time politically to look for funding with state and local elections not far away and a federal government on a knife edge...

This is not about individuals, this is about all of us that are passionate about the values and ambience of our extraordinary village.


Gary Hunt is a prominent local architect and was a member of the Port Douglas Waterfront Committee.