by Mat Churchill

The efforts of local green thumb and community legend, James Watson, have gone unrewarded due to a technicality in the Cairns Regional Council's Streetscape Awards.

James, whose work in Nautilus Street transformed 587 metres of streetscape from a virtual dumping ground into a tropical delight, found that his entry didn't fit into any of the categories offered in the Awards.

Peter Shanahan from the Streetscape Awards organising committee said that while the application was accepted, the judges didn't think it fit the criteria of best Streetscape (Urban) in which James had entered.

"The judges were impressed by James' work, but because it wasn't a strip of private gardens and their nature strip, and the fact James had had some other people working on the garden, it was seen to be more of a community garden."

A community garden category was not offered in the Awards, but Liz Collier from Cairns Regional Council said this may soon change, "The organising committee will have a review of the Awards on 30 July, and I've already put forward that they consider a community garden category for next year."

Regardless of the outcome, James' work will continue to be appreciated by residents of Nautilus Street. To  find out what all the fuss is about, get down there and have a look for yourself.