by Mat Churchill

More than ninety members of the North Queensland Local Government Association (NQLG) congregated at the Port Douglas Community Hall yesterday.
 
The members, all representatives of Councils from the Burdekin, north to Cooktown and west to Mt Isa are in town for two days to discuss a number of issues affecting North Queesland.
 
“It is important to foster and maintain the relationship between all Councillors in North Queensland," Mayor Val Schier said.  "Despite the differences in the circumstance of geography and climate, we share common goals and issues."

Some of the issues on the agenda include changing the focus of regional Australia, urban water services, road safety, and biosecurity.

Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree boss, Doug Ryan, was also present to discuss the role of the local tourism body. Mr Ryan highlighted the efforts and strategies of TPDD in attracting visitors to the area.

"We're promoting the region, not the product," he said. "We receive $430,000 from Council, and we've spent $640,000 on marketing funded by members and money we've saved."

"We've generated $23 million worth of marketing for the region."

Mr Ryan focused on TPDD's travel agent and social marketing strategies. "We've trained over 90 travel agents around the world, and provided strong branding for the area."

"Social media is becoming more and more important everyday," he said. "We've broken through the 1,000 Facebook fans, and sent out 1700 'tweets' since December."

Mr Ryan said that the "biggest single problem" for the area is the inability to get accurate information on visitation including how many people come, who they are and where they're from.

Cr Schier said the conference is a good forum for exchanging information and cementing friendships.

"It's a chance for all elected representatives to get together. Remote regions often feel isolated, particularly in the West."

Other items for discussion include the Cook Shire's recommendation for the introduction of a testing regime for motorists towing caravans, and the Whitsunday's Regional Council's submission to ban or minimise the use of plastic bags across the State.