by Kerry Larsen

LOCAL marriage celebrants fear Port Douglas' lucrative wedding market could be in jeopardy of losing business with sections of Four Mile Beach being left in appalling conditions due to lack of Council clean-up.

Civil celebrant and chairperson of Port Douglas Wedding Professionals, Natasha Kollosche, says she has contacted Cairns Regional Council on numerous occasions regarding the poor state of the popular, sheltered Baler Street section of Four Mile Beach used for ceremonies, only to be told that it was no longer Council's responsibility, despite charging Council for permits to hold beach weddings.

In an email from Council last week, Ms Kollosche was told that "the clearing of natural debris, other than for safety reasons, is generally not performed.  This is to ensure the beach is maintained in its natural state, consistent with state regulation and planning policies for foreshore management."

"In the past six years that I have been a marriage celebrant, council have always kept this area of the beach neat and tidy by cleaning up dead palm fronds and eradicating weeds after each wet season".

"So it is highly disappointing that they now say “not our responsibility” and hide behind State Government legislation to justify their laziness".

"I am embarrassed by the beach and am finding it very difficult to recommend anywhere nice enough for couples to be married – given that 90% of my couples come from elsewhere around Australia and internationally.
They simply don’t understand why it’s a problem for the beach to be looking nice."

Ms Kollosche says when she recently found dead palm fronds, empty bottles and old fires at the site and phoned Council to have them attend the site, was appalled to find a half-hearted clean-up effort when presenting the beach to her bride and groom two days later.

"It was obvious someone had been down there as some of the dead palm fronds were piled up on the grass whilst others lay where they were two days previous," she said.

Fellow Port Douglas marriage celebrant, Sarah Woods, says she regularly has to attend the Baler Street section of Four Mile Beach to clean it up before her weddings.

"Ever since Cyclone Yasi, the Council's maintenance of the beach has been considerably less compared to last year," Mrs Woods said.

"Many other industries in town have suffered since the cyclone, but the wedding market is actually booming - and everyone gets a slice of that pie, whether it be accommodation houses, the airlines, caterers etc.

"The Council charges for beach wedding permits, and that is an income stream. So it's in their best interests to put in the maintenance - there's not even a bin down there for guests to use."

Division 10 Councillor Julia Leu says she fully recognises the importance to the wedding and tourism industry to ensure beaches are kept clean.

"As far as I am aware there have been no budgetary cut-backs on the maintenance of Four Mile Beach and the surrounding vegetated areas - that has always been in the Council budget.  "I will personally follow up why this is not being done. There is no reason why it shouldn't be."