Mayor Bob Manning has admitted amalgamation has not been a success, but added that the blame should be shared between Cairns Regional Council and those in the Douglas region who continue to fight the merger.

Speaking with The Newsport on Monday, Cr Manning said there had been a general lack of commitment from both sides since the 2008 amalgamation.

"I remember saying at a meeting in Port Douglas prior to the election, that I accepted that amalgamation hadn't worked as well as it should have," Cr Manning said.

"When the amalgamation was announced, things were said that were unhelpful to the prospects of coming together over the next four years.

"After the 2008 election, I don't think enough effort was made at this end (CRC) as should have been the case, and I think there were people at your end (Douglas region) who just refused to accept it had happened.

"I think both parties need to share some element of the blame."

Despite Council's public stance of remaining a neutral observer during the referendum process, Cr Manning said all eyes should now be on the future rather than being bogged down in decisions of the past.

"Like anything in life we can often stop and look back at something we've lost and say we want it back. I've never seen anybody yet claim back one second of their life. Whatever happens, happens. You've got to move on," he said.

"My hope always has been for the amalgamation to remain together...however, that is for the people to decide.

"If it should be determined that we stay together, my commitment would be to make the amalgamation work. That's what we're required to do under the Local Government Act, to make it work and give good governance to the area.    

"It doesn't say 'part of the area', and it doesn't say 'the area excluding the former Douglas Shire', it's our local government area."

Cr Manning said the Douglas region had fared well in Council's capital budget, going so far as to say it had received a bigger slice of the pie than the population base dictated.

"If you look at last year's capital budget, the amount of money for works in the former Douglas Shire...is equivalent to what it should be. On a population basis it's probably more than what it should be.

"From memory it was about 10 per cent of the capital budget, when in fact the population is about six per cent of the total area. On a pro rata basis it's well in front."

He indicated that the decision by the Minister for Local Government, David Crisafulli, to allow the former Douglas Shire to go to a referendum had disrupted efforts to resolve issues which arose out of the forced amalgamation.

"We might have thought that by now we might have been in a position where the relationship could have been better, but the announcement of the poll has certainly re-opened the sore. There has been a fair bit of scratching that sore.

"If we're staying together, we've got to set about on the 10th of March getting relationships back to where they should be. That will be an objective of mine...it will take effort on both sides.

"Division 10 is important to Cairns and I think Cairns is important to Division 10."