Monday November 18th 2013

Cairns Regional Council has made good on its promise to crack down on illegal camping in the city, handing out 60 fines over two weeks.

As The Newsport reported on October 25, Council announced $220 on-the-spot fines for first-time and repeat offenders caught in the Cairns CBD and Esplanade areas.

The 60 fines were thanks to regular early-morning patrols by Council staff, targeting illegal camping hot spots, including CBD back streets and public carparks along the Esplanade.

Though illegal camping is also a problem across the Douglas Shire, from Port Douglas to north of the Daintree River, Council's fines policy doesn't extend past the CBD and Esplanade.

Division 10 Councillor and Douglas Shire Mayor-elect Julia Leu said in The Newsport's earlier report that she would like to see "the new Douglas Shire Council introduce fines, possibly even more than the Cairns Regional Council fine of $220."