Have your say on roundabout landscaping
Wednesday November 27th 2013
Open options for roundabout design
About 25 Douglas residents joined Member for Cook David Kempton and Douglas Shire Mayor-elect Julia Leu at a public meeting on Monday to discuss landscaping options for the town's new roundabout.
Construction of the $2M State Government-funded roundabout, at the intersection of Port Douglas Road and the Captain Cook Highway, started in mid-September.
Plans for a concrete centre were quickly met with community opposition, with Member for Cook David Kempton successfully convincing the Department of Transport and Main Road to dump the plan.
During Monday's meeting, Mr Kempton continued to demonstrate his commitment to work with the community, remaining open to options and immediately moving to postpone some construction after attendees raised concerns.
“The Member for Cook suggested that all options are open, yet we need to be mindful of Main Roads criteria,” said MBG group president Alan Carle.
“Participants were discouraged that the median strips were being concreted and paved without consultation.
“David Kempton said he would stop that work, and yesterday afternoon work was postponed pending the final plans,” Mr Carle said.
Douglas Shire Mayor-elect Julia Leu also attended the meeting, reminding participants and the community to consider financial constraints of the new Council, when it commences on January 1.
Mr Carle said during a group activity, where attendees brainstormed landscaping designs on blank plans, common themes emerged, including “lush, tropical, colourful, diverse, green, and dense.”
“General consensus was that native plants should predominate, but that some colourful exotics could be used in focal areas,” Mr Carle said.
Hortulus Landscaping Director John Sullivan explained earlier landscaping plans, and suggested any new plan be implemented in stages, starting with the roundabout itself, followed by the immediate adjacent areas and finally, the areas down Port Douglas Road, north and east of Craiglie.
The community is encouraged to send their landscaping ideas to the Mossman Botanic Garden group via their website or Facebook page:
- http://www.mossmanbotanicgarden.com.au/CONTACT-US.7.0.html
- https://www.facebook.com/MossmanBotanicGarden?ref=hl
“It is hoped that some preliminary plans can be drawn up before Christmas to present to State and Local Governments,” Mr Carle said.
In July 2012, The Newsport encouraged the community to submit designs for an entry sign to the town, after years of a small, standard Cairns Regional Council 'Welcome to Port Douglas' sign on Port Douglas Road.
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