In a recent Newsport article concerning whether the use of high vis orange plastic fencing on Four Mile Beach was necessary or overkill, the headline received a lot of response from our readers.

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• <link orange-high-vis-fencing-necessary-or-ov.12954.0.html>Orange high vis fencing, necessary or overkill?
  
  

 The Council advised that they were replacing all of the old copper logs on the Esplande with REPAS post and rail along the Port Douglas Esplande in front of the vegetation. “The barrier mesh is a temporary measure as people are not following the designated paths and damaging revegetation. Once the new plants are established the barrier mesh will be removed,” said General Manager of Operations Paul Hoye.

Our readers opinions both on our website and social media varied somewhat, some stating that the orange high vis plastic fencing “is cheap and it works.”  Another reader “doubts the tourists will walk away from Port Douglas saying, ‘gee, that high vis organe fence put us off ever coming back’.”

There was also a reader requesting Council “set their sights on the southern end of Four Mile around the Solander area. It’s a disgrace that the garbage trucks can mount the kerb and have an impact on the foreshore and surrounding trees.  I took this up with council back in January 2014… still waiting for someone to get back to me,” commented Ann Scott.

Regarding the Cooya Beach foreshore, a resident who did not wish to be named, reported that around 4.5 metres of mangrove which grows across the front of the foreshore in front of their residence “appeared to be trampled on, there were broken branches, which looks like it was done on purpose,” said the concerned resident who supplied the images to show the destruction of the vegetation.

Concerning the appearance of the Port Douglas streetscape, some further comments were made.  Denis Nihill from Bendigo said “on a recent visit to Port I was dismayed to see the untidy appearance of the streets.  In the past street sweepers were always out early in the morning when there was no traffic to clean the streets,” he said.

Antonia Eggers also commented on the same issue.  “…can they [Council] please PLEASE replace the rubbish bins in Macrossan Street.  They look utterly disgusting.  Also when they are at it can Council please clean Macrossan Street!!!.  I will not go on further but Council needs to recognise that Port Douglas is a major tourist town and perhaps should make a trip to Palm Cove to see how their Esplanade looks like,” she said.

Newsport contacted Francetta Bridle President of Tourism Palm Cove to ask how Palm Cove manage revegetation and their foreshore.  “I have asked our local Councillor Greg Fennel to respond,” she said.

Councillor Fennel from Cairns Regional Council replied to say “CRC has a dedicated maintenance department for foreshore revegetation and are currently beautifying Palm Cove with new turf laying, esplanade road upgrade, tree surgery etc.”

Whether the beautifying of Palm Cove involved CRC using excessive amounts of orange high vis plastic fencing, Ms Bridle said “they mostly do this without too much interruption or fencing and I must say it has improved a lot recently. Looking cared for and loved.

“To be fair to the Councillor he has listened to requests from me to look after the village better, as I was comparing how beautiful and manicured Clifton Beach was and that we were beginning to look like the poor relation!  Maybe that’s the way to go in Port? Get the Council to understand the locals are not happy. Tourism is the income generator,” she said.

This raises the question as to whether there is an alternative to the orange high vis plastic fencing for “non high risk” revegetation along Douglas Shire foreshores and esplanades, which is environmentally sustainable as well as aesthetically appealing, while still providing a purpose in protecting foreshore vegetation.

When Newsport posed the question of an alternative solution to Council their response was “…neglected vegetation areas which cause safety hazards and make the Douglas Shire appear untidy. This is the dry season, the only time of the year when these types of works can generally occur,” said Mr Hoye.

Is there an alternative to using orange high vis plastic fencing for revegetation management of the Douglas Shire foreshores and esplanades?  We welcome your comments.