A WANGETTI resident has called on local Government to ‘stand up and show some leadership ’ before someone is killed on the Captain Cook Highway.

Scores of tourists continue to congregate at a set of balancing stones between Port Douglas and Cairns, with erratic driving near the site regularly reported.

The famous section of the Great Barrier Reef Drive is the responsibility of the Department of Transport and Roads, but local Duane Cash has urged the Douglas Shire to help safeguard the area before tragedy struck.

“What we need is for everyone to stop passing the buck and take responsibility for it, because it’s only a matter of time before someone is killed,” Cash said.

“It’s time for someone to stand up and show some leadership. The Douglas Shire has the resources to be able to make the area safer, even if they’re not responsible for it.

“Seriously whose hands will the blood be on if someone is killed?”

Douglas Shire Mayor Julia Leu said motorists driving too fast in slippery conditions ‘sometimes on the wrong side of the road’ were the main cause of accidents on that stretch of highway.

“Providing motorists are obeying the road rules and pull over in a safe parking area, Council does not have any concerns with tourists stopping at this location,” she said.

Senior Constable Russell Parker agreed, saying he didn’t believe the area where the rock formations are found was dangerous.

“There is a pull-off area there for south bound vehicles to utilise if the occupants want to check out the stones and the visibility is clear for drivers of vehicles approaching from either direction,” Parker said.

“Obviously if the driver of a north-bound vehicle decided to cross over the double white lines and park in that spot, then that could create a dangerous situation. I have not personally witnessed this occur though.”

Cash, who lives 300 metres from the stones, said the site was a ‘fantastic drawcard’ for tourists but needed a parking bay and proper signage similar to the Rex Lookout.

“The last thing I want to do is knock it down. Just make it safe,” he said.

“The biggest danger is tourists stopping suddenly because there is no signage. It’s like dominoes, one car jams on the breaks, and then another, and another. And then you have people crossing double lines.

“We see it every day.”

The rock formations are located in an 80km zone. 

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