Victoria Stone-Meadows

Douglas Shire Council will run a trial of extended hours for the Daintree River Ferry in the New Year. 

From Wednesday, 2 January 2019, the ferry’s operational hours will be extended to 5.00am and will run through to midnight.

The trial will see the ferry’s ours extended until 30 June, 2019, at which point a review will be held to determine if the new hours will be come permanent.

RELATED COVERAGE:
- FREE FERRY RIDES FOR LOCALS AND FUTURE FERRY PLANS LOOKING BRIGHT
- FEEDBACK SOUGHT ON DAINTREE RIVER FERRY IMPROVEMENTS

The decision to extend the hours of operation was unanimously passed at a Douglas Shire Ordinary Council meeting on Tuesday, 18 December.

The extended hours were one of the many suggestions that came from a recent round of community forums regarding the ferry’s operation.

During the meeting, Council’s General Manager Corporate Services, Darryl Crees, said the extended hours of operation would have a minor financial impact.

It was also pointed out in the meeting that additional feedback from the forums was still being analysed and other changes are yet to be considered. 

“At this stage, there was more emphasis on the 5.00am start but we will continue to investigate other suggestions,” Mr Crees said.

Douglas Shire Mayor, Julia Leu, said council is dedicated to properly investigating all suggestions from the forums.

“Analysis of the feedback is still ongoing and this is to ensure we have it right,” she said.