Howard Salkow

Senior Journalist

The all-important future of the Daintree River crossing will be known when Councillors will make a decision when a report is tabled at the Ordinary Council Meeting on December 15.

This follows a survey titled “Bridge or Ferry for the Daintree River?” which was sent to Douglas Shire residents who were given the opportunity to consider their options for this hotly-debated issue.

The survey closed on October 26 after six weeks of open consultation.  

In a statement, a Council spokesman said an external market research agency received 3,992 survey responses and are in the process of analysing responses.

“Council staff are also in the process of collating submissions and writing up notes from focus groups.

“A package of reports will be provided to Councillors later this month, which includes the report from Compass Research; a report on the focus group findings; and a report containing all submissions,” the statement said.  

These reports will be made available to the public via Council’s website on December 1.

In August, the Douglas Shire Council paused negotiations for a two-ferry solution to go back out to the community with more information about a bridge, potential sites, expected costs and the forecast costs for the proposed two-ferry service.

Newsport recently ran a poll on the issue to gauge which outcome our readers preferred. Click below to see results: