Douglas Shire Council has provided easy links to online versions of its planning scheme after complaints that rules regarding the size of public signage were difficult to find and access. 

In mid-September Newsport ran a story about Port Douglas businesses being stung with infringement notices for signs that violated size restrictions in Council’s planning scheme. 

Some of the feedback on the story from the public centred on the difficulty of navigating Council’s website and finding explicit details on the rules surrounding signage size.

In response to enquiries from Newsport, Council has provided links to the parts of the planning scheme that deal with signage size here.

Rules relating to portable A-frame signs are available here.

Mayor Julia Leu reiterated that signage and advertising size restrictions were an important tool in retaining the ‘village’ atmosphere of Port Douglas.

“It’s always been important to keep that village feel, there is a very strong feeling to not have ugly and garish signs blocking views of the scenery,” said Cr Leu. 

“If you go to a lot of coastal villages that don’t have regulations like these in place they can often be completely dominated by overbearing signage and they lose that quality that makes them attractive to tourists.

“It is important to businesses to have signage, and we’re happy to have quirky and inventive signs in Port Douglas but there are restrictions on that, and the feedback we’ve had for many years on the planning scheme has been very good.”

Anyone encountering any difficulty with finding or accessing Council documents is welcomed to contact Council officers.