ALL is not yet lost in the fight to secure Yule Point as the new location for the much-needed Paws and Claws animal shelter.

Resilient lobbying by Mayor Julia Leu, which included a trip to Brisbane to meet with Queensland Government officials, and a recent meeting with senior staff from the Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM), has left the door ajar and the chance the state government may reverse an earlier decision and give the Yule Point location the go ahead.

The State Government decided to deny Council’s bid to relocate to Yule Point reasoning that the area was a known Cassowary habitat.

The Department said they knocked back the sale of the land due to environmental values, incorporating wetlands, of concern regional ecosystems, and essential habitat for the endangered Southern Cassowary.
But after their meeting with senior staff from DNRM and the granting of an extension to submit a submission, Council still feels strongly about the proposed location.

“Senior Council staff, including General Manager Corporate Services, Darryl Crees, and Manager Governance, Joanne Jacobson, had a very positive meeting with senior staff from the Department of Natural Resources and Mines on Thursday 15 December in an attempt to progress the location for a much-needed new Paws and Claws animal shelter,” said Mayor Leu.

“The Department provided Council with all the relevant information previously requested to enable Council to make a fully-informed submission to respond to the Department’s preliminary view to not support the Yule Point location as appropriate; and also granted an extension for Council to provide this response by February 1, 2017.

“As a result of this cooperation from the Department, Council has now withdrawn a number of Right to Information requests for this information.

“Council maintains that the proposed Yule Point location remains the most suitable location for a new animal shelter for our communities, and looks forward to working cooperatively with the Department to resolve the issue early in the New Year,” she said.

In response to the latest developments, Councillor Michael Kerr, who is president of the Homeless Animal Society, issued the following statement:

“As president of the Homeless Animal Society, the committee and I are appreciative of the work the Mayor and council staff have undertaken in representing our organisation.

“Just yesterday there was a call for help on a Cairns Facebook page for seven litters of puppies, totalling nearly 60 pups that needed to be vet checked to ensure there was no Parvo, fed, microchipped, de-sexed and vaccinated.

“Facilities like the one we want to build are not optional luxuries. They are necessities. With the RSPCA closing in January for a period of time and all other facilities full to the brim, we are potentially heading for an environmental disaster in the Far North with wild dogs and feral cats."

“This will be far worse than any environmental impact that the construction of this shelter may create being at this site."

“Council is well aware of this and what the financial outcome may be for council if a facility such as ours is not there. So far we have nearly 700 signatures on our petition to the State Government and this continues to grow. We can only hope that common sense will prevail.”