by Mat Churchill

Gary Hunt created an avalanche of discussion with his views on the lagoon pool process in Port Douglas, but Cairns Regional Council remains tight-lipped despite numerous attempts by The Newsport to procure their collective thoughts on Mr Hunt's open letter.

However, Mayor Val Schier said that while there is no agreed preference for the lagoon location then efforts to obtain funding for the project will be delayed.

"If there is a lot of diverse views and there's no consensus around it or there's no preferred option then that's certainly going to delay us getting a detailed design, and that certainly then delays us going into bat for funding.

"I have spoken and raised the Port Douglas lagoon with both the acting Prime Minister Wayne Swan, just last weekend I spoke with him, and I've also raised it in the last fortnight with Anna Bligh. I'll go to bat when I've something to go to bat for."

When questioned as to whether the project remains a priority for Council, Mayor Schier said "It's a major priority but we've got to follow our processes. People have been pressuring and saying why haven't we put in an application for the Regional Development Australia Fund. Well we can't do that until we've got an agreed position."

The comments came after dozens of readers of The Newsport's article 'Gary Hunt slams lagoon process' (Wednesday 27 April) joined an all but united front by voicing their confidence in Mr Hunt's position.

Meanwhile, the Port Douglas Chamber of Commerce president Ken Dobbs said their approval of the proposed lagoon pool location would not be altered by non-members.

"If they want to affect the Chamber's input they should write to the Chamber and we've had nothing, not one as far as I'm aware of, email from a member and they have to be a member to get some credibility in their view."

Mr Dobbs said the Chamber's current membership base is approximately 60 businesses.

"The Chamber's view was in our media release and it remains the same," he said. "There is no right and wrong answer in this."