by Kerry Larsen

The push for a multi-purpose evacuation centre for Port Douglas is gathering momentum with members of the community lobbying support for a centre to be built on Mowbray Street.

And with a 1 July State Government announcement fast approaching on where the evacuation centres will be built (as part of a United Arab Emirates donation/State Government allocation of funds announced since Cyclone Yasi) time is running out for the community's input.

Cooktown has recently been handed the keys to their category-five cyclone rated centre, which will be used not only as an evacuation centre, but also as a sports complex, community centre and convention centre, complete with industrial kitchen. Meanwhile, Weipa has also been granted funds in the latest round of funding.

Since Cyclone Yasi, the State Government has written to all Councils to get their recommendations on there the preferred location to build evacuation centres in appropriate locations. Cairns Regional Council has reportedly identified with four locations, one of which is at Port Douglas State School.

But the push is on for a multi-purpose centre to be built on vacant land adjoining the Port Douglas Community Centre on Mowbray Street, where a new centre can be incorporated into the existing, nearby sporting facilities at the Port Douglas Sports Complex.

Member for Cook, Jason O'Brien, says he is lobbying the State Government independently from the CRC bid, writing to the Minster for Government Services and the Building Industry, Simon Finn, for a centre to be built at the site.

"These centres are used 99.9% of the time as sports facilities - I hope we never have to use them as a cyclone shelter," Mr O'Brien said. "But there is a large transient population which we need to accommodate if we had to in time of emergency."

Port Douglas resident, Russell Jean, was on the committee that enabled Cooktown to receive their $9 million mulit-use centre and says Port Douglas needs a facility that many Douglas groups could use.

"I saw first hand in Cooktown that the kids didn't have any facilities," he said. "Now you can see all members of the community benefitting from this new centre - it's being used not only as a sports centre but as an alternative venue for plays, festivals and balls, instead of a town hall.

"We can learn from this. Port Douglas could also benefit from a well-planned, air-conditioned centre as a cinema in the wet season, a library with internet facilities, a place for concerts, and as an extension of the current cultural and sporting facilities - perhaps make the area a cultural and sporting precinct with a lap pool and indoor basketball courts."

Mr O'Brien agreed, stating that Port Douglas didn't have a sports facility for year round use.

"And there's not a decent place for a town hall meeting, as the current community centre is too small, so there is a need for a multi-use centre.

"There is $60M in the pot for 10 centres to be built, and seven centres have already been announced, so there is a case for the Cairns region to have one of the remaining allocated within Port Douglas."

Mr O'Brien said the Department of Public Works will investigate the recommended sites and make their recommendations to the Premier before an announcement is made on 1 July.

"Cooktown had their evacuation centre built on an agreement made two years ago, while the Weipa centre was promised on this round of $30 million that was received from the United Arab Emirates, which the Queensland Government is matching," he said.

Mr Jean believes $15 million is needed to create a centre capable of serving the growing Port Douglas population.

"As a community, we need to convince Cairns Regional Council the Mowbray Street site is the preferred location and move on it quickly," he said.

"We can't be satisfied with $6 million of funding to do this properly, the community needs to be asking the Federal Government to match the State Government contribution and for Cairns Regional Council to allocate a share to get the infrastructure up to scratch.

"We have Jason O'Brien's support, and we have a lot of sporting celebrities that would happily support the cause, so I hope Council looks upon it favourably."