Plea to restore island’s luxury

living in the Far North are the ones being disadvantaged by the deterioration of former luxury destination Double Island.

That is the message from Cairns councillor Brett Olds and Palm Cove real estate agent Tony Richards.

The luxury resort island was once touted as one of the region’s most high-end destinations, but it has fallen into disarray with weeds across the island and a lack of public toilets or a jetty.

Cairns Regional Council has given Chinese property tycoon owner Benny Wu 12 months to remedy the issues.

Division 9 councillor Brett Olds said it was disappointing after all of the hype surrounding the development in the last two years.

“If you come in and make grandiose promises and don’t deliver them, you get the public off-side,” he said.

“There were advertisements in Qantas magazine and on billboards in New York, and there’s not a lot to show for it.”

He said most Cairns residents he had spoken with wanted access to the island’s public beach and to public amenities.

“The island is supposed to have a public part of the beach, that’s everyone’s perception,” he said.

Palm Cove-based real estate agent Tony Richards is working on the Palm Cove Harbour Project.

He said it would be mutually beneficial for both parties to have the island back up and running efficiently.

“It’s a significant aspect to tourism,” he said.

“There seems to be a lot of smoke and mirrors with what’s happening on the island, but if a tourist destination was being treated like that the council would be on them like a tonne of bricks.”

He said he had doubts the island could be turned around in the 12-month time frame Cairns Regional Council has given the developers.

Cr Olds said he was hopeful Mr Wu took the remediation period seriously.

“It’s an ideal location. Lots of people have owned it and it’s been really popular in the past,” he said.

“Hopefully someone comes around and does something great with it, because most locals would like to be able to visit again.”

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