Surf club’s call for help

Funds needed for safety move to proceed

PRESSURE is mounting for both sides of federal politics to commit funding to shift the Ellis Beach Surf Life Saving Club across the dangerous Captain Cook Highway.

The club secured provisional tenure for land on the eastern side of the road from the Department of Transport and Main Roads in 2016.

The site, 27km north of the city, had been pushing for the move since 2011, when a 12year-old nipper was hit by a car while crossing the road from the clubhouse to the beach.

Club president and Division 9 Cairns Regional Councillor Brett Olds said getting DTMR on board was only the first step.

“All the naysayers told us we would never get land tenure, but it did,” he said.

The tenure only becomes official once a successful development application has been made to the council.

Issues around high tides, building on a slope, environmental concerns and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority hoops that must be jumped through, mean the application alone will cost about $120,000 to complete – about double the usual price.

Actual construction could cost $2.5 million but there will be no price certainty until the development application has been completed and approved.

The government has plans to eventually widen the road in the next decade to 15 years. “When that happens, our carpark is going to get taken off us so they will have to move us anyway,” Cr Olds said.

“It will only cost more to do then than it will now.”

Cr Olds said it was easier to get donations or government commitments for bricks and mortar than paperwork, regardless of how vital it may be.

The issue is technically a State Government one but there is nothing stopping federal politicians from making a commitment.

“The Federal Government said it’s not really their jurisdiction, but as soon as an election is called everything is back on the table,” Cr Olds said.

“We’re not just some sporting club saying we want extra basketball hoops or more money to pay for some player from down south to come up,” he said.

“We provide a community service.

“It’s in our name – we save lives.”

Freight company Sea Swift donated a shipping container to the club so equipment for the nippers could be stored on the eastern side of the road.

“We are so appreciative of Sea Swift but it is a Band-Aid solution,” Cr Olds said.

“What we really need is to keep kids off the road 100 per cent.”

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