We need to be progressive

TOWN planning takes 20 years to bear fruit and mistakes I and others made are showing up in a stagnation of Port Douglas.

When the plan promoted apartmenttype tourist accommodation only, the resultant social demographic you attract is in price point and disposition. That’s, well, plain dull. Killing off the colourful camping grounds by zoning them medium density, and taking a regressive attitude to high-quality, nature-based tourism, has killed off the type of active, Greenie tourist that travels to NZ. Instead of attracting young or active visitors, Port is saturated in ever older, more complaining tourists, who kill off nightlife and consign working youth to tough rents and limited fun.

Douglas Shire has the sexiest natural assets on the east coast and the last thing it needs is more mindless, luxury apartment cargo-cult nonsense.

What it needs is a progressive NZstyle approach that attracts active, green guests, in a bigger spread of price points, willing to camp/van/backpack/lodge in a disciplined ecotourist manner, and not just crash on apartment couches with crass, tropical decor watching their flat screens.

Rod Davis, former DSC councillor serial boofhead John McEnroe and his cohort partner, Martina Navratilova, for their embarrassing and disgraceful protest against Margaret Court. They should be banned from any association with Australian tennis.

The woke media mob should also cancel any contractual arrangements they have with either. Big shame.

Barry Braes, Mareeba all believed that I was in an enormous burning zone. International tourists just don’t know that we have our usual clean air and lush green rainforests.

Sally Bayne, Bayview Heights