Talks to reopen waterfall

SCENIC Rim bosses want to hire indigenous rangers to patrol Killarney Glen so the iconic heart-shaped waterfall can be reopened to the public.

Scenic Rim Mayor Greg Christensen said the council was in talks with local indigenous groups to learn the significance of the Hinterland waterfalls along Back Creek Gorge west of the Gold Coast.

“We’ve asked them to help us understand the significance of that whole corridor,” Mayor Christensen said. “If it had significance to them, we’d love to explore how they can play an indigenous ranger role in the preservation (and access) of the site. We hope that people would respect that type of control.”

Killarney Glen, on Australian Defence Force land, has been closed since a 19-year-old died there last December. The waterhole was extremely popular on social media site Instagram, where visitors would post pictures of its natural, heartshaped beauty. Nearby Denham Falls also has been closed for much of the year after a private landowner denied public access to the waterfall.

Mayor Christensen said he wanted to maximise the tourism potential of Killarney Glen and other waterfalls, but said a range of issues needed to be addressed. They included safety, restricted access, land damage and trespassing on neighbouring private land.

“We’ve had people dumping their baby’s nappy in someone’s front yard,” he said.

Queensland Environment Minister Steven Miles said while Killarney Glen and Denham Reserve did not meet requirements to become a state conservation park, the department was keen to help preserve and keep the sites safe.