Parents looking forward to taking their kids for a fun time at the planned new Green Ant adventure playground at Rex Smeal Park in Port Douglas will have to wait at least another eight months to a year before the park is built.

Douglas Shire Council had to remove the old playground equipment last November because it had deteriorated to an unsafe standard.

There are just two swings remaining at the park now.

Council came up with a concept for a new, larger and more expensive Green Ant Park with more equipment, activities, decking and flooring and applied for a grant under a now-defunct federal program. 

In place of the previous attempt at getting a grant, they now have a pending grant application under the current ‘Growing Regions’ program.

Prepare to wait

Because of the elongated process, this now means that even if the grant is successful, work is not realistically expected to start on the state-of-the-art play space until at least March or April next near.

We asked for an update on the grant and Green Ant Park plan from the Mayor, Michael Kerr, but he wasn’t available by the deadline of this article.

Instead, a Council spokesperson said: “Council is hoping to hear whether they were successful sometime this month. If Council is successful, they will be invited to send through a Full Application by 12 December and would envisage hearing if they’d been successful by early February 2024.”  

After that date, Council said, it would go out to the market for a contract to construct adventure park based off its existing drawings from July 2023.

“The playground would be built entirely in the area under the fig tree, making full use of the shade this magnificent tree provides,” Council’s website says about the planned playground.

“We don’t want just any playground at Rex Smeal Park, we want something eye-catching that celebrates our region, and anyone who has spent time in Far North Queensland knows about green ants,” the Mayor, Michael Kerr is quoted as saying on the site.

Alternative playground plan

But if the grant does not go ahead, Council told Newsport that it does have an alternative playground at Rex Smeal Park which it will fund, “and is in the process of procuring that playground with quotations to design and construct that playground to be received by the end of September,” the spokesperson said. 

“The Green Ant design is a much more expensive to construct and grant funding is being sought to help offset the cost to ratepayers.”

Finding other playgrounds

What can’t be found on the Council site is a clear guide showing other kids’ playgrounds in the Shire, where parents can take their young ones in the meantime. 

We had a look on the ‘Adventure Mumma’ website instead, and found the following children’s park recommendations:

- Hutchings Park and Playground, located in the residential suburb of Port Gardens  - “The brightly coloured playground is suited for all ages, and there is plenty here for toddlers and younger kids to keep them entertained,” Adventure Mumma says. 

- Big 4 Glengarry Park - Waterpark & Playground, Port Douglas – “You don’t need to be staying here to enjoy the waterpark, pool, tipping bucket, jumping pillow or playground. You can purchase a day pass from reception, currently at time of writing $15 per person or $50 for a family of four, which will allow you access to all of the facilities between 10am and 5pm.”

- George Davis Park, Foxton Ave, Mossman (includes fully fenced playground, crocodile-shaped pump track, skate park and basketball half court) – “We saved the best for last – this park is simply awesome! (ok maybe not so awesome as the water park – but this is free!)”

Possibly, Council needs to better advertise where its kid-friendly parks actually are located. “Currently Council manages 155 playground items across 21 separate locations in the Shire,” the Council spokesperson said.