VANDALISM, HAZARDS AND MESSINESS: Pride of Port Douglas or world class eyesore?
FLAGSTAFF HILL WALKING TRAIL
Once the pride and joy of Port Douglas a key attraction that’s supposed to showcase some of our best coastal vantage points including those of Four Mile beach currently presents a shadow of its former self.
Following a number of reader concerns about its general lack of cleanliness and maintenance upkeep, vandalism to safety railing, and trip hazards Newsport walked Flagstaff Hill just a short time ago.
Just minutes into the walk, our readers’ concerns were vindicated.
Along the way we noticed a fully broken guard rail that exposes a high cliff area, broken poles that should have been located inside the guard rails, discarded railing in bushland and broken hand railing that had been separated from its fitting.
A current sitting Councillor was equally disappointed when we informed her about the current state of the track.
"There's a lot of people that use the track day and it needs to be properly maintained," Deputy Mayor Lisa Scomazzon told Newsport.
"What I'll do is send an email to the CEO and see what the maintenance timetable is of Flagstaff Hill, it's an operational matter, which the Council needs to address."
The track’s poor state was previously brought to Newsport’s attention earlier this year when a reader wrote to us to express their thoughts about its general appearance in April.
“I just wanted to bring your attention to the overgrown weeds on the amazing path up to the viewpoint over Four Mile beach,” the reader told us on April 17.
“It’s such a lovely walk for tourists but the Council are not maintaining it well at all.
“What do we pay our rates for?
Following that correspondence, we reached out to Council about the matter.
“The Port Douglas parks and garden team has Flagstaff Hill walking track programmed into its weekly run sheet,” a Council spokesperson told Newsport mid April.
“This generally consists of leaf blowing the track to keep it free of debris, rectifying any washouts or trip hazards and trimming any overhanging tree branches. Weed spraying is done once a month.
“To ensure it looks at its best for walkers, Council scheduled its super crew, consisting of Port Douglas parks and gardens team and the biosecurity weed team, to complete maintenance of the Flagstaff Hill walking track (last) week.”
The 1.5km Flagstaff Hill walking trail provides a link between Four Mile Beach and Rex Smeal Park in Port Douglas.
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