Stop the bridge across the Daintree River  

 

A proposed bridge across the Daintree River will fuel further development of the World Heritage value rainforest along the Daintree coast and must be stopped.

 

  • Currently, the only way to reach the Daintree is by vehicular barge across the Daintree River. 
  • The local authority, Douglas Shire Council is exploring options for a bridge over the Daintree River.
  • A bridge will have an enormous flow-on effect. It will increase the number of vehicles and the hours of the day that they’re on roads. Vehicle strike is a killer of the Southern Cassowary and endangered species critical to the rainforest’s natural ability to regenerate.
  • An increase in traffic will lead to growth in property prices, increased demand for additional services such as energy supply, further fragmentation of highly sensitive ecosystems, and disturbance of terrestrial and aquatic environments.
  • The Daintree Lowland Rainforest in North Queensland is the oldest rainforest on the planet, with an unbroken evolutionary history going back over 120 million years to the first flowering plants. Let's not change that now.

 

People power has saved the Daintree time and time again and it will this time too. Sign the petition to demand the Douglas Shire Council to dismiss all proposals for a bridge over the Daintree River which will irreparably impact fragile ecosystems and the endangered animals that live within them.

Will you sign?

 

 

To Douglas Shire Council

 

Urgently put a stop to proposals for a bridge across the Daintree River and instead work to protect the region’s natural values.

 

_ _ _ _

 

Building a bridge over the Daintree River will support further undesirable development. For decades, governments and NGOs have been investing in buying back blocks adjacent to the World Heritage Area to slow down development. And now the Douglas Shire Council has put a bridge back on the table.

 

A bridge over the Daintree has been floated on and off for decades and has been met with opposition from the local community and conservationists across the world.

 

A bridge poses a significant threat to the area’s biodiversity. There’s no doubt a bridge brings with it an increase in vehicular traffic to this internationally significant region. With a bridge will come the following impacts:

 

  • 24-hour access across the river means cars are crossing the river at all times of day and night, putting at risk already endangered wildlife.
  • The construction phase and inevitable road upgrade will disturb sensitive ecosystems, both terrestrial and aquatic.
  • The bridge is likely to increase the number and type of services available to residents and tourists of the Daintree, for example, deliveries and waste services
  • An increase in tourism development will increase road kills of native wildlife, including the endangered Southern Cassowary
  • Expansion to the road network will create an edge effect, opening up the rainforest canopy and further catalyzing the spread of pest plants and animals
  • Tourists currently visit the Daintree for its intact rainforest and genuine wildlife experiences. Additional infrastructure will undermine the region’s natural values

 

People power has saved the Daintree time and time again and it will this time too. We’re calling on the Douglas Shire Council to put a stop to development in the Daintree once and for all and to cease all proposals exploring a bridge across the Daintree River.

 

 

 

8,565 signatures
  • Steve Dreher
    signed 2020-05-26 18:41:49 +1000
  • Michele Williamson
    signed 2020-05-26 18:41:11 +1000
    Just leave it alone
  • Maureen Wilson
    signed 2020-05-26 18:39:58 +1000
  • Jen Ettershank
    signed 2020-05-26 18:37:06 +1000
    Keep the wonderful Daintree wild and beautiful. No bridge needed!
  • Jenny Poelina
    signed 2020-05-26 18:34:55 +1000
  • Andy Frost
    signed 2020-05-26 18:32:44 +1000
  • Glenda Pedwell
    signed 2020-05-26 18:32:14 +1000
  • Murray Rosser
    signed 2020-05-26 18:28:21 +1000
    Enjoyed the beautiful pristine environment on my last visit there. Would hate to see that ruined with increased traffic and development in the area
  • Victoria Cesare
    signed 2020-05-26 18:27:20 +1000
    I lived in cow bay. This would be a travesty
  • Bernie Davis
    signed 2020-05-26 18:26:49 +1000
  • Maree Boulton
    signed 2020-05-26 18:19:44 +1000
    Please keep the Daintree unique. NO BRIDGE
  • Hayley Troupe
    signed 2020-05-26 18:18:56 +1000
  • Leanna
    signed 2020-05-26 18:18:44 +1000
    I object to a bridge being constructed over the Daintree River due to the environmental damage that construction will cause, the long term damage to environmental assets and loss of biodiversity resulting from increased traffic into the Daintree, the visual, noise and light pollution that this will create on an ongoing basis plus the loss of natural amenity. Higher accessibility into the area is likely to lead to destruction, construction and an impoverished environment.
  • Adam Menary
    signed 2020-05-26 18:18:11 +1000
    As a regular visitor to this area opening up to 24hr traffic will destroy attraction to the area as well as the increased death toll of wildlife. Keep the Daintree wild.
  • Inge Vanderschot
    signed 2020-05-26 18:17:59 +1000
  • Vivien Pugh
    signed 2020-05-26 18:17:55 +1000
    Please do not put a bridge there.
  • Anne McAlpine
    signed 2020-05-26 18:17:24 +1000
  • Sharon Parsonson
    signed 2020-05-26 18:03:02 +1000
  • Jax Bergersen
    signed 2020-05-26 18:00:27 +1000
    The last thing is more ingress into special environmental areas. Leave it alone. Find an abandoned cow paddock and develop that. Leave the untouched untouched.
  • Jane Puchner
    signed 2020-05-26 17:58:25 +1000
  • Leonie Stephens
    signed 2020-05-26 17:57:27 +1000
  • peter tebbutt
    signed 2020-05-26 17:52:44 +1000
  • Ross Mahnken
    signed 2020-05-26 17:47:39 +1000
  • Paul Hooley
    signed 2020-05-26 17:45:14 +1000
  • Charlotte Hanson
    signed 2020-05-26 17:44:40 +1000
  • Johanna Thomas
    signed 2020-05-26 17:43:09 +1000
  • Cecily Marsh
    signed 2020-05-26 17:41:57 +1000
  • Douglas Boothey
    signed 2020-05-26 17:41:31 +1000
  • Harrison Bass
    signed 2020-05-26 17:40:16 +1000
  • David Boothey
    signed 2020-05-26 17:30:49 +1000