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
  • Christine Carpenter
    signed 2020-05-29 07:36:19 +1000
  • Kat Stevens
    signed 2020-05-29 07:36:08 +1000
  • Thomas David
    signed 2020-05-29 07:35:43 +1000
  • Hilary Kirk
    signed 2020-05-29 07:34:59 +1000
  • Carl Heydon
    signed 2020-05-29 07:34:52 +1000
  • Catherine Cox
    signed 2020-05-29 07:34:25 +1000
  • Susan Chandler
    signed 2020-05-29 07:32:44 +1000
    Stop destroying our country, esp. this pristine heritage area.
  • Samantha Roberts
    signed 2020-05-29 07:32:37 +1000
  • Penny MacDonald
    signed 2020-05-29 07:31:51 +1000
  • Donna Livingstone
    signed 2020-05-29 07:31:31 +1000
  • sheryl storch
    signed 2020-05-29 07:31:22 +1000
  • Shelley walmsley
    signed 2020-05-29 07:30:56 +1000
  • Raylee Wallen
    signed 2020-05-29 07:28:33 +1000
    No bridge , keep it low traffic flow!
  • Simon McCallum
    signed 2020-05-29 07:26:50 +1000
  • Henk Mulder
    signed 2020-05-29 07:24:31 +1000
  • Maggie Hume
    signed 2020-05-29 07:21:37 +1000
  • Marian Marstella
    signed 2020-05-29 07:19:22 +1000
  • Kim Mizzi
    signed 2020-05-29 07:17:36 +1000
    What makes the Daintree so special is it’s lack of accessibility and population. With more cars, surely whatever cassowary population is left, will also end in extinction. Please don’t not build the bridge.
  • Megan Grixti
    signed 2020-05-29 07:17:15 +1000
    No bridge. Give the Daintree community electricity instead.
  • Dave Vernon
    signed 2020-05-29 07:17:09 +1000
  • Phoebe Hughes
    signed 2020-05-29 07:16:33 +1000
  • Joanna Smith
    signed 2020-05-29 07:15:57 +1000
  • Helen Baird
    signed 2020-05-29 07:15:20 +1000
  • Mary Crutcher
    signed 2020-05-29 07:12:53 +1000
    Keep the Daintree natural & wild, and free from any development or infrastructure. No bridge.
  • Heidi Martin
    signed 2020-05-29 07:12:29 +1000
  • Michael Chandler
    signed 2020-05-29 07:11:06 +1000
  • John Caley
    signed 2020-05-29 07:10:58 +1000
  • Anthony Prowse
    signed 2020-05-29 07:10:33 +1000
  • Yvonne Roedema
    signed 2020-05-29 07:10:31 +1000
  • Jarek Czaja
    signed 2020-05-29 07:08:45 +1000