Daintree River Ferry purchase by council surprises business owners

Daintree tour operators are surprised yet unfazed by the Douglas Shire Council’s decision to buy the Daintree River ferry, but have raised question marks over the timing.

Douglas Council Shire has purchased the Daintree River Ferry and a special council meeting will be held in Mossman on May 20 for councillors to consider tenders submitted for the ferry services contract.

DAINTREE tour operators are surprised yet unfazed by the Douglas Shire Council’s decision to buy the Daintree River ferry, but have raised question marks over the timing.

At a special council meeting on Monday, councillors voted to buy the cable ferry and associated equipment from Sirron Enterprises which had been operating the single ferry into the World Heritage Listed rainforest since 2006.

Daintree Rainforest Village co-owner Janelle Moore said regardless of who owned the ferry, the timing to renew permits could present an issue.

“That’s where the big issue is really, they don’t have a permit to operate after a certain date and I think that’s early June,” she said.

The purchase of the Daintree River Ferry has surprised tour operators and the timing has left them feeling concerned. Picture: Marc McCormack

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“But they can’t just not operate the ferry. They’ve cornered themselves into a tight timeline. This should have been sorted out a long time ago.

“But they can’t just close a whole community down and not operate a ferry. I can’t imagine they would let that happen, although you never know.

“I think a lot of people business owners were surprised, that we, the ratepayers, had purchased a ferry. I don’t think we really had a say.”

Ms Moore said she had no issues with how the current owner operated the ferry and wasn’t holding her breath for the proposed second solar-powered vessel.

Another Daintree tour operator of 35 years, who asked not to be named due to fear of retribution, questioned why such an important decision was left until “the last minute”.

“Maybe they should have tried to get things done earlier,” he said

“They usually do it a year in advance. In previous times there’s been enough time for a tenderer to build a new ferry and then operate.

“Generally it’s privately owned whoever wins the tender provides the ferry and the service, and the council set the hours.”

A shire council spokesman said there were no permit risks as the purchase came with a certificate of operation beyond July 2021 and the council was confident the successful tenderer would be able to operate from July 1.

A special council meeting will be held in Mossman on Thursday for councillors to consider tenders submitted for the ferry services contract.

Originally published as Daintree River Ferry purchase by council surprises business owners