Access to Jack Barnes mangrove boardwalk closed
After opening to great optimism three years ago access has again been shut down to a troubled mangrove boardwalk and biodiversity hotspot following an investment of $460,000.
Cairns
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After opening to great optimism three years ago access has again been shut down to a troubled mangrove boardwalk and biodiversity hotspot following an investment of almost half a million dollars.
The closure is the latest in years’ long bureaucratic saga that started in 2019 when the Jack Barnes Bicentennial Mangrove Boardwalk at Aeroglen was closed by then lease holder Cairns Regional Council.
In August 2022 the 800m elevated boardwalk through the mangroves opened after $460,000 in make-good funds was provided by council to the Cairns Airport which then assumed responsibility for the nature walk at the expiry of a lease agreement.
Council considered the boardwalk built in 1988 to be a financial liability and priced the repair of the structure at $7m before the Cairns Airport agreed to manage the asset.
The Dawul Wuru Aboriginal Corporation was appointed to lead on the repair of the ageing structure in 2020 after significant consultation with stakeholders, engineers and community groups.
No entry signs have been chained across the boardwalk entrance in a development retired zoologist and nature photographer Michael Cermak described as disappointing.
“It has been closed for several months,” he said.
“The public should know why it has been closed for such a long time.
“I feel there is an urgent need for a public outcry … in pressing Cairns Airport to act.
“If it remained closed for good it would be pretty disgusting.”
Mr Cermak was part of a community advisory group that offered advice on new interpretative signage aimed at informing visitors about mangrove habitat and fish, birds and crabs that call the area home.
“We spent time making suggestions but it never happened, they just scrubbed down the old signs,” he said.
“(The advisory group) was going to conduct surveys in the whole mangrove area and it was going to be used as a teaching ground on how to identify the crabs and how to photograph them ... but they said we don’t need you anymore.”
It’s understood some suggestions were taken on board and others were sidelined by the Cairns Airport which acted in good faith to seek input from the community.
New signs have not yet been installed due to three pending native title claims over the land that are yet to be resolved.
The Jack Barnes Mangrove Boardwalk Precinct continues to be managed by the Cairns Airport in partnership with Dawul Wuru Aboriginal Corporation.
“The Jack Barnes Mangrove Boardwalk has been temporarily closed intermittently over the wet season, as required for public safety,” an airport spokeswoman said.
“Work needs to be carried out to repair damage caused by some fallen trees, but the recent heavy rain and a series of high tides have prevented safe access for this work.
“The Jack Barnes Mangrove Boardwalk is a unique structure that was built more than 30 years ago and is not intended to be an all-conditions walking track.
“Mangrove wetlands are also notoriously difficult to access and maintaining infrastructure can be challenging.
“(However) repair works will commence as soon as conditions are suitable.”
Project manager of the Dawul Wuru Aboriginal Corporation Gavin Singleton was contacted for comment.
The saltmarsh boardwalk first opened in 1988 and is a memorial to the medical researcher who identified Irukandji jellyfish.
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Originally published as Access to Jack Barnes mangrove boardwalk closed
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