Millaa Millaa Falls to get $550,00 facelift

Stinking toilets, ramshackle facilities and an eyesore of a concrete viewing platform will be demolished to make way for much needed upgrades at this iconic Far North destination. See the plans.

Tablelands Regional Council has signed off on a $550,000 plan to improve facilities at Millaa Millaa Falls. Picture: Supplied

More than half a million dollars will be spent to upgrade outdated and ramshackle facilities at Millaa Millaa Falls on the Atherton Tablelands.

Works to improve one of the most visited and iconic Far North beauty sports include the demolition of existing signs and picnic shelters, amenity block and the unsightly concrete lower viewing platform.

An artist impression of the bottom car park at Millaa Millaa Falls. Picture: Supplied

Stairs from the top carpark to the falls will be rebuilt with new handrails, new toilets will be added and new change rooms will go in under a revitalisation project worth $550,000.

At the lower carpark and turnaround area, three new disabled car parks, three long vehicle parking bays, bike racks, new stone retaining walls will be added.

And signature tree ferns will be featured in raised stone planters.

New interpretative shelters and signs, coloured concrete paving, new all mobility picnic tables, and a lower viewing platform will be added along with refreshed garden beds and a pedestrian forecourt.

An ugly concrete lower viewing will be removed under the Millaa Millaa Falls revamp. Picture: Supplied

Millaa Millaa Tea House owner Sondra Carr said the upgrade was desperately needed.

“It will be fabulous, I don’t know how many complaints we had at the Tea House about the state of the toilets,” she said.

“It will get people to stay a bit longer and picnic at the falls.

“If the facilities were lovely people would stay and come back again.

“And they are making it accessible for people in wheelchairs, it’s really encouraging for business owners.”

Drawings showing the scope of the upgrade planned for Millaa Millaa Falls.

In a report prepared by LA3 Design, the “unacceptably bad” smell from the septic tank, the dated design of dangerous picnic shelters, and unsightly expanse of asphalt at the lower carpark would all be remedied through an 2023/24 capital budget outlay.

According to council documents, a cost benefit analysis found the outlay would increase tourism and economic outcomes, improve visitor experience and provide better accessibility options.

Disabled parking at the Millaa Millaa Falls top car park. Picture: Supplied

The planned upgrades were guided by input from 130 people who took part in a user survey.

Work at the Queensland state heritage site was unanimously approved by Tablelands Regional Council in December and based on public feedback, it was noted bus parking should not be located in the lower carpark.

Millaa Millaa Progress Association, Malanda and Millaa Millaa Landcare, Millaa Millaa Lions and Mamu Aboriginal Corporation were all consulted about the planned upgrade.

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Originally published as Millaa Millaa Falls to get $550,00 facelift