General News
13 May, 2025
Buses lose spot at waterfall
A PLEA by Millaa Millaa residents to stop tour buses from parking in the lower car park at the iconic waterfall has been heeded by Tablelands Regional Council, despite its officers recommendations.
The waterfall’s facilities are the subject of a major upgrade, with council planners recommending the tour buses park in the lower car park so passengers would not have to negotiate the staircase which has also been recently upgraded.
Tour companies have told officers if they cannot access the lower car park, and the upper car park does not have the space required for the large vehicles, then they would stop coming to the waterfall.
But in a detailed response on behalf of the community, Pat Reynolds told the council the tour buses provided no financial benefit to the community and residents had made it clear during community consultation they did not want the large vehicles in the lower car park.
“If the tour buses decided they didn’t want to come to the falls at all, it wouldn’t change the benefits to the town by one dollar. On the rarest occasions they do turn up, they go to Lions Park and eat their packed lunches and then leave,” Mr Reynolds told the council.
“If the buses stop going to the bottom car park, it would make no difference to the economies of the rest of the towns across the Tablelands, because they would still do their routes.
“Council did seek public consultation when the project started and they were given overwhelming and consistent information that we wanted the parking swapped. Not only that, we took it upon ourselves through the Lions Club to get new signs made and swap them over, that’s how important it was – it lasted for two days.”
Mr Reynolds said 90% of people on the tour buses were “young and fit and able people” who could “dance down that staircase”.
“In contrast, those who arrive by car are often grey nomads, families with young children or those with mobility concerns who struggle to deal with the staircase,” he said.
“Major tour operators do absolutely nothing for the Tablelands community – they come with their lunches, businesses in Cairns reap all the rewards, accommodation, food, alcohol, souvenir shops, none of that happens up here.
“We are coming to you with our loudest and most unified voice ever – we want the buses out of the bottom carpark. To date, absolutely no compelling arguments have been delivered to us as to why this can’t happen, not one reasonable argument.
“On the grounds of safety, common sense, equity and economic reality, revise the parking arrangements and put the buses at the top where they belong.
“When you vote today, you will either be voting to support the wishes of an entire community or you will be voting for a few businesses down in Cairns who are not going to make any less money by going to the bottom carpark.”
Council officers advised there was inadequate space for tour buses in the top car park and by excluding them from the bottom, they would no longer have access to Millaa Millaa Falls.
But Crs Dave Bilney and Kevin Cardew backed the community sentiment on the issue.
“I fully support the community’s views – we do need to listen to our community, that’s what we’re here for,” Cr Cardew said.
“This is the fourth time a report has been brought to this council – three times we have previously said ‘no’.
“Tour operators have their own agenda – they come from up Cairns in the morning and end up in Cairns in the afternoon and do a whirlwind tour of our assets and spend very little money.”
Cr Bilney agreed and said he had listened closely to community feedback and agreed that visitation to the waterfall delivered “little benefit for the town itself”.
He suggested tour companies could use smaller shuttles to take people to the waterfall instead of large buses and moved an alternative motion that would allow any vehicle to park in bottom car park if they had passengers who had mobility issues.
But chief executive officer Dr Nikola Stepanov warned that officers would need more specific wording if they were to be able to regulate the parking area.
“When you pass a motion, I’m only able to do those that are able to be legally achieved, so I’m flagging there will be issues with the particular wording of this motion, something I’ve raised consistently in the past month,” she said.
Crs Bilney and Cardew agreed the council accepted that it could not regulate everything due to capacity constraints and relied upon people “to do the right thing”.
Council resolved to designate the top car park for bus and general visitor vehicle parking, and to exclude class 3, 4 and 6 vehicles from parking in the lower car park.
