Posted on August 12, 2025
CAIRNS Regional Council has recently sent out rates notices containing a special charge to Bluewater residents and Bluewater marina for dredging of the Yorkeys Knob leads, the entry to Yorkeys Knob Marina and the mouth of Half Moon Creek.
A notice was emailed to us on June 10, 2025 that the special charge was to be implemented with rate notices and will be forwarded to residents who have waterfront properties and berth owners of Bluewater.
We have contacted Councillor Rhonda Coghlan and voiced our concerns of the impacts of the charges and discovered that she seconded the motion to implement the charges.
We have also had a meeting with the council infrastructure and asset manager and he confirmed that the new charges were to remain and that there was no time for consultation as there were delays in the tendering process.
CRC, without any consultation, tendered a new dredging contract and the special charges to waterfront properties and marina berths have skyrocketed to $4489.24 this year and $6136.35 next year.
The residents and berth owners have launched a petition with the vast majority objecting to this significant increase. Berth owners have said that berths have no value and can’t be sold due to ongoing special fees.
The council received only one tender and the $12 million contract will be paid by residents and marinas. Yorkeys Knob marina pays $870.66 this year and $1190.11 next year, a substantial difference in comparison to Bluewater. The council has explained this due to the amount of dredging required.
Dredging in Bluewater canals have not been dredged for many years yet special charges have been forwarded to residents and marina owners.
Many would argue that the leads and entrance to Yorkeys Knob Marina are a commercial waterway as there are 45,000 cruise ship passengers planned this year to be ferried into Yorkeys.
There are also pilot vessels working out of this marina. With that in mind Ports North should be required to dredge the entrance and leads into Yorkeys as they benefit financially from each passenger and pilot boat operations.
In addition, the new trailer boat ramp construction included changing the access channel to Half Moon Creek and the construction of the rock walls has caused significant increases to build up of silt and sand.
TMR should be paying for this dredging as they acknowledged it would be an issue by offering to pay for a northern rock wall to mitigate the issue. This has not been done. We have also contacted MP Bree James and have had no response.
The Bluewater residents and berth owners have strongly voiced their objection to this special charge through a petition and have sought donations to fund legal action against the council.
A Ports North spokeswoman said the organisation did not operate at Yorkeys Knob. “That agreement for cruise ships to come in there is between Maritime Safety Queensland, cruise companies and the boat club,” she said.
“Their pilot operators are private and not ours.”
