Torres Shire Sports Complex
Established in 1985, the Torres Shire Sports Complex is home to the only Gymnasium, Stadium and Swimming Pools on Thursday Island. A family favourite on weekends, it is also a great place to exercise! Sporting bodies regularly use the stadium for volleyball and basketball carnivals, which prove to be extremely popular with the youth on the island.
Council Parks
The Torres Shire Council is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of many beautiful parks and garden areas, including the Ken Brown Oval at Victoria Parade and Anzac Park on Douglas Street.
Ken Brown Oval was named after Mr.Ken Brown, who was once an administrator for T.I in the 1960's. He was the one who recommended to Local Government in Queensland Parliament for T.I to become a separate Shire as it was then inlcuded in the Cook Shire.
ANZAC Park was established as a place for local residents to recognise and support ANZAC Day. With much appreciated Commonwealth Government financial assistance, the Thursday Island R.S.L and local families worked together to build a memorial in the park, which lists all of the names of those who served in the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion.
Child Care
The Thursday Island Child Care Centre was built in March 1998 and is located on Victoria Parade, Thursday Island. Since beginning operation, they have proved to be an invaluable service to the community!
The T.I Child Care Centre provide various programs for children aged from 3 months to 12 years, including an all day service for children 3 mths -5 years old. After school care is available for primary school students from 3.00pm, with the centre offering a free pick up and drop off service to all local schools and kindergartens.
The centre is sponsored by the Torres Shire Council and employs 15 qualified or endorsed full time staff. Opening hours are from 7.45am to 5.40pm Monday to Friday.
Library
The Torres Shire Council Library is housed in the Torres Shire Council Chambers located at 68 Douglas Street, Thursday Island. It was one of the first CLS Queensland libraries established in 1973. The Library offers free borrowing services for residents of the Shire, however visitors are able to borrow items once a refundable deposit is paid.
There are a wide range of items including: books, cds, dvds, magazines, taped books, videos and much more! If you are unable to find what you need, you can request an item from the Public Libary Services of the State Library of Queensland. This is a free service and you are able to request individual titles or information on a particular subject.
Airport
The Horn Island (Ngurapai) Airport is owned and operated by the Torres Shire Council. It is considered to be the gateway to the Torres Strait and the Northern Peninsula Area. The airport is located on Horn Island, which is approximately 8km from Thursday Island.
The airport has a public terminal with the following amenities - Toilets, Kiosk, Pay & Direct Dial telephones. Local airlines operate regular services to many of the outer islands. Qantaslink (of Qantas Airlines) operates a twice daily service between Horn Island and Cairns.
Rates
Property owners within the Torres Shire are required to pay rates and charges to Council. The money collected is used to provide a wide range of community services and facilities such as roads, water supply, sewerage, waste collection, parklands, libraries, recreation and sporting facilities. Council levies rates and charges half yearly generally in the months of August and January.
Waste
The Torres Shire Council provides a twice weekly garbage collection service using 120L Wheelie Bins for residential, while 240L are utulised for commercial purposes. Mondays and Thursdays are the collection days for the suburbs of Tamwoy, Quarantine, Aplin, Rosehill, Waiben and some parts of Port Kennedy. Tuesdays and Fridays are for the remainder of Port Kennedy.
The Torres Shire Council Waste Transfer Station is operated daily. Waste collected is barged over to the Horn Island Landfill Site. Residents wishing to make enquiries relating to waste disposal, garbage runs should phone the Waste Transfer Station on (07) 4069 2802 or the Planning & Environment Officer on (07) 4069 1336.
Opening Times
Monday to Friday - 9.00am - 4.45pm
Saturday to Sunday - 9.00am to 12.00 noon
Dog Registration
All dogs over 3 months of age are required to be registered annually. Only two dogs can be kept on any property without Council approval, otherwise an annual permit fee applies to additional dogs. It is unlawful to keep an unspayed female or male dog unless the owner has paid an annual permit fee. If a dog is found to be roaming in public places without being on a lead or under effective control, it may be impounded and charges will apply before release.
To register your dog, please feel free to come into the office or click HERE to contact us. The Torres Shire Council does not require cats to be registered.Torres Shire provides regular veterinary visits to Thursday Island. Contact Council Office for details of the next visit.
Town Planning & Environment
The Torres Shire Council Planning & Development Unit is guided by the Integrated Planning and Assessment Act 1997. Any development / building applications are to be addressed to the Planning and Development Officer, Torres Shire Council. The application will then be processed in accordance with the IPA framework - a simple, step-by-step assessment process which assist local and state government in the processing of development applications.
Water
The water supplied to most residents within the Shire is from the Loggy Creek Dam on Horn Island. It provides water to Wasaga Village, and via a submarine pipeline, provides water to the Millman Hill Resevoir on Thursday Island. At present the water usage is approximately 600L per day per person. Torres Shire Council considers this amount to be too high, and residents are encouraged to be aware of their water usage.
Please click HERE for the latest water restriction information. For all after hour emergencies, please phone 0429 691 330 for Horn Island and 0429 631 338 for Thursday Island.
Sewerage
Properties on Thursday Island are connected to the Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP), located on Loban Road and operated under very strict EPA Guidelines. The STP is manned by 2 full time trained operators during standard operating times Monday - Friday. The STP is a fully automatic system and any problems that occur triggers the alarm, which then notifies the operators.
Residents that are still not connected to the STP on Thursday Island please contact the Plumbing Inspector at the Torres Shire Council who can issue a set of guidelines for connection. Currently, properties on Horn Island have a septic tank and are not connected to the STP. Planning for the sewerage scheme for Horn Island is well under way and hopefully will proceed in the near future.
Quarry
Council operates the Horn Island quarry and produces rock and sand products. Please contact the manager for details and prices of products PH: 4069 2763 or EMAIL: tscquarry@bigpond.com
