CAIRNS Regional Council will tell the State Government the full extent of the red tape it's subjected to in a bid to operate more efficiently.

The council has outlined 24 examples of unnecessary laws and regulations, ranging from complaints about the filing of emails to doubling up of paper work.

The submission was provided to the Local Government Association of Queensland’s Red Tape Reduction Taskforce, which will present the findings to the State Government.

Governance committee chairwoman Cr Linda Cooper said the council’s inability to access local waterways without permission from the Government was among its biggest complaints.

Cr Cooper said something as simple as allowing council officers to remove dead trees from Freshwater Creek was tied up in red tape.

“If we have to go in and do work we have to apply to the Government for permits to actually be able to get in there and clean it out and it can take months,” she said.

Other concerns include the duplication of legislation covering native vegetation and the number of unnecessary referrals required under the Sustainable Planning Act.

Cr Cooper said it was too difficult to put a dollar value on the amount of time wasted due to red tape, but it was a considerable drain on resources.

“Every time you’ve got a delay from chasing paper work it will have significant impact on resources,” she said.

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