This page is sourced from the former Cairns City Council website. For more information, click here. - Why propose a Town Centre?
- What is a Town Centre?
- What decisions have been made so far?
- What happens next?
- When & how will the community have its say?
- Community Updates
- Enquiry by Design Outcomes Report
It is the responsibility of any Council to provide strategic direction and guidelines to manage long-term growth, in order to deliver the best possible outcomes for future generations.
Cairns is a long, linear city with strong population growth occurring in the northern, southern and central areas. The Cairns Beaches will be a focus for increased housing and activity over the next 20 to 25 years, and is expected to house an extra 18,000 people by the year 2030, bringing its population to around 40,000.
It will also serve as a major commercial and service centre for the growing catchments of Kuranda, Myola, Port Douglas and the northern Tablelands – a further 50,000 people. Put into perspective, this means the Cairns Beaches area will, in the foreseeable future, service a population similar in size to that of Mackay!
Progressive, strategic planning is vital to ensure appropriate, sequential development of the region to cater for the needs of this future population. Council needs to plan now to manage this increased growth and activity, to ensure it occurs in such a way that reflects the aspirations of the people who live and work there.
The FNQ 2010 Regional Plan recommends that Cairns be developed on a nodal pattern, with Town Centres to service the existing and future populations of both the northern and southern nodes. Accordingly, Council is planning for satellite communities – the Beaches Town Centre and the Edmonton Town Centre – to create sustainable employment, educational and service centres in those areas.
A well-planned, active and vibrant Town Centre, accommodating a mix of uses, will encourage people to live, work and play in the area. By planning now for a future self-sustaining community, the region’s future population will not be reliant on the Cairns CBD for their employment, business dealings or access to services. Without such planning, the future outlook is not sustainable, and traffic congestion and chaos on the Captain Cook Highway and Western Arterial Road will occur as the growing number of Beaches’ residents commute to and from the CBD each day. Back to top
What is being proposed is a Town Centre – not a retail shopping centre.
A Town Centre is a place where people can work, live and play. It encompasses a variety of uses including residential, commercial, showrooms (eg, furniture and whitegoods), offices and a retail component, as well as open spaces and community facilities where people can gather and hold public events. This is much like the Cairns CBD, which offers a wide mix of retail and service businesses, accommodation types, facilities and activities.
A well-planned Beaches community will be more self-sustaining, with a variety of local jobs, quality services and facilities, integrated transport and good connectivity both within the community and with other parts of the Cairns region. It will also integrate with the existing retail hubs in the Beaches region, including Smithfield Shopping Centre, Campus Shopping Village and Clifton Village.
Specific questions about exactly what the Town Centre would encompass and how it might look cannot be answered at the moment – that is because we are yet to even have a concept plan. Back to top
What decisions have been made so far?
The area of land identified for the proposed Cairns Beaches Town Centre is owned by two separate landowners. These landowners had every right to simply submit an application under the planning scheme to develop their large parcel of vacant land into residential lots.
Instead they approached Council, through a consultant, with a proposal to investigate the opportunity to plan for a future Town Centre. Council recognised there was planning merit in this proposal and agreed to work with the landowners in a bid to create something that will be beneficial to the whole Cairns Beaches community. Ultimately, it will be Council’s decision and responsibility to implement any amendments to the planning scheme, following due process and extensive community consultation.
In July 2007, a workshop was held involving the two landowners, Department of Local Government, Planning, Sport and Recreation, Queensland Transport, Cairns City Council, Department of Main Roads, James Cook University and other interested parties including the Smithfield Shopping Centre and Clifton Village owners.
This workshop discussed the issues for the Cairns Beaches Town Centre, drawing on the technical knowledge and expertise of the contributors. Following the workshop, a report was presented to Council, summarising the major constraints and issues of the site, along with a needs analysis of services and land use requirements for a successful Town Centre.
This report was noted by Council at its Ordinary meeting of 24 January 2008, at which time Council also resolved to:
• "use the Design Outcomes Report as a basis for progressing the Planning Scheme amendments for the Cairns Beaches Town Centre, subject to:
1. That Council further investigates all possible options for the future provision of commercial, business and industry activities for the Smithfield and Beaches areas.
2. That a process of investigation includes consultation with all relevant stakeholders including, but not limited to, residents, business owners, shopping complex owners and land owners/developers within the catchments."
This does not mean that Council has decided the Town Centre will go ahead – it only means the necessary processes have been put in place to allow the preparation of a concept plan and subsequent community consultation. Back to top
What happens next, and how can the community have its say?
Council is continuing to investigate the Town Centre proposal with the landowners. Through consultants, the landowners are currently undertaking essential background studies (eg, urban design, traffic management and open space).
These detailed studies will feed into the development of a draft concept plan, and the community’s views on the draft concept plan will be sought through an open, public consultation process.
Council will consider all feedback from this consultation process in making its decision whether or not to then commence the formal Schedule 1 amendment process – a statutory process as outlined in the Integrated Planning Act (IPA).
The Schedule 1 process would identify and designate the future land uses within the site, as well as public transport, roads, pedestrian and open space networks.
The Schedule 1 amendment process involves further public consultation on the proposed land uses through a minimum 30-day notification period.
Council will publicise this widely to ensure all interested stakeholders and community members have an opportunity to have a say. Council will also provide information on how to prepare a proper submission in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Integrated Planning Act.
As part of the Schedule 1 process, Council must review and respond to every properly made submission received.
On the basis of these submissions, Council will then decide if it proceeds with the proposed amendment or modifies it. The State Government will then review the amendment through the State Interest Check process.
It will only be after this statutory process is completed that physical development of the Cairns Beaches Town Centre can commence.
Council's Community Updates (PDF documents) present detailed facts about the Cairns Beaches Town Centre project.
Enquiry by Design outcomes report
A copy of the Enquiry by Design Outcomes report is available for viewing here as PDF files, or visit Council Administration Centre 119-145 Spence Street to view the document.