Infrastructure maintenance

We maintain a complex stormwater drainage network, which includes many different types of drainage structures, including underground pipes, concrete-lined open drains, tide gates, pump stations and litter booms.

Drains are inspected annually before each wet season to identify and address any flow capacity issues. Some of the most common causes of blocked drains are:

• Dumping of green waste in creeks or drains
• Invasive vegetation
• Illegal dumping.

What we can, can’t and do remove from drains

• Unlined tidal drains can only be dredged and cleared of mangroves between April and October due to fish breeding seasons.
• Each month, around 30 shopping trolleys are retrieved from the central drainage system in Cairns.
• During and after periods of intense rainfall, work crews check 127 sites within central Cairns suburbs to make sure that grates are not blocked from debris being washed into the waterway systems from the surrounding hill slopes and properties.
• Regular cleaning is carried out at the 185 gross pollutant traps in waterways around the Cairns region. These traps catch litter and debris before it reaches the ocean.

When to contact us

• A drain is blocked
• Water is not draining away after heavy rain or during flooding
• Report illegal dumping in drains

Please note: Residents should not risk entering creeks or drains to clear blockages. Please contact Council to clear blockages.

Council maintains most roads within the local government area, with the exception of highways, which are controlled by the Queensland Government.

• Find out who is responsible for which roads (State or Local Government or resident)
• Find answers to frequently-asked questions about roadworks on local streets in the Cairns region.

Road maintenance activities include:

• Pothole patching and crack sealing of road pavement
• Minor road reseals
• Heavy patching of road pavement and/or profiling
• Bridge and guard rail maintenance
• Kerb and channel, and traffic island maintenance
• Grading of unsealed roads and unsealed road shoulders
• Signage and line marking (including regulatory, warning, place name and street name, directional, informational and temporary signage.)

Council removes dead animals from roads, footpaths and nature strips, but not private properties.

The land owner is responsible for removing deceased animals from private property.

Council services and maintains more than 1000 public litter bins of varying types, with garbage contractors emptying these public bins across the region on a regular cycle, ranging from once to four times a day.

In high profile areas, such as the CBD and Esplanade, bins are checked and emptied daily by dedicated maintenance crews stationed in these areas. Waste quantity is constantly monitored and collection is adjusted according to need.

Council inspects, maintains and conducts safety audits regularly on its network of more than 100 playgrounds and play equipment.

General playground maintenance includes cleaning, repairs, replacement of parts and small items, and removal of graffiti. Council also progressively upgrades or modifies playgrounds to meet current safety standards and the changing needs of the community.

Larger-scale renewal and replacement projects are based on priority needs, the condition of existing play equipment, consultation with Council's parks maintenance crews and budget considerations.

Public toilets are cleaned daily, with facilities in high-use areas, such as the Esplanade, cleaned several times a day.

Council provides around 100 public toilet facilities across the region, including a number of unisex accessible and ambulant accessible toilets.

We mow more than 1000 parks, reserves and turfed streetscapes on a rotational basis. Some high-profile locations, such as the Cairns Esplanade, are mowed more frequently than parks that are not so well-used.

Council also makes seasonal changes to its mowing cycle during the wet season to make sure we are mowing more often when the grass is growing more quickly.

Sporting fields are maintained by specialist teams according to their individual usage rates, needs and demands.

Council does not mow residential nature strips because:

• Council would not be able to give the level of service that residents themselves can to maintain the frontage of their own properties.
• These areas would not be able to be mowed with large machinery, as used within parks, because of obstacles such as trees, letter boxes and fences.
• Push mowers would have to be used and this would push up maintenance costs considerably, which would then have to be passed onto residents via extra rate charges.
• Although some residents may be happy to pay extra to have their nature strips mowed, logistically, mowing only some resident’s lawns would be unmanageable.

In public paths and areas, Council carries out tree trimming and pruning, landscaping of decorative gardens, garden bed mulching, tree removal and stump grinding.

Requests for trimming or removing trees on public land are assessed, prioritised and issued in consultation with specialist internal and external experts. Trees that have been removed can often be replaced if the original location is appropriate.

Find out more about managing neighbourhood disputes related to trees and vegetation, and responsible tree management.

Council has a small fleet of specialised street sweeping trucks that clean our sealed roads to the kerb and channel on a 15-week cycle. Streets are swept in the following suburb sequence:

North

• Machans Beach, Holloways Beach, Yorkeys Knob, Smithfield, Trinity Park, Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Buchans Point, Caravonica, Lake Placid, Barron, Barron Gorge, Kamerunga, Redlynch, Stratford, Aeroglen

Central

• Whitfield, Kanimbla, Edge Hill, Manoora, Mooroobool, Manunda, Westcourt, Parramatta Park, Bungalow, Portsmith, Cairns North, Earlville, Woree, Bayview Heights, Freshwater, Brinsmead

South

• Gordonvale, Edmonton, Bentley Park, Mt Sheridan, White Rock

Some high-usage streets are swept more regularly as detailed below.

Annual footpath inspections are carried out according to a schedule. Footpath maintenance activities include:

• Concrete patches and repairs
• Paver re-laying and repairs
• Pressure cleaning and chewing gum removal
• Sweeping.

All paths are shared facilities for pedestrians and cyclists unless signed otherwise.

To report faults, contact DTMR's Traffic Signals Fault Line 13 19 40 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).

Council facilitates maintenance dredging of Bluewater Canal, Half Moon Creek and the Offshore Channel in accordance with the Coastal Protection and Management Act 1995.

The dredging program is contracted to a specialist provider, appointed through an open tender process.

A range of financial and operational reports related to this activity can be accessed from: Bluewater Canals dredging.

Council is responsible for upgrades and maintenance of bus stops.

Kerb and channel (also known as gutters) is the interface between the road and drainage networks. It captures runoff, which it directs into the underground stormwater drainage system. Repairs are carried out to kerb and channel if water is no longer draining freely or is seeping into the road pavement.

Small damaged sections can be repaired by hand at short notice. Longer sections that are no longer draining properly are typically replaced completely as part of the renewal program.

Street sweeping assists in keeping debris from building up and blocking kerb and channels.

Lights on residential streets are owned and maintained by Ergon Energy. To report faulty street lights contact Ergon Energy on 13 22 96 or via Ergon Energy’s self-service portal link.

To report faulty lights in a park or a car park or decorative street lights, please submit an online customer request to Council.

Street lighting on highways is the responsibility of the Queensland Government’s Department of Transport and Main Roads. To report faults, contact DTMR's Fault Line 13 19 40 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).

Street lights too bright?

Residents are encouraged to consider installing blinds or use screen plantings on their property to reduce light shining through windows.

Cairns Regional Council does not install glare shields on streetlights due to the indemnity and liability conditions linked to the asset. Please disregard Ergon Energy’s generic email stating local Councils will provide this service. Cairns Regional Council does not provide this service.

Requesting new street lighting

You can make a request for new street lighting on Council-controlled roads by submitting an online customer request.  Council assesses all street lighting requests and, if approved, new lighting is prioritised for delivery in future Capital Works programs.

Every Council-owned facility or asset, such as a road, building or park, is given a ‘star rating’ on a scale of 1 to 5.

A 5-star rated asset is considered to be critical or very important to the community. Inspections of 5-star assets are undertaken more frequently and they receive higher levels of maintenance.

At the other end of the spectrum, a 1-star rated asset which is not critical or very important to the community would receive less frequent inspections and reactive minimal maintenance. The majority of Council’s assets are considered to be 3-star rated.

Star ratings are allocated according to factors like profile, usage, value and risk. For example, busy streets in the CBD would have a higher star rating than quiet suburban streets because they are used by more people and are located in a higher profile area. In essence, the more users potentially affected, the higher the star rating would be for that asset.

Star ratings determine:

• The level of preventative maintenance performed on each asset. (For example, Munro Martin Parklands is mowed every week to maintain a high standard of presentation, whereas a low-use open space such as a drainage reserve would be mowed or slashed once per month.)
• The response time frames when failures occur. (For example, a pothole in Spence Street would be responded to more quickly than a pothole in a suburban cul-de-sac.)
• The standard and finish of facilities and play equipment. (For example, the Cairns Esplanade features premium sporting facilities, playgrounds and a swimming lagoon, whereas a small suburban park would be likely to have a swing set and bench seat.)

Council is responsible for the construction, maintenance and operation of the sewerage network throughout the region, both below and above ground. This includes all manholes, pipes, pump stations and treatment plants. To ensure that the network is operating to a safe and reliable standard and customer service levels are being met, Council undertakes regular and annual maintenance programs. The annual maintenance programs include:

CCTV and pressure cleaning program

Council owns and maintains over 1,300  kilometers of pipes within the local sewer network. To ensure the network remains operational, Council access the network via manholes to pressure clean the pipes and run a camera down the line to check the condition. This information helps Council investigate issues and prioritise which pipes within the network require maintenance, and which require replacement, before an avoidable break occurs.

Sewerage maintenance holes program

Council owns and maintains over 23,000 manholes across the region, located in both private and public property. Manholes provide safe access to the underground sewer ensuring maintenance and repairs can be carried out including clearing blockages. Council undertakes regular inspections and maintenance to ensure manholes remain visible and unobstructed so essential access can be provided when needed.

Read more about sewerage maintenance holes.