Next steps revealed for youth rehabilitation facility in Edmonton, Cairns
The next steps of a new youth alcohol and drug rehab centre in Cairns can be revealed as the price tag blows out almost $8m. See the first designs here.
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A new alcohol and drug rehab centre in the southside of Cairns will cost almost $8m more than promised, as a first look at the facility is revealed.
A $19.3m construction tender has been awarded to Hutchinson Builders to build the new residential centre in Edmonton, which is set to offer 10-beds to teenagers struggling with addiction.
The facility, first announced in 2020, was originally forecast to cost $11.5m.
Construction on the single-storey complex is expected to be complete by early next year.
The design includes a therapy/recreation building and administration building alongside the 10-bed centre, which will be staffed around-the-clock.
A non-government organisation will be contracted to provide “intensive and structured” rehabilitation to teens aged between 13 and 18, with a focus on ages 16-17.
The announcement comes just days after a Division 2 council candidate Matthew Tickner raised concerns the building’s Mt Peter Rd location, just a few hundred metres away from four bottle shops, would lead to more crime and anti-social behaviour in Edmonton.
However the government has insisted a residential setting was an important aspect of delivering treatment.
Edmonton local Anne Holden, who lives on the road the facility will be built on, said the community should get behind the project.
“It’s been a long time coming for us, to try and provide some sort of intervention service rather than a punishment for the kids in our community,” she said.
“I’m all for it, and I think most of the thinking people around Edmonton are too.”
Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service chief executive Ms Leena Singh said the new specialist facility, which would be voluntary for teens to engage in, would treat problematic substance use.
“The residential rehabilitation centre will deliver care in a safe, structured home-like environment, with a range of treatments and therapeutic activities to support recovery and a return to community living,” she said.
“(It) will feature both residential and non-residential programs to be delivered as part of a multi-agency approach, including the Department of Education providing learning programs.”
Hutchinson Builders, which is a national company with a local Cairns team, is also building the Cairns Mental Health Unit and Thursday Island Hospital.
Health Minister Shannon Fentiman is expected to address Cairns media on Tuesday.
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Originally published as Next steps revealed for youth rehabilitation facility in Edmonton, Cairns
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