NQ Villas gets approval from council to build 150 units
Parts of a once notorious Cairns ‘holiday park’ will be bulldozed along with two homes to make way for a six storey 150 unit low cost housing development. See what’s planned for the site.
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Parts of a once notorious Cairns trouble spot will be bulldozed along with two homes to make way for a six storey 150 unit low-cost housing development across the road from the Raintrees Shopping Centre.
In December last year NQ Villas Pty Ltd applied for a material change of use permit for land at 10 – 30 Pease Street and 164 and 172 Hoare Street, Manoora.
According to plans submitted to Cairns Regional Council several detached villas within the Cairns Villa and Leisure Park owned by Tony Breuer would be demolished to make way for the new housing development.
“The proposal seeks to establish a medium density, affordable housing product close to public transport and shopping facilities,” the development application states.
“This type of development is desperately needed in Cairns and should be highly supported and encouraged by council.
“(It) is unlikely to have any significant impacts on the infrastructure, environment or community of the surrounding area.”
Under the proposal covering an area of 9,007sq/m 45 one bedroom units and 105 two bedroom units would be built in three separate towers.
Plans extend to a total of 160 carparking spaces.
Sydney-based landowner and developer Mr Breuer said it was “extremely difficulty” to make medium to high density housing projects stack up in Cairns due to high construction costs and low rental income.
“Because of that the main increase in housing in cairns has been in the outer suburbs in the north and south, the problem with outer suburbs subdivisions and low density housing is it costs everyone a fortune, because you have to build roads and infrastructure from scratch,” he said.
“There will always be a large part of working tenants who want to be close to work and close to the city so not having that sort of rental accommodation close to the city is a huge negative for the economy.
“Certainly (low cost housing is) needed, but it’s hard to make it stack up in Cairns.”
The Cairns Villa and Leisure Park started as a bustling holiday retreat before the global financial crisis but economic turmoil triggered a shift to long-term residents which then led to the park gaining a reputation for squalor, drug use and high rates of domestic violence.
However, construction of the Cairns West Police Station across the road in January last year, a wide range of support services offered at the park and new management successfully turned around terrifying levels of violence, drug abuse and alcoholism.
“We used to have the highest police call out rate (in Cairns) and we still have a low socio-economic tenants but it’s much better now and because of the housing crisis no one wants to play up and get evicted,” Mr Breuer said.
The landowner said he was grateful to Cairns Regional Council for supporting his new housing project which he expected would soon begin construction.
“I’m putting together the feasibility (study) now and the state government has some fantastic programs for low cost housing,” he said.
“But I’m keen to get started soon.”
Two old Queenslander style homes at 164 and 172 Hoare are expected to be demolished to enable driveway access into the three unit blocks.
Mayor Amy Eden in support of the development said in-fill development would be crucial to supporting a projected Cairns population growth.
“Our population is set to reach 241,000 by 2050, that’s a 32 per cent increase on the current number of residents, and they all need somewhere to live,” Ms Eden said.
“Infill housing creates these homes in areas that have existing water, sewer and road infrastructure, and close to services such as health and education, reducing the need for large capital investments to provide these essentials.
“It’s a sustainable approach to addressing the housing shortage, while preserving the unique character of our city.”
According to a Traffic Impact Assessment Report by Burchills Engineering Solutions the proposed development will generate up to 44 trips during peak periods, and up to 31 trips passing through the Hoare, Pease and Moody street intersection.
This equated to one additional vehicle movement every 1 minute and 56 seconds but was considered a “marginal increase” to the existing traffic volumes which was “not anticipated to have a significant impact on the safety and efficiency of the intersection.”
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