Cairns’ population growth leading to northern and southern satellite cities
Three CBDs are in the making for Cairns with pressure building on the city’s planning executives to get the balance right between lifestyle and population growth in two key suburbs. HAVE YOUR SAY
Cairns
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cairns. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THREE central business districts for the linear city of Cairns are in the making with planning experts proclaiming character identification and the use of technology as essential to a “15-minute” lifestyle for residents.
Smithfield and Edmonton are set to become the “capitals” of their respective northern and southern districts — two regions long hailed as Cairns’ growth corridors, joining the existing city CBD.
As graders flatten the city’s few remaining cane fields into developed estates, town leaders and planning experts are urging governments and developers to think carefully about how they use the limited remaining space. It is an issue at Cairns’ northern beaches — Machans Beach to Palm Cove — where flight paths and lifestyle choices hinder multistorey developments.
MORE NEWS
Five ways economy can be revived this year
New stage begins for southside housing estate
Big plans for new Cairns private school revealed
The area was once home to pockets of residential lots, with the suburb of Trinity Beach home to about 150 people in the 1970s.
Now more than 35,000 residents call Cairns’ northern beaches home, with the growth attracting an expanding James Cook University campus, an ever-growing shopping centre, multiple retailers and health providers, hospitality businesses, ongoing residential developments, schools and the state government’s $164m Smithfield bypass — the most significant public infrastructure project in recent years.
All these offerings become almost enough to label Smithfield as a “satellite city”.
But The Cairns Institute’s professor of tropical regional development, Allan Dale, said satellite cities were self-sufficient communities that laid beyond their larger metropolitan areas, and he instead envisioned the northern beaches playing a complementary role as a “global education and innovation city” in the future.
What developments will shape Cairns’ city by 2030 and beyond
“We could position the northern beaches as Cairns’ opportunity to capitalise on the post-COVID migration of new people and significant businesses, startups and research and development ventures; all deeply embedded in a world-class, urban and natural environment,” Dr Dale said.
“Cairns south could be a strong provider of services, manufacturing and other key industry opportunities. The city could remain the commercial, tourism, marine, aviation, government and services hub. Mareeba remains incredibly important in the bigger picture as an agricultural, energy, food-processing and value-adding centre. The ‘global education and innovation city’ only works if all of the other parts of the puzzle are integrated and connected.”
Future Tourism: How Cairns Airport can return to city’s boom years
He said the Cairns Ring Road concept would need to progress to ensure strong links between the north, south and the airport, and the growth areas would need to focus on water efficiency and affordable housing strategies to maintain community cohesion.
Dr Dale said important considerations in potentially transforming the beaches into an innovation city would be to sustain the region’s natural assets and liaise with the Yirrganydji traditional owners, while prioritising transport infrastructure and services.
Former council town planner Nikki Huddy of Planz Town Planning agreed with the need for a transport focus.
“Essentially, you want to be able to live and work in the same place and the concept for that is called the 15-minute city,” Ms Huddy said.
“(By) 2050, (it) is probably reasonable to think we have 500,000 people in the Cairns area. And it changes how you think. You need to start thinking about what public transport is going to look like. We have a very long city.
“There is a need for people’s quality of life, to create satellite cities.”
Ms Huddy said governments needed to offer residents multiple commuting options and deliver on paths and roads, while also embracing transport technology.
“The rules we’ve known about how much carparking we need in cities is likely to change. I think we’ll see autonomous ride share — so the car doesn’t need to stop at one end and occupy a park — leaving more room for other developments.”
She said the northern beaches was likely to run out of developable land in about 10 years, and that “growing houses doesn’t grow jobs”.
“So we need to look at incentivising major businesses and making sure it’s attractive for them to come here.”
FOODIE WELCOMES ROAD BYPASSING HIS STORE
BURGER Urge Smithfield, while a national chain restaurant, is a by-product of the northern Cairns suburb’s rapid growth in recent years.
Owner-operator Tom Whyte chose to move to the region for all the obvious reasons – to get away from the “hustle and bustle” of Brisbane, while getting closer to popular fishing spots and enjoying the beach lifestyle and culture.
“But we did our due diligence and realised it’s Cairns’ growth area,” Mr Whyte said.
“You pick up a lot of the holiday trade and it’s the last major shopping centre for everyone heading to the Cape.”
After three and a half years at the Smithfield Shopping Centre, Mr Whyte said the support he’d received from beaches residents led him to open his second store at Earlville.
“I think Smithfield is attractive for small business owners to come here. It’s a close community and people really support you. I’ve definitely noticed (the population rise), with all these new estates, there’s a lot of young families here now.”
While most small communities fear bypasses, Mr Whyte said he welcomed the $164m new road being constructed through the town.
“The traffic up here actually scared people away. So if it’s easier and quicker for people to get to the beaches, it will lure more people here. And if they’re going to stop in, they’ll stop in anyway.”
Originally published as Cairns’ population growth leading to northern and southern satellite cities
Police station sale sparks discussion over Gordonvale’s future
Claims a historic building was sold from under the noses of a Far North community group have been rebuffed by Labor, with calls to rejuvenate a beloved town square emerging as a key election issue.
‘Ridiculous thing’: LNP candidate dodges abortion, VAD questions
Far North voters are more concerned with crime, cost of living and housing than changes to abortion and voluntary assisted dying laws, the LNP’s candidate for Barron River Bree James says.