Cairns Regional Council approves third stage of 158-lot Rocky Creek development in Mt Peter
Cairns Regional Council approved the third stage of a massive residential development that will ultimately yield 158 new houses, with opportunities for buyers to nab larger blocks.
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Cairns is a step closer to 68 new properties after the council approved a development application for the third stage of a massive Mount Peter residential project.
The Rocky Creek development, which will ultimately yield 158 properties within the Pinecrest master planned community, will comprise blocks as large as 2328sq m, all built over land recently used for sugar cane cultivation.
The development will extend Cairns’ southern corridor, which council has tipped as the city’s major growth area, bringing the reaches of the city within 5km of Gordonvale’s northernmost houses.
The development is immediately west of Mount Peter Rd and will be serviced by Cooper Access Rd.
The development will subdivide two lots into 68, the majority of which will be between 600 and 699sq m, but 13 will be 1000sq m or larger.
According to a report put before councillors at a recent planning and environment meeting, the developer will be required to front up more than $2m in council infrastructure fees.
“The site is located within the Mount Peter Local Plan Area, which is identified as one of the major urban growth corridors in the region. The purpose of the Local Plan is to facilitate a well-planned and integrated urban development for new communities in the southern growth corridor,” the report read.
“Development in this precinct is to be supported by necessary infrastructure and provided with open space and recreation opportunities.
“(The development) is to be serviced by new internal roads and is required to provide water and sewer and electricity and telecommunications connections.
“(The development) has access to the Stony Creek waterway corridor for open space and recreation opportunities.”
Division 1 councillor Brett Moller supported the development application but raised questions over essential infrastructure.
“Mount Peter is the growth corridor in terms of the future growth of Cairns City,” Cr Moller said.
“It really is a growing community down there. And it needs to be properly serviced and planned.”
Council’s director of planning Ed Johnson reassured councillors necessary conditions on supporting infrastructure had been stipulated in the recommendations of the development approval.
“We have conditioned a full upgrade of (Cooper Access Rd) to the ultimate design standard,” Mr Johnson said.
“That’s primarily because of the additional traffic demand this project will create on that road network.
‘We haven’t yet reached a point of agreement with the applicant as to whether a lower standard of road can be safely provided … but at this point in time, we’re looking to condition the arrangement as it is because it hasn’t yet been demonstrated it can be done in an alternative manner.”
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Originally published as Cairns Regional Council approves third stage of 158-lot Rocky Creek development in Mt Peter
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