‘More than pizza’: Cairns community developer calls for drone delivery to be used during natural disasters

Forget the deep dish. Drone delivery services can do more than provide delectable delights — even playing a critical role during crises, a Cairns town planner says.

A good slice is nice but unmanned aerial vehicles can do more than deliver hot foods during crises.

Essential supplies flown in by drones and flood markers on street corners could change the way Far Northerners respond to major weather events in the future, a Cairns town planner says.

Award-winning community developer Nikki Huddy is lobbying for further investigation into the role unmanned aerial vehicles can play after natural disasters, particularly for remote communities.

In between bites of her medium Veggie Lovers, Nikki Huddy from Planz Town Planning is urging disaster recovery agencies to explore new ways of responding to crises. Image: Brendan Radke

Pointing to the successful adoption of a medical drone in remote south west Queensland, Ms Huddy said the technology was sufficiently advanced and could help emergency services during crises.

“It’s more than pizza delivery,” she said.

“In Goondiwindi, the chemist is doing drone deliveries up to 150 kilometres away. They drop off parcels stored in a refrigerated compartment.

“You’re given a pin and you take out your purchase or medication.”

Coles has introduced a new drone delivery service for groceries to Queensland.

With Cape York communities regularly isolated during the wet season, Ms Huddy said the aircraft could create a new way of supplying critical goods to townships.

“Singapore is creating a (ship-to-shore) port for drones,” she said.

“There are some limitations in how far they can travel. But oil companies are finding faults in pipelines and coordinating delivery of parts with drones now.

“So there are opportunities there.”

Cairns councillor Brett Olds says flood markers in communities makes sense.

Marked poles on street signs indicating previous high water marks would create more awareness around flood risk, Ms Huddy said.

“It can be confronting because no-one wants to think that their property is vulnerable,” she said.

“It’s very hard to retrospectively fix where (some) houses have been built but if you can keep people aware of what the flood levels are in relation to their own property, that’s a great thing.

“It changes how you build. You might even start lifting assets up (during a flood) because you’ve thought about what might happen.

“It’s about the agency of the individual and giving them enough information to make really important decisions.”

Cairns division nine councillor Brett Olds said he supported the flood marker idea in principal but anticipated some stakeholders might oppose the proposal.

“I think there would be some value in doing something like that,” Mr Olds said.

“Some real estate agents and property owners might hate it.

“But it’s hard to find that information out sometimes … and more information is a good thing that can only help people.”

A national drone delivery strategy is being developed by CASA with trial services already established in North Canberra and Logan.

As many as 1400 homes in Cairns were damaged during December’s floods with reconstruction costs expected to be in the billions.

Originally published as ‘More than pizza’: Cairns community developer calls for drone delivery to be used during natural disasters