Questions raised over progress in Mount Peter, Cairns water infrastructure funding

The state government may have poured money into the beleaguered water security project in Tuesday’s budget, however progress appears to have stalled on other water infrastructure in the city’s southern growth corridor.

The state government may have poured money into the beleaguered water security project in Tuesday’s budget, however progress appears to have stalled on other water infrastructure in the city’s southern growth corridor.

There was $18.2m allocated to the Mount Peter water reservoir project in the 2024-25 state budget, which is designed to provide the water services for 446 residential lots.

However the announcement has raised questions about what’s happened since the bulk of the money was first announced two years ago, when the Queensland government revealed it would hand a $15m interest-free loan to Cairns Regional Council for the same project.

It comes after a proposal to build a 706-lot residential development in the area was last month rejected by Cairns Regional Council, with councillors pointing to a lack of trunk infrastructure as the main roadblock to future development.

Urban Development Institute of Australia Cairns branch president Nathan Lee Long said the $18.2m confirmed in the new state budget would mainly service the existing housing in Mount Peter, describing the absence of further funding for the project as “disappointing”.

Urban Development Institute of Australia Cairns branch president Nathan Lee Long. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

“This project won’t really facilitate growth in the area, there is more to be done to make that happen,” he said.

“This reservoir and this particular project does not allow additional houses in Mount Peter, it facilitates the homes that are there and optimises the system, prepares it for growth – but there’s additional work (and funding) required to achieve that growth.

“What we’re hopeful is that within the budget, similar to the federal government budget, is allocation for (statewide) infrastructure to unlock residential land that council would then be able to apply for and with those funds, service additional land for housing.”

Mr Lee Long said it was critical that action was taken soon to develop Mount Peter, which has been estimated to have enough land to house 40,000 people, or else Cairns could see even greater pressures on the property market.

An aerial view of the Rocky Creek precinct of the burgeoning Pinecrest housing estate in Mount Peter. Picture: Supplied

“If Mount Peter is delayed for say another five years, the risks are the price of housing and land will skyrocket,” he said.

“What we’ll also see is with a restricted and limited supply of land for housing, we’ll see impacts onto our builders, they will have less work, trades and services will leave because they’ll go to where they can work.”

Townz Urban Planning managing director Nikki Huddy, in a recent interview about the state of housing across the region, said Mount Peter was the last significant piece of developable land in the Cairns urban footprint.

She said initial plans for the area formed in 2008 as part of a state government and council co-designed masterplan were “one of the best examples of regional planning”.

“What’s happened since though is we haven’t actually managed to apply planning to it,” she said.

“We’re in the middle of squandering a really significant opportunity.”

A Cairns Regional Council spokesman said council received approval for the $15m loan in June 2022 but did not provide further details about what had happened with the money since.

“Council welcomes the Queensland government’s continued investment in water infrastructure to cater for population growth in Mount Peter,” he said.

Council documents reveal the project had an estimated construction start date of March this year and an end date in December 2025.

Originally published as Questions raised over progress in Mount Peter, Cairns water infrastructure funding