West Cairns Police Station across from Villa and Leisure Park will open soon to help fix crime

A new police station in a Cairns crime hotspot is nearing completion with hopes it will help curb rates in the area but one social services advocate is calling for solutions to the wider issue.

Residents of Cairns’ western suburbs may soon be living on safer streets as the new Cairns West Police Facility nears completion.

Construction of the facility began early this year and it is slated to be finished early 2023.

But with Cairns currently gripped by a tidal wave of youth crime, it may only be small comfort unless better solutions to youth offending can be found.

The $3.2m facility is being built on Pease St in Manoora, opposite the Cairns Villa and Leisure park which has had a history of police activity and social issues.

Leading Cairns social services advocate and founder of The Yarning Place Yolonde Entsch said it was fantastic that a much-needed facility was being built in the area.

“The people who live across the road in the park will have somewhere to go 24/7 when there is trouble,” she said.

The new Cairns West Police Station in Manoora is nearing completion

“A lot of the issues within the park arise from outsiders entering the area, and having the police station nearby will give residents a greater sense of security and comfort.”

Mrs Entsch said while it was good a new police facility was being established in the western suburbs, there was a larger issue with crime across the greater Cairns area which did not seem to be getting better.

“Nothing is working and it’s time to look at other avenues to try and find results, we’ve really stuffed this up,” Mrs Entsch said.

Mrs Entsch called for greater co-operation between police and communities across the city.

“Speaking with members of the Amaroo Justice Group, they have had some success within their own processes,” she said.

“We need to empower Indigenous people and really listen to be able to work together to find a new solution to the problem together.”

In the face of a rising crime wave, there have been calls for popular diversionary programs to relocate young offenders to rural locations to undertake work based rehabilitation, as well as the construction of a new youth detention centre in Cairns, which is facing opposition.

It is hoped that the hybrid approach offered by the new multi-agency Cairns West facility will bring greater benefit to the community.

Originally published as West Cairns Police Station across from Villa and Leisure Park will open soon to help fix crime