Cairns northern beaches community rallies for more youth services

An area of Cairns with limited youth services and activities is under the microscope for improvement as the national social media ban kicks in. Why parents should get involved

Cairns Division 8 councillor Rhonda Coghlan and Member for Leichhardt Matt Smith at the Marlin Coast Neighbourhood Centre for a youth roundtable event. Picture: Arun Singh Mann

A series of community workshops are expected to help shortlist ideas to increase youth services in Cairns’ northern beaches with the social media ban amplifying the agenda.

Member for Leichhardt Matt Smith was joined by Division 8 councillor Rhonda Coghlan at the Marlin Coast Neighbourhood Centre on Tuesday for a “youth roundtable”.

Stakeholders including social services, community groups, local schools, and commercial enterprises were tasked identifying shortfalls and solutions in a bid to improve youth engagement closer to where they lived.

“We need something for our kids to do, be it art, be it sport, be it culture, whatever that is, we just need something,” Mr Smith said.

Cairns Division 8 councillor Rhonda Coghlan and Member for Leichhardt Matt Smith at the Marlin Coast Neighbourhood Centre for a youth roundtable event. Picture: Arun Singh Mann

“We want our young people feel like they are a part of the northern beaches and not just set off to one side or placed in the too-hard basket.”

Mr Smith said it was a “blank slate” that needed community feedback on what services and facilities would benefit the youth of the northern beaches.

Ms Coghlan said she didn’t want to see young people from the northern beaches “have to head to the city for everything they do.”

“We’d like to see more sport, more art, more culture and more availability of events,” she said.

Cairns Division 8 councillor Rhonda Coghlan and Member for Leichhardt Matt Smith at the Marlin Coast Neighbourhood Centre for a youth roundtable event. Picture: Arun Singh Mann

“In line of what comes in this week with the social media bans on under 16 year olds, there’s no doubt that social media has replaced sport for some of these kids. It’s replaced recreational activity.

“So we can’t just pull the rug from under them and give them nothing. So my idea is we need to create more for them to do, to bring in some kind of replacement for that space.”

Ms Coghlan said increasing anti-social behaviour wasn’t the motivation behind the roundtable, but was “definitely an issue” and would contribute to discussions.

Mr Smith said Tuesday’s meeting would likely be the first of ongoing discussions and he envisioned all three levels of government would be given opportunities to support new services and facilities.

The Marlin Coast Neighbourhood Centre at Trinity Park. Picture: Arun Singh Mann

He said Barron River MP Bree James was absent due to the final sitting week of state parliament.

“She’s sending a representative today, and we look forward to hearing from her,” he said.

Following the roundtable event, the neighbourhood centre’s Kristy Madden said everyone who attended “could see the need” for more youth services in the area.

“The outcome was that it started the conversation, now all the community groups are going back to their patches to see what could be delivered for youth here,” she said.

“And we’ll meet again in January.”

Originally published as Cairns northern beaches community rallies for more youth services