‘Next step’: Cairns Regional Council unveils $450m plan to unlock southern growth corridor, easing housing strain

Cairns Regional Council has made its $450m pitch to unlock the city’s stagnant southern growth corridor, addressing the city’s soaring housing prices and an almost non-existent rental market in the process.

Cairns Regional Council has presented its report aiming to accelerate growth in the city's southern growth corridor and secure further funding from the state and federal government.

Cairns Regional Council has made its $450m pitch to unlock the city’s stagnant southern growth corridor, addressing the city’s soaring housing prices and an almost non-existent rental market in the process.

In a 30-minute presentation to the media on Friday, key executives and councillors outlined a plan to build more than 18,000 dwellings in the city’s last major greenfield development site in order to meet projected growth targets.

Critics have accused the council of failing to meet housing shortages with an existing master plan for the region already completed and the building sector eager to lay the foundations for the emerging suburb.

Cairns’ southern growth corridor is critical to meeting demand for housing and easing the cost of living crisis in the city. Picture: Brendan Radke

But the introduction of a State Development Area nearby in 2018 and changes across the region meant the existing plan needed to be revised, Division Two councillor Matthew Tickner said.

“This is the next step,” Mr Tickner said. “We’ve had a lot of changes in the last 15 years.

“We’ve had a new Bruce Highway reconstructed through that area … that hasn’t been captured through that master planning.”

Cairns Regional Council is seeking $300m in additional funding to build trunk infrastructure near Mount Peter. Picture: Brendan Radke

Under the plan, the council would seek $300m from the state and federal government to cover trunk infrastructure costs for the first stage of the project, creating 3800 new dwellings located between Mount Peter and Gordonvale.

The council would tip in an additional $150m to cover sewerage, water, roads, stormwater and community infrastructure costs with additional stages completed sequentially.

“If we’re successful with this program, it will set Cairns up for the next 20 years,” chief executive Ken Gouldthorp said.

“I would be disappointed if we weren’t doing detailed design and procurement within 18 months of some facets of the infrastructure we need to provide.”

Declaring the 3300ha site a Priority Development Area (PDA) through the state government would give the council access to critical resources and “fast track” development, Mr Tickner said.

“PDAs will speed up this process significantly for us,” he said. “That’s something we’ve put a lot of focus on because that’s the driving force. We need to ensure that we’re getting the planning right.

“That process is kicked off by the PDA declaration.”

New homes and house lots under construction at Sugarworld Estate, a new housing development at Edmonton, south of Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

Incentivising “infill development” across the city would ensure that the building sector remained strong until the PDA process and master plan was completed around 2028, Mr Gouldthorp said.

“There is existing (building) capacity within … the area that we currently service with trunk infrastructure,” he said. “We’ve got 5-12 years’ supply within the existing priority infrastructure.”

Mr Tickner said revising the masterplan would deliver the best possible outcome for the region.

“If we don’t plan these residential communities properly, if we push into them too quickly and allow developers to lead the discussion and council not to do the right amount of planning in these areas, then we will see adverse outcomes,” he said.

“We want to see people who want to live in Mount Peter. We don’t want to see people have to live in Mount Peter. We want these to be liveable, sustainable communities.”

Cairns Regional Council CEO and Division One councillor Brett Moller are seeking a further $300m in investment from the state and federal government for critical trunk infrastrucuture in the city's growth corridor.

Cairns currently has a 0.8 per cent rental vacancy rate with median rental prices having increased 55 per cent over the last five years.

Median house prices have risen by 84 per cent during that time.

Mayor Amy Eden, who has been in Brisbane at a training course this week, didn’t attend the press conference.

Originally published as ‘Next step’: Cairns Regional Council unveils $450m plan to unlock southern growth corridor, easing housing strain