Plan to save battling Far North towns
A STATE Government decision to shift police and fire stations out of the Gordonvale CBD has further fragmented a town already plagued by stunted investment.
That was the message Cairns Regional Council made as it ticked off a new economic plan to revitalise Gordonvale and Babinda yesterday.
Division 1 Councillor Brett Moller said both areas were struggling with Babinda, in particular, undergoing a population slump.
He said a 2012 decision by the Planning and Environment Court to allow Woolworths to open a supermarket outside the Gordonvale town centre had brought commercial development to a halt.
With the police and fire stations now moving in the same direction as the proposed Woolworths, Cr Moller said it was time to use their vacated former homes to reactivate the town.
“Both Gordonvale and Babinda have been lost in the overall planning for the Cairns region over many years. So much so that in 2008, when the (State Government’s) Queensland Regional Plan was released in draft form, the town of Gordonvale wasn’t even mentioned,” he said.
Woolworths has not started construction but has a planning extension to 2019.
Mayor Bob Manning believed the location was wrong.
“They have a decision in their favour, they’re on the other side of the highway. We think this is not good for the township,” he said.
“What we’re seeing is the gradual diminishing of the economic activity within the township.”
The development plan flags a push for new economic opportunities in both towns, including a State Governmentbacked eco-tourism industry with Babinda at its centre.
“One of the big issues for Babinda that the state can play a part in is connectivity – there is no public transport to Babinda,” Cr Moller said.
“It has an ageing population, but more importantly the population growth of Babinda is not only stagnant, it is decreasing.”
THEY HAVE A DECISION IN THEIR FAVOUR, THEY’RE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY. WE THINK THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR THE TOWNSHIP
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