PREPARING FOR WAVE OF NEWCOMERS
CAIRNS is set to hit 300,000 residents within the next decade, with the city already starting to show symptoms it is reaching critical mass.
An audit of Cairns’ demographics, exclusively compiled by leading Australian demographer Bernard Salt for the Cairns Post, shows the region is on track for an 18 per cent growth in its population by 2030, just 4 per cent shy of the national average rate.
The city has also been identified in the audit as having the 12th largest urban mass in Australia, ahead of Darwin, Toowoomba, Ballarat and Bendigo.
Symptoms of population squeeze are already surfacing in the city, with unprecedented patient numbers flowing through Cairns Hospital, and gridlocked traffic becoming the norm for northern beaches motorists.
Mr Salt says more strategic planning needs to occur to accommodate 300,000 people forecast to live in the region by 2030.
“The government’s own projections released in November show a much bigger city over the next decade,” he said.
“Therefore those services and facilities, and bits and pieces of infrastructure that are delivered by the State Government, need to acknowledge the reality of the projections they have produced.
“If the State Government is projecting this number of extra people, then the State Government needs to deliver primary schools and secondary schools, and sufficient roads, and sufficient hospitals to accommodate it.”
He said the figures reflected steady population growth for Far North Queensland, with 37,000 more residents expected to call the region home within the next decade.
“It means growth and opportunity – builders, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, shopkeepers – should find Cairns a place of opportunity over the next decadeand-a-half,” he said.
“It means that there will be continued pressure to deliver primary schools and secondary schools – new facilities, I would imagine.”
Cairns Regional Council has been planning for several years to cope with a neardoubling of the region’s population by 2050.
The council, which brought together a cross-section of Cairns’ best and brightest last year to workshop what the future of the city would look like, and how to prepare for it, re- sulted in the Cairns 2050 Shared Vision plan, which was released in November.
It is being used to lobby state and federal governments for the policy, projects and investment required to enable the council’s vision to be realised, including arranging a City Deal for Cairns.
To date, only seven City Deals have been set in Australia: in Townsville, Launceston, Western Sydney, Darwin, Hobart, Geelong, and Adelaide.
Cairns Mayor Bob Manning said one of the greatest challenges his council faced was being able to cater for a rapidly growing population without diminishing the unique character that made the city such a great place to live.
“Being bounded by World Heritage rainforest, future expansion of our urban footprint is limited,” he said.
The council’s planning scheme acknowledged that increased density or infill development may be needed in some parts of the city, Cr Manning said.
“There is work going on now to determine the best ways to increase urban density without compromising the lifestyle and character that is so uniquely Cairns,” he said.
“We have stated our case on many occasions for an increase in government infrastructure funding.
“Cairns has been overlooked for too long, and we’re really coming to a critical point.”
“The game changer for Cairns won’t be played out in the short term. The ‘big ideas’ for a future Cairns are slowburning and at best could make a difference over 20 years.” READ BERNARD SALT’ S COLUMN PAGE 8 IT MEANS THERE WILL BE PRESSURE TO DELIVER SCHOOLS - NEW FACILITIES