New plan for venues

THE refurbished Courthouse Hotel will be available for arts and cultural events alongside Munro Martin Parklands under a new hire policy for the venues.

Cairns regional councillors voted unanimously yesterday to adopt a more liberal approach to parklands and the hotel to broaden the venues’ community use.

The changes aim to broaden third party venue hire provisions, mandate full cost recovery for commercial and non-profit organisation hire and allow for hosting approval of events after 10pm with a decision by the full council.

A report on the changes will be tabled in September.

Division 5 Councillor Richie Bates, who has been leading the push for more events to be staged at Munro Martin Parklands, said the new policy was a step in the right direction.

However, Cr Bates told the meeting that, while many community groups wanted to use the outdoor entertainment venue, it could take some time for applications to be developed.

“(Cairns) is going through tough times,” he said.

“Community groups will have to pay to use this venue, so we need to give them time to apply and adjust to getting access to this, to obviously then seek funding for this.”

Division 1 Councillor Brett Moller said there needed to be “balance” about what events were given the green light to use the parklands.

“They must be respectful to the passive recreational setting,” he said. “I think it also needs to be respectful in terms of the performances we’ve had: opera, ballet, all tied into our arts and cultural strategy to establish Cairns as a regional capital.”

The new policy is also applicable to the former Courthouse Hotel on Abbott St, which is undergoing a $6.6 million refurbishment as part of a plan to turn it, the Cairns Art Gallery, and the former Mulgrave Shire Council building into an event and gallery precinct.

The hotel is due to be completed in December.

Cairns Mayor Bob Manning said there would be discussions about arts and cultural use of the old courthouse before the venue was open to the public.