Mount Peter Priority Development Area
Cairns Housing Crisis
Like many communities across Australia, Cairns desperately requires solutions to address the housing crisis currently being experienced, a problem made even worse in the wake of household displacement caused by Tropical Cyclone Jasper. With a rental vacancy rate of 0.7%, Cairns has one of the lowest rental availabilities in the nation. This crisis is amplified across the economy with housing a critical enabler of growth. This shortage of dwellings places additional pressures on the region’s ability to attract and retain staff across the board. Driven by a combination of factors, including population growth, limited housing supply, rising construction costs and labour shortages, Australia’s housing crisis is a multifaceted issue requiring interventions from all levels of government, the private sector and not-for-profit sector.
Cairns Regional Council is working to ensure an adequate supply of approved land for development within serviced areas, along with providing incentives for community housing providers and private developers building social, affordable, or infill housing in key areas like Cairns City, Cairns North, Gordonvale, and Babinda. While addressing immediate housing needs is crucial, long-term planning is equally important to prevent future shortages. To support this, the Council has urgently sought a Priority Development Area (PDA) declaration for the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor.
Benefits to the region
• Unlock medium to long term housing development
• Provide fast tracked development and infrastructure delivery (road networks, public transportation, utilities etc) through a simplified planning and approval process
• Support initiatives outlined in the Queensland Government’s Homes for Queenslanders plan
• Deliver diverse housing options, including affordable and social housing, to meet the needs of all residents, particularly those in lower-income brackets and vulnerable cohorts
• Formalise a collaborative approach between state and local government for planning and infrastructure delivery to ensure this takes place in a coordinated way
• Complement the existing Cairns South State Development Area (located adjacently) which is earmarked for regionally significant industrial development/employment
• Maximise potential for ‘living and working locally’ shortening commute times and enhancing liveability
Recommendation
The Queensland Government, under the Economic Development Act 2012, declare a Priority Development Area over the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor and work collaboratively with Cairns Regional Council, industry and other stakeholders on planning and infrastructure delivery within this PDA to support medium to long-term housing supply.
Overview
Cairns Regional Council is actively working to ensure there is an appropriate supply of approved land available for development within existing serviced areas right now in addition to the provision of incentives for community housing providers who build social or affordable housing and for private sector proponents delivering infill housing development within the Cairns City, Cairns North, Gordonvale and Babinda centres.
While addressing immediate housing needs is critically important, medium to long term planning is essential to ensure similar situations can be avoided in the future. This means taking a collaborative approach to planning and infrastructure delivery for key areas where housing and economic development will take place.
The Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor covers a total land area of about 3,300 hectares to the south of Cairns in an area between Edmonton and Gordonvale on the western side of the Bruce Highway. Around half of that total land area is considered to be developable having regard to environmental and other hazard-based constraints. The area has the capacity to deliver around 18,500 new dwellings for an estimated 42,500 people.
The Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor is the only remaining greenfield development area of this scale within the Cairns Local Government Area and is forecast to accommodate the vast majority of Cairns’ long term population growth. The Queensland Government Statistician’s Office projects total population growth (modestly in Advance Cairns’ opinion) for the Edmonton and Gordonvale – Trinity SA2 areas (the SA2 areas within which the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor is located) of around 25,000 people from 2021 to 2046 – accounting for 37% of Cairns’ total projected population growth during this timeframe. Planning for the future development of the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor will be critical to support positive housing and community outcomes and ensure the right infrastructure is delivered in the right place and at the right time to accommodate growth.
The dwelling mix within the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor can support the changing demographic needs of the community and will deliver social and affordable outcomes. It is expected the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor will continue to supply the housing needs of the region well beyond 2046 and support self-containment in the corridor with a range of jobs in well planned retail, commercial and industrial zones. This includes the adjacent Cairns South State Development Area (SDA) declared in 2018 which offers significant opportunity for the region and has the potential to provide an important source of employment proximate to the growing Mount Peter corridor. Advance Cairns urges the Queensland Government to take the necessary steps to realise the potential of the SDA to secure “regionally significant industry” for the site.
Cairns Regional Council has now made a formal request to the Minister for State Development and Infrastructure seeking the declaration of a PDA over the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor as a matter of urgency. Advance Cairns wholly supports this request, recognising the substantial economic and community benefit a PDA would deliver through fast tracked development and infrastructure delivery, providing for medium to long term housing development, including a significant affordable housing component.
Last updated: August 2024
Cairns Regional Council is working to ensure an adequate supply of approved land for development within serviced areas, along with providing incentives for community housing providers and private developers building social, affordable, or infill housing in key areas like Cairns City, Cairns North, Gordonvale, and Babinda. While addressing immediate housing needs is crucial, long-term planning is equally important to prevent future shortages. To support this, the Council has urgently sought a Priority Development Area (PDA) declaration for the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor.
Benefits to the region
• Unlock medium to long term housing development
• Provide fast tracked development and infrastructure delivery (road networks, public transportation, utilities etc) through a simplified planning and approval process
• Support initiatives outlined in the Queensland Government’s Homes for Queenslanders plan
• Deliver diverse housing options, including affordable and social housing, to meet the needs of all residents, particularly those in lower-income brackets and vulnerable cohorts
• Formalise a collaborative approach between state and local government for planning and infrastructure delivery to ensure this takes place in a coordinated way
• Complement the existing Cairns South State Development Area (located adjacently) which is earmarked for regionally significant industrial development/employment
• Maximise potential for ‘living and working locally’ shortening commute times and enhancing liveability
Recommendation
The Queensland Government, under the Economic Development Act 2012, declare a Priority Development Area over the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor and work collaboratively with Cairns Regional Council, industry and other stakeholders on planning and infrastructure delivery within this PDA to support medium to long-term housing supply.
Overview
Cairns Regional Council is actively working to ensure there is an appropriate supply of approved land available for development within existing serviced areas right now in addition to the provision of incentives for community housing providers who build social or affordable housing and for private sector proponents delivering infill housing development within the Cairns City, Cairns North, Gordonvale and Babinda centres.
While addressing immediate housing needs is critically important, medium to long term planning is essential to ensure similar situations can be avoided in the future. This means taking a collaborative approach to planning and infrastructure delivery for key areas where housing and economic development will take place.
The Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor covers a total land area of about 3,300 hectares to the south of Cairns in an area between Edmonton and Gordonvale on the western side of the Bruce Highway. Around half of that total land area is considered to be developable having regard to environmental and other hazard-based constraints. The area has the capacity to deliver around 18,500 new dwellings for an estimated 42,500 people.
The Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor is the only remaining greenfield development area of this scale within the Cairns Local Government Area and is forecast to accommodate the vast majority of Cairns’ long term population growth. The Queensland Government Statistician’s Office projects total population growth (modestly in Advance Cairns’ opinion) for the Edmonton and Gordonvale – Trinity SA2 areas (the SA2 areas within which the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor is located) of around 25,000 people from 2021 to 2046 – accounting for 37% of Cairns’ total projected population growth during this timeframe. Planning for the future development of the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor will be critical to support positive housing and community outcomes and ensure the right infrastructure is delivered in the right place and at the right time to accommodate growth.
The dwelling mix within the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor can support the changing demographic needs of the community and will deliver social and affordable outcomes. It is expected the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor will continue to supply the housing needs of the region well beyond 2046 and support self-containment in the corridor with a range of jobs in well planned retail, commercial and industrial zones. This includes the adjacent Cairns South State Development Area (SDA) declared in 2018 which offers significant opportunity for the region and has the potential to provide an important source of employment proximate to the growing Mount Peter corridor. Advance Cairns urges the Queensland Government to take the necessary steps to realise the potential of the SDA to secure “regionally significant industry” for the site.
Cairns Regional Council has now made a formal request to the Minister for State Development and Infrastructure seeking the declaration of a PDA over the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor as a matter of urgency. Advance Cairns wholly supports this request, recognising the substantial economic and community benefit a PDA would deliver through fast tracked development and infrastructure delivery, providing for medium to long term housing development, including a significant affordable housing component.
Last updated: August 2024
Explore more
Etheridge Shire Agricultural & Irrigation Precinct
Investigation into the viability of a sustainable agricultural precinct and provide opportunities for population migration to regional areas of FNQ.
Cairns Water Security Stage 1
Secure the water needs of 198,000 residents, visitors and industry, and build disaster resilience.
Lakeland Irrigation Area Scheme
Realising Cape York's sustainable development potential, and contribute to food security through a significant expansion of irrigated agriculture in FNQ.
