Community engagement is at the centre of every step we take as we develop the Growth Strategy. Over the life of the project, we aim to have conversations that capture the interest and imagination of everyone in Cairns.

We have completed Phases 1 and 2 of the project. You can explore how we've engaged with the community - and what we've heard - during each phase in the sections below.

During July and August 2024, the project team engaged with the community at the Cairns Show, local markets and shopping centres.

A short survey seeking feedback on the Directions Paper was open for public input from 19 July to 25 August 2024.

A Youth Summit was held on 16 August and a Community Summit on 17 August 2024. The Youth Summit gave local youth a voice in the big issues affecting their futures – including the environment, housing choice, density, neighbourhoods, employment, amenities and infrastructure.

Participants at both Summits explored what’s driving population increase and urban change, and worked together to consider how we can best plan for this future growth, in order to leave a positive legacy for generations to come.

Council will now use the information heard from Directions Paper survey and both Summits to draft the Towards 2050 Growth Strategy. We anticipate releasing the draft Growth Strategy for community feedback in early to mid 2025.

In January 2023, Council launched Phase 2 of the community and stakeholder engagement process of Towards 2050: Shaping Cairns. Phase 2 of the engagement process concluded on 31 August 2023.

The Phase 2 engagement approach was underpinned by 3 key principles:

• Raising awareness about projected population growth in Cairns and the need to plan for population growth through the Towards 2050: Shaping Cairns project.
• Communicating the outcomes of Phase 1 of the engagement process, including confirming the definition of ‘Cairns‐ness’ and what people said their hopes are for 2050 as developed from feedback received during Phase 1 of the project.
• Gather input to help shape the outcomes of the project.

In Phase 2, the main engagement initiatives were:

• the two days Towards Summits (Youth Summit on 5 May 2023 and Community Summit on 6 May 2023.
• the establishment of the 350 members Towards 2050 Community Panel (Mini-Public) in June 2023.

During Phase 2 of the engagement process the project team captured over 156,626 engagement connections and interactions. This included engagement activities designed to gather feedback and engagement activities that raised awareness about the project.

You can download the Phase 2 Engagement Report and Towards 2050 Summits Summary Report to read more details.

Our engagement during Phase 1 included a blend of in-person and online engagement activities that informed and captured input from community members and stakeholders. These activities allowed Council to capture responses from the community that related to their neighbourhoods as well as Cairns more broadly.

The Towards 2050 Team completed the following engagement activities from January to July 2023