Council has prepared a Growth Strategy Framework as part of the Towards 2050 Shaping Cairns project. This long-range, community-driven project will establish a clear vision and guiding principles for the future growth and development of the Cairns local government area.

The Growth Strategy Framework explains:

• what's happened so far, how Cairns has grown and how we are delivering the Towards 2050 project
• what we have heard and found out from Phase 1 and Phase 2 community engagement
• the 12 technical studies being undertaken
• how we have developed the guiding principles for the next phase
• how you can get involved in guiding Cairns' development in 2050.

You can download the full Growth Strategy Framework document to learn more about how we are planning for growth to harness the opportunities of the future.

The Growth Strategy will rely on best practice planning processes supported by extensive analysis and evidence from technical studies and community input.

This Growth Strategy Framework presents a set of guiding principles that have been developed from community feedback. An initial set of 12 draft planning principles were presented, workshopped and prioritised at the Community and Youth Summits in May 2023. This generated a list of 38 principles that were prioritised by Community Summit participants. The project team then analysed and grouped these 38 prioritised planning principles into umbrella themes to arrive at the following 7 guiding principles for the next phase of the Growth Strategy project.

Importantly, the Growth Strategy is also being informed by 12 technical studies, that also are testing these guiding principles, identifying current issues and key implications for Cairns. As the technical studies are finalised, the key findings and implications will be explored and considered holistically. The guiding principles will continue to help shape the Cairns of 2050, being informed by the community on what is important as we accommodate this growth.