Have Your Say Cairns
Community engagement was at the centre of every step we took as we developed the Growth Strategy (October 2022 to September 2025). Over the life of the project, we had conversations that capture the interest and imagination of everyone in Cairns.
We have now completed 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 Phase 4 engagement, we recorded over 6,843 pieces of feedback through online and in-person engagement activities. These activities were planned to achieve three key objectives:
Draft Growth Strategy feedback
We asked community members to let us know whether the initiatives, outcomes and strategies included in the draft Growth Strategy met their expectations.
The feedback form was written to collect feedback from community members after reading the draft Growth Strategy. Each question focused on a citywide or sub-region strategy theme.
Responses showed that the draft Growth Strategy spoke to a lot of people, with the responses being over 50% for ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ for every question. The most popular citywide strategies related to:
Respondents also indicated that the sub-region strategies met their expectations, with strategies for:
Protecting our natural environment
We know that our natural environment is very important to our community.
When we asked community members what makes Cairns special in the Phase 1 online survey, 46% of responses mentioned our ‘blue and green’ spaces: including the Wet Tropics, parks, nature reserves, backyards, rivers, creeks, ocean and waterways.
We asked workshop participants, pop-up visitors and feedback form respondents to let us know what their top priorities are for protecting the natural environment. Popular responses included:
Our Phase 3 engagement captured over 33,000 connections and interactions with community members across Cairns, through a blend of in-person and online activities. These activities were planned to achieve three key objectives:
September to December 2023
We invited community feedback on the Growth Strategy Framework (PDF) to inform the Directions Paper. Activities included pop-up events at local markets and events, online polls and a stakeholder panel workshop.
November to December 2023
We sought feedback via the Scenic Preference Survey. This helped us understand community preferences for scenic places around the Cairns region. We also held a webinar with our Community Panel members.
July to August 2024
We engaged with the community to hear their views on the Directions Paper (PDF). We held engagement activities at the Cairns Show, local markets and shopping centres, and also ran a public online survey 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.
Next steps
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.
You can download the Phase 3 Engagement Report (PDF) to learn more.
Phase 3 included a blend of in-person and online activities to gather further input to help shape the outcomes of the project, including the preferred options for growth in Cairns. We captured over 33,000 engagement connections and interactions during this phase.
A Youth Summit was held on 16 August and a Community Summit on 17 August 2024. Participants 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.
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:
In Phase 2, the main engagement initiatives were:
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.
In Phase 2 Engagement, Council hosted a Towards 2050 Summit for youth involving 34 student representatives from 10 secondary schools across Cairns.
In phase 2 engagement Council hosted a Towards 2050 Community Summit. The summit was attended by 83 community delegates that included randomly selected community members and key stakeholder delegates.
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.
Image 1 of 13
The Towards 2050 Team completed the following engagement activities from January to July 2023
Have questions or want to learn more about a project, contact us below:
| Phone | 1300 69 22 47 |
|---|---|
| haveyoursay@cairns.qld.gov.au | |
| In writing | PO Box 359 Cairns QLD 4870, Australia |
