During Phase 3, we asked community members and stakeholders:

• What makes a great neighbourhood?
• What are your favourite scenic landscapes, places and journeys?
• What direction would you like to see for the future of housing, natural environment and hazards, neighbourhoods and infrastructure across Cairns?
• How do you connect to the things that you do and need? Are they nearby or out of your home area?
• What might our new residents need, and where might they live?

The right balance of the planning principles that were refined in the Growth Strategy Framework is crucial in planning great tropical neighbourhoods. We received 88 online responses and 1,971 votes at pop-up events between September and October 2023 in relation to the question: what makes a great neighbourhood?

The elements that would make a great neighbourhood that were most frequently mentioned by pop-up visitors were:

• affordable housing
• active transport pathways
• parks and open spaces.

Northern Beaches

• An urban village in Smithfield that connects to James Cook University, with diverse housing options supported by active transport.
• There is some development in areas with less risk of natural hazards.
• We should preserve some areas as they are now.

Central Cairns and surrounds

• We are prioritising spend on urban villages in areas with less risk of natural hazards supported by great public transport.
• Growth should come with investment in centres with more jobs and community facilities

Southern Corridor

• There are urban villages connected by existing blue and green spaces, new community infrastructure, active transport links and local employment.
• New residents have the option to live, work and play in their neighbourhoods.

When thinking about the Northern Beaches, participants indicated

• they would like to see a neighbourhood or hub planned around Smithfield so people can live near James Cook University.
• they would like to see the Northern Beaches and northern suburbs be better connected to Central Cairns by public transport.
• mixed feedback about growth in the Northern Beaches.

When thinking about Central Cairns, participants indicated

• they would like to see more urban villages in Central Cairns that are supported by great public transport.
• Central Cairns is attractive for its infrastructure, shops and services, and active transport paths.
• they generally saw Central Cairns as a good place for growth.

When thinking about the Southern Corridor, participants indicated that they would like to see

• urban villages (including in Mount Peter) connected by existing blue and green spaces.
• new community infrastructure to support new residents.
• local jobs, so new residents will not need to rely on travelling into Central Cairns.
• active transport connections come with development.
• a mix of housing types in the Southern Corridor.
• Participants indicated that they generally saw the Southern Corridor as a good place for growth.

When thinking about environment and resilience to natural hazards, participants indicated that they would like

• development to be planned in areas that are less impacted by hazards.
• to see planning aim to reduce the impact of natural hazards.
• to see environmental protection prioritised.
• Participants indicated that they love access to the natural environment for recreation.

When thinking about neighbourhood design

• Participants indicated that they see a great neighbourhood as having:
  • affordable housing
  • shady streets
  • parks and open spaces
  • active transport paths

• Participants indicated that they would like to see a focus on tropical design in new developments.

When thinking about community and connections

• Participants indicated that they would like to see more or different entertainment and lifestyle opportunities.

During the Summits, we asked participants to bring together all their learnings from the day and map where they would add the 72,000 new residents in 2050. We gave them a large-scale map of Cairns showing areas likely to be impacted by natural hazards, grouped suburbs (at the Australian Bureau of Statistics Statistical Level 2), and current population and density of those areas (number of households by population).

We asked participants to give us their ideas for where new residents could live across Cairns. We also gave them housing type stickers (e.g. houses, duplexes and apartments) so they could indicate how they thought the area could be planned and developed. We also asked participants to add their ‘qualifiers’ for growth. These qualifiers could relate to infrastructure, services, shops or other facilities that would need to be in place to accommodate the new residents. Participants could not move the existing population for each area but could change the density.

The results showed that Summit participants:

• would like to see growth spread across Cairns, rather than in a single area.
• would like to see diverse housing options across Cairns.
• considered areas impacted by natural hazards and limited population growth in those areas.
• placed the largest number of new residents in the Southern Corridor.
• Youth Summit participants would like to see a larger centre in Smithfield.

We asked Summit participants to think about their daily, weekly, monthly needs and where these facilities and services are located. Summit participants put stickers on maps to show where their services, places and activities are located across Cairns. They also told us the ‘pinch points’ that can make those things difficult to access.

We analysed the theme of the ‘pinch points’ to understand common issues, and mapped how many people need to travel across Cairns and how many can stay near their home. We called these ‘dispersed’ (i.e. they need to travel) and ‘clustered’ (i.e. they are near their home). Community Summit participants were around an even split between people whose needs were more dispersed (58%) and more clustered (42%) (ES Figure 2). However, Youth Summit participant movements were more likely to be dispersed (67%). Residents of the Northern and Southern suburbs leant more toward being dispersed and Central Cairns residents were more likely to have their needs ‘clustered’ (ES Figure 2).

Please note: there were fewer Summit participants who live in the Southern Corridor (8 each at the Youth and Community Summits) and Far Southern suburbs (one each at the Youth and Community Summit), making the results more skewed for these catchments.

The most frequently mentioned ‘pinch points’ for participants at both Summits related to transport. These issues included:

• the public transport system
• reliance on cars
• connectivity of the active transport network
• commute time, traffic and congestion
• parking availability.