Mount Peter in Cairns is expected to house more than 42,000 people. Image: Cairns Regional Council.
Cairns Regional Council has reached out to the Queensland Government for funding to build essential residential infrastructure needed to fast-track the development of Mount Peter, which is the city’s last major greenfield opportunity.
The region is forecast to boom by about 56,000 people by 2046 and the Mount Peter Southern Growth Corridor is considered critical to increase housing supply.
Rentals remain scarce, with a vacancy rate hovering between 0.7 and 1 per cent and it’s thought a few thousand people face housing struggles each night, ranging from couch surfing to crowded conditions and sleeping rough on the streets.
There were 2232 people recorded as homeless in the Cairns region on the night of the last Census in 2021. Homelessness services expect that figure has risen, but the latest statistics will follow the 2026 Census in August.
Once fully developed, the growth corridor located about 15 kilometres south of Cairns is set to include 18,500 homes for more than 42,000 residents.
The population of the region is set to boom and Mount Peter is considered critical to boost housing supply. Image: Cairns Regional Council.
The government declared the Mount Peter Priority Development Area covering about 3300 hectares between Edmonton and Gordonvale in the middle of last year. $350,000 was greenlit for the council to update its planning scheme to facilitate housing.
Deputy Premier and State Development and Infrastructure Minister Jarrod Bleijie said it brought the state “another step closer to delivering one million homes by 2044″.
“Mount Peter is the last major greenfield site in the Cairns local government area – earmarked for decades as a key growth area for Cairns and a prime opportunity to help resolve the region’s long-term housing supply shortfall,” he said at the time.
The council has now sought funding assistance from the government through round two of the Residential Activation Fund (RAF) to “unlock” an initial 2400 new homes in Mount Peter.
Mount Peter. Image: Cairns Regional Council.
Funding would allow work on a new water main, wastewater line and pump station upgrades, as well as intersection improvements.
The work would align with the council’s Securing Cairns Housing Foundations Plan and build on existing investment in infrastructure within the growth corridor, including the Cairns Water Security Stage 1 project (CWSS1).
“These works will remove immediate constraints to unlock new housing and lay the foundations for future stages of development across the corridor,” the council states.
The council has been collaborating with Economic Development Queensland (EDQ), state agencies, developers, industry and key stakeholders “to ensure infrastructure is aligned, sequenced and ready for delivery”.
Original Article published by Luke Mortimer on Region Tropical North Queensland.
