Poets share verses over beers House building stimulus offered

Council adopts infrastructure charges policy

l CAIRNS REGION

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Nick Dalton

MILLIONS of dollars in infrastructure charges are expected to be waived by Cairns Regional Council to encourage new social and affordable housing in the region.

At Wednesday’s planning and environment committee meeting, the council endorsed another development and investment incentive support policy to help alleviate the critical housing shortage.

| Isabella

Guzman Gonzalez

THE sixth edition of the coveted Cairns Poetry Slam is returning next week for up-and-coming poets to share their best sets and win the hearts of the Cairns audiences.

Hosted by Sauce Brewing Co on Lake St on May 17 from 7pm, the Cairns Poetry Slam keeps growing despite having yet to reach the firstyear milestone. This edition will have a Cairns Poetry Slam alumna as the featured poet.

The poetry slam has an interactive format that has caught local enthusiasts’ attention, with five random audience judges who grade the eight selected poets in a respectful and supportive environment.

Poetry slam founder and Cairns North resident Brendan Dennis said reaching the sixth edition with steady growth was exciting. “May 17 will be our sixth poetry slam. So far, we have sold out every slam,” he said.

“For this edition, we are featuring one of our very own poets – Charli Quaife. She performed spoken word for the first time with us last December, and she impressed us so much that we had to invite her back as our feature artist."

Ms Quaife, 21, said she was excited to take the stage again. For tickets visit the Cairns Poetry Slam Facebook page.

Deputy Mayor and planning and environment committee chairman Terry James, who chairs the planning and environment committee meeting, said while social housing was primarily the remit of state and federal governments, the council could be part of the solution by actively encouraging investment through the waiving of charges.

“More affordable and social housing, as well as rentals and student accommodation, are desperately needed in the city,” he said.

“As well as waiving infrastructure charges for social and affordable housing development, the policy waives infrastructure charges for the conversion of short-term accommodation to permanent accommodation.

“This will help to unlock available, but underutilised, housing in Cairns.

“Infrastructure charges will also be waived for the development of student accommodation.

“Development of specific residential developments in key zones, in particular but not limited to Gordonvale, Babinda, Cairns City and Cairns North, will be encouraged through waiving of infrastructure changes.”

The council anticipates that over the next three years about $6 million in infrastructure charges could be waived under the policy.

The policy also supports local employment, with 80 per cent of the workforce on site to consist of local residents for developments to be eligible for the waiver of infrastructure charges.

The council will also provide $100,000 annually, over the next three years, to help revitalise vacant shop fronts in the CBD.

Property owners will be able to apply for up to $25,000 to renovate the façade of their building, which will assist in enhancing the visual amenity of the city.

The policy also plans to stimulate further investment to broaden and strengthen the economy by waiving infrastructure charges for health, education, maritime, aviation and manufacturing developments.

The development and investment incentive support policy will replace the current COVID-19 response investment incentive policy, which expires on June 30.

The policy was adopted in August 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to stimulate investment in the development and construction industry.

“Since the adoption of the policy, $2.2m in council charges have been waived, which has led to $45-$55m in development,” Cr James said.

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