Cairns, Queensland

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{{Infobox Australian City |name = Cairns |image_map = Cairns locator-MJC.png |image = |name = Cairns |latd=16|latm=57|latNS=S|longd=145|longm=45|longEW=E |jurisdiction = Far North Queensland |area = |time_zone= AEST |utc_offset= +10 |population_estimate_year = 2006 |population_estimate = 128,284 |population_estimate_rank = 14 |population_density = | }}

Cairns (Template:Coor dm) is a regional city and Local Government Area located in Queensland, Australia. Originally settled in 1876, and named after William Wellington Cairns (the then Governor of Queenland) to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, the settlement declined when an easier route was discovered from Port Douglas. However, Cairns's future was secured as it developed into a railhead and major port for the exportation of sugar cane, gold, precious metals and agricultural industries from the surrouning coastal and Tableland regions. The city is rapidly expanding, with a population of 128,284 (ABS 23/2/2006), and is reliant on the sugar and tourism industries. The City of Cairns lies about 1720 km (1,069 miles) from Brisbane and about 2500 km (1,553 miles) from Sydney by road.

Cairns is a popular travel destination for foreign tourists because of its proximity to many attractions and tropical climate. The Great Barrier Reef is only one and a half hours away by boat. The Daintree National Park and Cape Tribulation are popular areas for experiencing a true tropical rainforest. It is also a starting point for people wanting to explore Cooktown, Cape York Peninsula, and the Atherton Tablelands.

The city has used its natural surrounds to its full advantage with the construction of many small theme parks for tourists. Among them are the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park and the Kuranda Skyrail Gondola Cableway, which extends for 7.5 km over World Heritage rainforest.

Geography

Image:Cairns location map in Queensland.PNG Cairns is located on the eastern side at the base of Cape York Peninsula on a coastal strip between the Coral Sea and the Great Dividing Range. The northern part of the city is located on Trinity Bay and the city centre is located on Cairns Inlet. Some of the city's suburbs are located on fertile flood plains. The Mulgrave River and Barron River flow within the city's boundary but not through the city itself. The city centre's foreshore is located on a mud flat. The highest mountain in Queensland, Mount Bartle Frere, is located within the city's boundaries.

Image:Daintree Rainforest.JPG

Urban Layout

Cairns is a provincial city and has a linear urban layout that runs from the south, at Aloomba, to the north, at Ellis Beach). The city is approximately 52 km from north to south. Cairns has experienced recent urban sprawl, with suburbs occupying land previously used for sugar cane farming. Many houses have also been built on hillsides, partly due to lack of space and partly due to a perception of prestige living. Building on Cairns hillslopes is extremely dangerous. According to national geologists and geographers, Cairns is the most likely place in Australia for a landslide to occur because of the fertile but weak clay-based soils. The urban layout of Cairns is similar to Honolulu's urban layout.

The Northern Beaches are low in elevation and consist of a number of beach communities extending north along the coast. In general each beach suburb is located at the end of a spur road extending from the Captain Cook Highway. From south to north, these are Machans Beach, Holloways Beach, Yorkeys Knob, Trinity Park, Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove and Ellis Beach.

The suburb of Smithfield is located inland and against the mountains of the Great Dividing Range and serves as the main centre for the Northern Beaches. It is located between Yorkey’s Knob and Trinity Park.

Located inland from the Northern Beaches along the edge of the Barron River flood plain are the suburbs of Caravonica, Lake Placid, Kamerunga, Stratford, and Freshwater. This area is sometimes referred to as Freshwater Valley and can be considered as part of the Northern Beaches area. Further up Freshwater Valley is Redlynch Valley. The suburb of Redlynch is located on the western side of Redlynch Valley, and Brinsmead lies on the eastern side. Stratford, Freshwater, Redlynch and Brinsmead are separated from Cairns city by Mount Whitfield (elevation 365m) and Whitfield Range.

Image:CairnsQld.JPG Cairns City, which is located on what once was swamp, includes the suburbs of: Cairns City Centre, Manunda, Edge Hill, Whitfield, Kanimbla, Parramatta Park, Mooroobool, Manoora, Portsmith, Earlville, Bungalow and Woree. The small suburb of Aeroglen is pressed between Mount Whitfield and the airport on the Captain Cook Highway north of the CBD towards Smithfield.

Southside Cairns, which is higher in elevation and is situated in a mountainous valley, includes the suburbs of White Rock, Mt Sheridan, Bentley Park, Wrights Creek, Edmonton and Centenary Heights and the townships of Babinda, Goldsborough, Little Mulgrave, Aloomba and Gordonvale which is located on the Mulgrave River.

The town of Kuranda is located upstream on the Barron River on the western side of the Kuranda Range, part of the Great Dividing Range. Kuranda is located in the Mareeba Shire local government area and, due to the geography of the Kuranda Range, is not part of the Cairns urban area, even though it is part of the Cairns economic catchment.

Climate

Cairns experiences a warm tropical climate. It experiences a dry season between April and November and a wet season with tropical monsoons between November and March. Mean rainfall of Cairns is 2222.9 mm. The township of Babinda at the southern end of the city is one of Australia’s wettest towns, recording an annual rainfall of over 4200 mm. It has hot humid summers and milder temperatures in winter. The temperature varies from a mean temperature of 25.5 °C in July to 31.7 °C in January. Many tourists consider Cairns to have a similar climate to Hawaii. Cairns is subject to possible cyclone activity during the wet season. This can cause major flooding to occur to the Barron and Mulgrave Rivers, cutting the city off.

Cyclone Larry

Tropical cyclone Larry struck areas to the south of Cairns at 7am on 20 March 2006. Cyclone Larry crossed land near the town of Innisfail, 100km south of Cairns as a category five cyclone, and was downgraded to category four cyclone shortly before midday and then a category three cyclone a few hours later. Wind gusts of up to 300 km/h have been recorded around the Cairns region, with wind gusts up to 180km/h reported in the City. It is estimated that about one in four houses in Cairns and surrounding areas have been affected by Cyclone Larry.

Government

Image:Anz-0818.jpg Image:Cairns view.JPG The City of Cairns is governed by the Cairns City Council. The Council consists of a Mayor and twelve Councillors. The Mayor is elected by the voters at large and the Councillors are elected from twelve single member divisions (or wards) using an optional preferential voting system. Elections are held every three years. The current Mayor is Cr Kevin Byrne.

The Cairns City Council local government area consists of two former local government areas which were amalgamated in 1995. These were the Cairns City Council (consisting of the suburbs listed under ‘Cairns City’ above), and the Mulgrave Shire Council (comprising of the other areas, namely the Northern Beaches, Freshwater and Redlynch Valleys, and the Southside). The town of Gordonvale was once called Mulgrave.

At the time of amalgamation, Cairns City had a population of approximately 40,000 and Mulgrave Shire had a population of approximately 60,000. Both local government authorities had chambers in the Cairns CBD. The old Cairns City Council chambers located on Abbott Street have been converted into a new city library. The old Mulgrave Shire Chambers were located on the Cairns Esplanade. In a controversial decision Template:Ref, new council chambers were constructed on previously industrial contaminated land in the mainly industrial suburb of Portsmith.

Cairns sends four representatives to the Queensland Parliament, from the electoral districts of Cook, Barron River, Cairns and Mulgrave. The city is represented in the Federal Parliament by representatives elected from the districts of Leichhardt and Kennedy.

Prior to the abolition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) the Indigenous people in Cairns were represented by the Cairns and District Regional Council. The Council comprised 12 Councillors, who elected a Chair from among them - Terry O'Shane was the last Chair. The Cairns area was represented on ATSIC by the Commissioner for Queensland North Zone. The last Commissioner for Queensland North was Lionel Quartermaine who also served as ATSIC’s Deputy Chair.

Economy

Cairns serves as the major commercial centre for the Far North Queensland and Cape York Peninsula Region. It is a base for the regional offices of many government departments.

Tourism plays a major part in the Cairns economy. After Sydney and the Gold Coast, Cairns is the most popular tourist destination in Australia. Cairns is second only to Sydney for the number of international visitors to Australia. Its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef and rainforest make it a popular destination. The city contains dozens of hotels, resorts, motels and backpackers hostels. Activities in the region include golf, white water rafting and hiking.

The land around Cairns is still used for sugar cane farming, although this land is increasingly under pressure from new suburbs as the city grows. Within the Cairns City Council area sugar mills operate in Gordonvale and Babinda.

Cairns local businesses are assisted by the Cairns Region Economic Development Corporation (CREDC), which promotes a cluster-based model for economic development.

The Barron Gorge Hydroelectric Power Plant is located nearby in Kuranda and provides green power for some of the city's needs.

Communications

The Cairns Post is a daily newspaper published in the city; a weekly paper, The Cairns Sun, is also published. The Courier-Mail is a daily Queensland-wide newspaper published in Brisbane. The Australian newspaper also circulates widely. All of these newspapers are owned by News Corporation, controlled by Rupert Murdoch.

Cairns Newspapers publishes three independent monthly suburban newspapers. Cairns Northern News , Cairns Bulletin and Southern Herald

Cairns is served by three commercial television stations and the two public broadcasters - the ABC and SBS. The commercial stations are regional affiliates of the Ten, Nine and Seven networks. Austar Limited provides subscription satellite TV services.

Cairns radio stations include a number of public, commercial and community broadcasters. The ABC broadcasts ABC RadioNational, ABC Local, ABC Classic FM and the Triple J youth network. Commercial radio stations include 4CAFM [1], AM846, HOT FM, SeaFM 4CCRFM [2] and others.

Transport

Cairns is an important transport hub in the Far North Queensland region. Located at the base of Cape York Peninsula, it provides important transport links between the Peninsula and Gulf of Carpentaria regions and the areas to the south of the state. Cairns International Airport is essential to the viability of the tourism industry. Rail, sea port and road connections are also important.

Roads

The Bruce Highway runs for 1700 km from Brisbane and terminates in Cairns on the corner of Mulgrave Roads and Sheridan Streets in the CBD. At this point, the Captain Cook Highway (also referred to as the Cook Highway), between Cairns and Port Douglas approximately 80 km to the north, commences.

The Kennedy Highway commences at Smithfield on the Barron River flood plain north of Cairns and ascends the Kuranda Range to the township of Kuranda. The highway then extends to the town of Mareeba on the Atherton Tableland, and continues to communities on the Cape York Peninsula

The Gillies Highway commences at the township of Gordonvale and ascends the Gillies Range (part of the Great Dividing Range) to the town of Atherton on the Atherton Tablelands.

A network of secondary and local roads of varying quality is maintained throughout the Cairns suburbs by the Queensland State Government Transport Department and Cairns City Council.

Coaches

Cairns is also served by long distance coaches to Brisbane, and regional cities to the south. Coaches also operate west to Mount Isa and the Northern Territory

Public Transport

A public transport network is operated throughout the city by Sunbus. A transit mall is located in the CBD through which all services operate. Most services run from the Northern Beaches to the southern parts of Cairns through the CBD. Bus services operated by Whitecar Coaches run to Kuranda and to the Atherton Tableland.

Former narrow gauge cane railway corridors have been set aside for a possible future light rail mass transit system; however, no plans have been drawn up. The use of the existing heavy rail line for commuter services between Redlynch and Gordonvale is occasionally discussed; however this is not a favoured option under the FNQ 2010 Regional Plan, which favours the use of buses.

Rail

Cairns is the terminus for Queensland's main passenger route, which follows the eastern seaboard from Brisbane. Services are operated by Queensland Rail (QR) and include the high speed tilt train. Freight trains operate along the route. There is a QR Freight handling facility located at Portsmith.

The Cairns to Kuranda Tourist Railway operates from Cairns. The scenic railway snakes its way up the Kuranda Range and is not used for commuter services. It passes through the suburbs of Stratford, Freshwater, Redlynch before reaching Kuranda, stopping at Freshwater station.

Passenger services to Forsayth, west of Atherton, were discontinued in the mid-1990s. These were mixed freight and passenger services which served the semi-remote towns west of the Great Dividing Range.

Cairns has been served by a narrow gauge cane railway (or cane tram) network used to haul harvested sugar cane to the Mulgrave Mill located in Gordonvale. The pressure of urban sprawl on land previously cultivated by cane farmers, together with the need to reclaim cane train tracks for local roads has seen this network reduced over recent years.

Airport

Image:Cairns Airport.JPG Cairns International Airport is operated by the Cairns Port Authority and is located 7 km north of Cairns City between the CBD and the Northern Beaches. It is Australia's sixth busiest in terms of international and domestic passenger movements. In excess of three million international and domestic passenger movements were recorded during 2003–2004. The Airport has a domestic terminal, separate international terminal and a general aviation area. The airport handles international flights and flights to major Australian cities, tourist destinations and regional destinations throughout North Queensland. It is an important base for general aviation serving the Cape York Peninsula and Gulf of Carpentaria Communities. General aviation provides important lifeline links to these communities. The Cairns airport is also a base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Sea port

The Cairns Seaport, located on the Cairns Inlet, is operated by the Cairns Port Authority. Most major tour operators have their check-in desks located inside the Reef Fleet Terminal. It serves as an important port for tourist operators providing daily reef trips. These consist of large catamarans capable of carrying over 300 passengers as well as smaller operators who may take as few as 12 tourists. Cairns Port is also a port of call for cruise liners, such as Captain Cook Cruises, cruising the South Pacific Ocean and it provides freight services to coastal townships on the Cape York Peninsula, the Torres Strait and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Cairns. A number of fishing trawlers are also located at the port. There is also a marina that houses private yachts and boats used for tourist operations. Unlike the port of Townsville, which is a major export point for cattle, wheat, and minerals mined in Mount Isa, the Port of Cairns does not handle and bulk exports.

The Trinity Wharf has recently been subject of a major redevelopment to improve the area for tourist and cruise ship operations. The freight wharves are located to the south of Trinity Wharf further up Cairns Inlet.

Cairns Port Authority

Education

Cairns has numerous State, Catholic and independent primary and secondary schools. It has a TAFE college and the Cairns Campus of the James Cook University is located at Smithfield. Cairns also has a School of the Air base located in Manunda.

Schools

Catholic

Catholic Education Cairns encompasses nineteen primary schools, six secondary colleges and one P-12 college. With their 6,000 primary students, 3,250 secondary students and more than 1200 teachers and school officers, Catholic Education has the largest workforce in the region in the non-government sector. Catholic Schools in the Cairns region are supported by Catholic Education Services staff in Cairns.

Holy Cross Primary, Smithfield [3]
Mother of Good Counsel School, North Cairns
Our Lady Help of Christians, Earlville [4]
St Andrews Catholic College, Redlynch [5]
St Augustine's College, Cairns [6]
St Francis Xavier School, Manunda [7]
St Gerard Majella School, Woree
St Joseph's School, Parramatta
St Mary's Catholic College, Woree [8]
St Monicas Catholic College [9]
St Therese's School, Edmonton [10]

State

Independent

Health

The Cairns Base Hospital is situated on the Cairns Esplanade and is the major hospital for the Cape York Peninsula Region. The smaller private Cairns Private Hospital is also located nearby.

Cairns is a base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which operates clinics and provides emergency evacuations in remote communities throughout the region.

Sport & Recreation

As in the rest of Queensland, Rugby Union and Rugby League are popular in Cairns. Cairns is unusual among Queensland cities in that Australian Rules Football is also very popular and there is an active local AFL league. Other sports such as martial arts, dance, soccer and cricket are also popular. The Cairns Taipans are a National Basketball League (NBL) team who play at the Cairns Convention Centre. Notable sporting grounds include Barlow Park which hosts cricket and AFL matches, the Cairns Convention Centre and the Cairns Hockey Centre.

Cairns is a major international destination for scuba diving due to its close proximity to the Great Barrier Reef. Other recreational activities popular with tourists include whitewater rafting and snorkelling.

References

Template:Note 'Land Row', The Cairns Post, p1. 19 July 2001.
Cairns Port Authority website

External links

de:Cairns fr:Cairns nl:Cairns ja:ケアンズ pl:Cairns ro:Cairns fi:Cairns zh:凱恩斯 (昆士蘭省)

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Categories: Cities in Queensland | Coastal cities | Local Government Areas of Queensland | Far North Queensland

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