Transport, Tourism and the Cooktown Events Centre | April 2021

Our Shire is growing and changing, and our community is at the heart of everything Council does, so in line with the Cook Shire Council 2017-2022 Corporate Plan and 2021 Operational Plan initiatives, Cook Shire Council is seeking feedback from the community to help develop a number of high-level plans and strategies, to address the changing needs of our community.

A series of public drop-in sessions and workshops are being held at Lakeland and Cooktown for the community to have their say on the following:

• Active Transport Strategy ­ – Cook Shire Cycling Plan
• Cooktown Event Centre Precinct Master Plan
• Recreational Vehicle Strategy.

For more information on these plans and strategies, please see below.

Community members are invited and encouraged to call in to either of the below events to discuss and share with independent consultants their input into these three plans.

Appointments are not required and details of the events are as follows:

Background

Cook Shire Council is dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of its residents and acknowledges the Queensland State Government’s vision as articulated in the Queensland Cycle Strategy 2017 – 2027 which is “more cycling, more often” on safe, direct, and connected routes.

Council is committed to encouraging more people to ride. In order to achieve this goal, Council seeks to:

• Educate new riders
• Promote cycling and its benefits
• Support the choice to cycle
• Help cyclists to find their way
• Improve bike parking
• Offer incentives to ride
• Ensure that road rules are obeyed and work for all road users by sharing our transport network

Council is examining the feasibility of investing in cycle tourism and supporting bike businesses and through this community consultation, Council wishes to do the following:

• Identify existing levels of community cycle use and latent demand,
• Identify other actions, such as the development of brochures and maps, events, and an education campaign
• Use the information gathered to develop draft cycling plans for review

Background

The Cooktown Events Centre was officially opened in July 2011 and offers a unique conference, sports and entertainment venue in Far North Queensland. The building is currently managed by the PCYC Queensland under a Management Agreement with Cook Shire Council

The Centre is well-situated in Cooktown and the surrounding lands could potentially support a variety of uses, and with sport and recreation facilities playing such an important role in the community, Council recognises that master planning help to provide infrastructure which reflects community need.

The Events Centre Precinct Master Plan will consider:

• Configuration, capacity, functionality and usage of the site
• Ensuring flexibility in design to adapt to any future changes in sport and recreation trends and demands
• Character of the landscape
• Emerging trends and issues
• Catchment areas and population demographic demands (present and future)
• Public expectations and needs
• Car parking and traffic movement requirements
• The complex should provide open spaces for formal and informal recreation to promote community wellbeing.

In this community consultation, Council is seeking to identify other potential uses for the site to address gaps in sport and recreation facilities and delivery. The information gathered will help draft the Master Plan.

Below is a satellite map showing the extent of the Council-owned properties to be considered in the Master Plan:

 Development of an RV Strategy for Cook Shire

Background

Cape York Peninsula is the furthest point north in Queensland that a Recreational Vehicle (RV) can be driven. Cape York is positioned as an epic adventure, an area of remote, unspoiled beauty. Visitors discover the region’s unique history and colourful past and it is a place to experience the raw beauty of one of Australia's last genuine frontiers.

Camping and recreational vehicle tourism is an important sector in the tourist market in Australia. The term RV includes caravans, motorhomes, campervans and a variety of similar vehicles used to both travel and provide accommodation for the occupants.  The Queensland Government’s tourism planning initiatives, including the Advancing Tourism Plan, recognise drive tourism as an important pillar of Queensland’s tourism offering, and with the Peninsula Development Road (PDR), being progressively sealed, this will stimulate tourism growth over the next decade.

Council wishes to strategically position itself to prepare for and take advantage of this growth by developing an RV Strategy.

The RV Strategy seeks to maximise sustainable economic benefits from RV and camping tourism through increasing visitation numbers, increasing spend and extending the length of stay of RV and camping visitors in the Cook Shire region.

In order to grow RV and camping tourism, Council recognises that an increased supply of strategically-located RV parks and campground sites is required, especially in the peak tourist season.  There is a desire to lengthen the tourism season, to smooth out the cycle of business activity.

Council is seeking community feedback on this approach to address community needs and ensure sustainability and community support of the RV parks.