The Cairns Business & Sporting Group today called for expressions of interest from all sporting groups in the Far North to ensure all sporting codes are included in its infrastructure planning.
“It is imperative that we engage with the key stakeholders of every sporting code so that all sports are included in the planning process. Sporting organisations are being given 3 weeks to provide answers to a set of questions in a briefing paper being distributed by the group’s secretariat,” said Group Chair Rob Weeden.
The group will be assessing the order of priority for all of the infrastructure projects once all submissions have been received.
“Those that will be given a higher priority will obviously be those sporting codes that can demonstrate that they can provide the best economic and social benefit to the region. This does not mean that all others will not be considered, it just means a list of priorities will be established and detailed costings of priority projects will then be sought to formulate part of the overall master plan. We are compiling a long term master plan that will be staged over several years,” said Mr Weeden.
At the group’s second meeting held yesterday a positioning statement was agreed upon by all members:
“To develop a master plan that identifies the infrastructure needs of our region that would enable us to develop top flight sports, training, research and medical facilities and add economic value and community lifestyle benefits to the Cairns region.”
Members of the group added to the positioning statement by outlining the group’s collective vision.
“It’s about developing a vision for Cairns and our future, diversifying our economy by developing world class sporting facilities not simply for the benefit of Cairns residents but to capitalise on our competitive advantages in tourism, such as hotels, domestic and international connections, as well as our rainforest and reef, so as to create employment and business opportunities through sports tourism,” said group member Simon Wild, Managing Director, Skytrans.
His sentiments were echoed by fellow group member and local developer, Wendy Morris.
“It is also about embracing a whole range of different organisations throughout the entire community and collaborating and engaging those people and those different groups to create something that’s going to be to the benefit of everybody locally as well as to drive long term economic sustainability for the region,” said group member Wendy Morris of development company Port Bajool.
The group encouraged all sporting groups to take part in filling in the questionnaire and submitting it by 5pm 4th March 2011.
“We see this as the first stage of our engagement process with local sporting groups. We are working to a very tight timeframe and are still committed to completing the master plan by 30th June 2011,” said Mr Weeden.
Anyone wanting to access to the expression of interest (EOI) questionnaire is encouraged to contact Joshua See Secretariat Email: cairnsbusinessandsporting@gmail.com
