Community
13 October, 2024
Cannon Park housing push
LNP candidate for Cairns Yolonde Entsch is urging state government to address the housing crisis immediately using the state-owned Cannon Park Motel building to accommodate 20 young homeless people.
The now closed Cannon Park Motel is an empty 20-bed facility. The former motel, which is owned by the state, has been empty for over 18 months and Ms Entsch is asking state government to use it to allocate young homeless people with the support of Anglicare North Queensland.
“I am calling on the housing minister and Cairns MP Michael Healy to explain why this property purchased by the state government - which they received the keys for in June - is still sitting empty. We have young people who are homeless and have nowhere to go,” she said.
“In Cairns, we are only funded for 10 places for children and young people under 18 who are homeless. Here is a 20-room gated property and we have an organization, Anglicare, who would step up and take this property over. That would allow us to accommodate another 20 people.”
Anglicare North Queensland executive manager for housing and homelessness Evan Martin said if supported they could get the site running quickly.
“Ten beds for people aged 16 to 25 is just not enough,” he said.
“We struggle to meet the demand with over 400 requests for accommodation for young people experiencing homelessness.
“Cairns is experiencing not only a housing crisis, but also a youth crime issue, and I’m sure that most of those young children just need somewhere safe to stay.
“Anglicare would be extremely motivated to support any decision by the Department of Housing and with the right support in place, we could fill this facility within a week. We could put it up extremely quickly - given the right resources are in place - and I look forward to doing that.
“It’s disappointing that we have a facility that is perfect for supporting young people sitting vacant for over six months, we hope that the government makes some quick decisions.”
Mr Martin said if used properly the Cannon Park Motel could mean a space of respite for teens suffering from domestic violence or substance abuse problems.
Ms Entsch said she raised the issue back in December 2023 but is yet to hear back on what decisions the state government has made.
Works have been going on and off at the site in the last few days but it’s still unknown what use the former Cannon Park Motel will receive.
