Casino plan ramps up - But which design?

With EIS completed and forwarded to the relevant authorities one has to imagine how quick this project is going to be fast tracked.
Six weeks for residents to read and consume all the information is going to take more than the six weeks and then to be able to gain further information is probably the hardest thing for most residents to obtain.
The EIS is probably written with expert "jargon" that most people won't understand and with the 2 sides, Aquis Aware and the Chamber of Commerce it won't be an easy task to get the real answers.
There has been one meeting (Dec 4, 2013) called by Aquis Aware where two prominent professors spoke on possible problems of location and the environment and it is through these people that the locals can have a better understanding of the situation.
Then the Member for Cairns made this statement:
The Member for Cairns Gavin King who wasn't at the meeting due to another commitment stated “he was disgusted and disappointed by comments made at the forum by labor politicians.
Having been in attendance no political party was mentioned and this is where people get their backs up when politicians make these stupid remarks.
IT'S NOT ABOUT POLITICS IT'S ABOUT PEOPLES LIFE STYLES AND CONCERNS OF WHAT COULD EVENTUATE IN THE FUTURE. We all have read and see the design of the proposed Aquis Casine/Resort as below:

but in the Cairns Post on Friday Dec 20, 2013 Mr King said the applications would be subject to a community impact statement as well as probity checks, and former Queensland auditor general Len Scanlan had been appointed probity adviser to oversee the process.
He said the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore was a preferred model so here we go again without any consultation the Member for Cairns makes this statement.
It's not about you Gavin King it's about Yorkeys Knob and the surrounding area and the residents should be able to have a say about the design and does it fit in with the present surroundings, this is Yorkeys Knob NOT Singapore or China or Les Vegas.
This is what The Member for Cairns prefers:

Drawcard: Member for Cairns Gavin King said Singapore"s Marina Bay Sanda resort was the preferred model for a casino development.

 In the Weekend Post Justin Fung made this statement:
Sat Dec 21, 2013Justin told The Week end Post that families would be their target customers for the resort, which will include an international casino, nine luxury hotels with 3750 rooms, 1200 apartments, 135 villas, 13,500sq m of high-end retail shopping, an aquarium, two theatres, a 13ha lagoon, 65ha lake, 18-hole golf course, 25,000-seat sports stadium, 45,000sq m convention and exhibition centre and 1800 staff accommodation units.
Sometime ago Mr Fung described  Aquis as a "mini city" not a resort.
Again there is mention of the "staff units" and that is a concern because they will be able to bring people out on work visas and that is 1800 jobs that Cairns people won't get.
It was mentioned some 2 months ago that the staff units had been taken out because of local concerns but here it is again direct from the CEO.  WHAT IS THE TRUTH
We can only hope that the locals have the time to read, consume the contents and be able to get the answers that is needed to put their minds at ease.

Politicians answer "ANTI" this "ANTI" that.

December 10, 2013

Following the meeting on Wednesday December 4, 2013 at the Serbian Hall in Greenslopes St in regards to Aquis Resort/Casino it would appear that the hornets nest has exploded.
The Chamber of Commerce and local pollies are screaming ANTI Aquis which as we know is total garbage, it would appear that no one is entitled to an opinion except pollies and certain areas of business.
The meeting was well organised with speakers giving a very good explanation of what could and may not happen with no interjections from the gallery.
There was NO abusing of either parties in fact they weren't even mentioned apart from when Michael Trout LNP was called for his comments and was introduced as the LNP Member for Baron River, the only disappointing part of Michael's discussion was when one person interjected.
However this is part of being a politician.
The meeting was chaired by Denis Walls who explained why the meeting was called and then introduced the speakers as follows keeping in mind that these are short notations with more to follow:

Lesley Clark gives a history of large scale tourism projects in Cairns. Some of which happened some of which were resisted.

Tropical Queensland: Adventurous by Nature. This is the slogan /theme adopted by the region for planning and marketing.

Casino tourism is notably absent from plans up till now.

Question : How many local people will be employed? Tafe can't provide the training needed to complete such a program. Chinese nationals will be employed. Will the even be a trickle down.?

What will happen with housing. ? Rents will go up.

What other costs for the CRC?

SOME local businesses will benefit.. Others not.

Must question the assumption that it will solve or economic woes.

John Nott:

Location: about 2.5 m above sea level

This area is prone to storm surge inundation.

Tropical cyclones are becoming more intense.

They will build the ground up to 5 metres.

Storm surge is predicted by Prof Nott therefore to go through 1st 2nd floor of the buildings.

Thomatis Richters Creek is 5 kilometres metres long... Steeper than the current route of the Barron River. It is a distributary... The Barron feeds into it and the Barron may change course to go via Thomatis Richters Creek at some point. It will therefore require special engineering.

"The idea that this lagoon will mitigate flood effects at Yorkeys Knob is rubbish".

If we put dangerous developments in high risk places they must be insured... This will cost us (the wider community) more.

The emergency procedures for this place will also cost the wider community.

John Byrne planner: Talking about the history and development and lessons gained over the past 50 years regarding planning principles.

Says: Queensland just built the biggest hospital in Australia ever in the Gold Coast. A massive project: $1.5 Billion. This project is 4billion. So it's important to think this issue through carefully.

Overview of learning's from planning over the last century.

Mixed facilities and purposes and housing together.

The more people on the street, active the lower the crime

Public transport integrated is important.

We've learned that cities compete with cities.

That the way it was designed in the early 1900s was actually quite clever.

Positioning is significant: it's on the edge of an urban area. We've learned that generally a new large project should be either a long way away or right in the centre of an urban area.

Is it helping the overall structure of the city?

The impacts of what it is? Do you put a new big institution away from public transport.? Away from other infrastructure?

How will it be staged? Over how long?

Rob Pyne:

Surprised at the large number of people at this meeting.

We have only a concept plan... Not clear if it is real or an ambit claim.

In the new year there will be further information coming through.

 The most annoying comment from the pollies is that it was an ANTI Aquis meeting, what a load of cods wallop people wanted information which hadn't come forward previously and had a meeting been called when this became public knowledge then perhaps there wouldn't be the concerns that there is now.

The word ANTI hadn't been mentioned prior to the meeting nor was it mentioned during the meeting as it was said before the meeting overall was well presented with knowledgeable speakers.

Then came the Cairns Post report on Friday morning with the headlines “Critics Take On Aquis” would have been better to read “Residents Want More information”. The community wasn't taking on Aquis they were looking to be able to ask questions and to get answers but again the informed meeting was labelled by Anti Aquis and Anti Jobs.

Then the Member for Cairns Gavin King who wasn't at the meeting due to another commitment stated “he was disgusted and disappointed by comments made at the forum by labor politicians.

Not so Mr King. Politics was not discussed nor was any political party mentioned.

Politicians are entitled to their opinion however they are elected by the people to represent them but not to represent them with their (politicians) views.

Then came the comment from Deb Hancock CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, article taken from Monday's Cairns Post Dec 9, 2013:

Cairns Chamber of Commerce has launched an aggressive email campaign, urging recipients to vote for the project on the www.cairnspost.com.au poll.

CEO Deb Hancock said the chamber felt it was time for the ‘‘silent majority’’ to be counted.
‘‘I haven’t spoken to one person in the business community that is against the proposed project – there is overwhelming support,’’ she said.

‘‘The vocal minority is what gets heard, so now is the time to stand up and say ‘yes we want this’, and not risk this wonderful opportunity.’’ 

On Monday December 9, 2013 the Chamber of Commerce along with Members for Cairns and Baron River attended a rally organised by the Member for Cairns Gavin King which drew a crowd of 24 people compared to the 300 plus at the community meeting arranged by Aquis Aware.

Look at the difference:

Below: Meeting on Dec 4, Greenslopes St,

 

 From the above to below which shows that people want answers and not rush into the unknown.

Wouldn't it be more realistic for the Chamber of Commerce to look at ways of trying to save the local businesses rather put full support behind a mega structure that could see virtually all the money made in this casino go back to China and Cairns suffers once again.

Another consideration to be looked at is that now Mr Fung is about to take control of the Reef Casino why would he want two casinos, what are his intentions?.

Does the Chamber of Commerce and the Tourist Bodies want the support of the community or are they only interested in themselves?  if the answer is yes the community consultation is the only way to go.

I agree that progress is the way to go but without consultation it could result in bad situations, is that what we want.

The Pollies are saying that the EIS report will be released in mid January, not December as proposed earlier it is then we can look and consider but will the Government and CRC do that or just say : "GO AHEAD".

If Mr Fung  had called a community meeting earlier in the year and explained to the residents his intentions then there may not be the discontentment that we have now.

I was told about this project around July/August 2012 so there was plenty of time for consultation.

We now wait and see.

Hundreds turn out in Cairns with concerns over $4.2bn Aquis mega-resort and casino proposal for Yorkeys Knob

December 5, 2013
As reported in the Cairns Post

 CONCERNS: Hundreds of residents attended a community meeting to gather facts about the proposed Aquis Resort Development at Yorkeys Knob.

AROUND 400 locals turned out to a community meeting in Cairns on Wednesday night to raise concerns about Chinese billionaire Tony Fung's proposed Aquis Great Barrier Reef Resort.
 
The 340-hectare resort and casino at Yorkeys Knob, a northern seaside suburb of Cairns, includes nine luxury hotels and a casino.

There will also be an 18-hole golf course, a 25,000 seat stadium and a cultural heritage centre.
Locals say they're concerned the project won't withstand a cyclone, will increase problem gambling, may damage the Great Barrier Reef and could hurt the region's nature-based tourism industry.

"We have the best to offer in tropical and nature-based experiences in all of Australia," James Cook University student and Aquis Aware founder Mathilde Gordon said.

"The Aquis resort could be built anywhere.... but the World Heritage area that Cairns boasts can not and the values and lifestyles which depend on these natural wonders are irrepealable."

CONCERNS: Hundreds of residents attended a community meeting to gather facts about the proposed Aquis Resort Development at Yorkeys Knob. Member for Barron River Michael Trout attended the meeting. 

 

Former MP for Barron River Lesley Clark said the development would narrow, not diversify the region's tourism industry.

Professor Jon Nott of JCU's Earth and Environmental Science department says the project's location is "extremely dangerous" as it would be exposed to inundation during tropical cyclones.
The resort would sit 400 metres inland.

A number of people at the meeting acknowledged the project would bring much-needed jobs to the region, but said there were no guarantees the 9000 construction jobs and 10,000 full-time jobs would go to locals.

Mr Fung has said the resort would rival great man-made structures seen in Dubai and Singapore and would attract big spenders from China.

He's also said construction wouldn't impact the nearby Great Barrier Reef.

The project must pass environmental, social and economic approval processes, which are overseen by the coordinator-general's office, before construction can begin.

It would be built by 2018 if approved.