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Vision FNQ 2025 ~
The
below document is the result of 'Vision FNQ 2025', a three hour
public forum held at 7pm on 11th July as part of
our 2007
emPower Energy Fest at the TANKS in Collins Avenue in Cairns. The
forum was attended by about forty people.
This
document has also been published on www.futureofcairns.net.
Please feel free to comment on it there. It has also been supplied to
state government, local
politicians, stake holders and everyone we know of being involved in
the FNQ 2025 planning process.
State
government and the 2025 planners have been asked to consider this
community vision for our common future when they draft the 2025 plan.
To help make
this document more powerful, please
add yourself as a signatory.
Thank you
Svargo
Freitag for the emPower team
Vision
FNQ 2025
Index:
1)
Overarching Principles
We
ask that the overarching principles for FNQ2025 planning shall be:
-
to develop FNQ
into a model community showcasing state of the art technologies and
practices that can help the world to minimise the imminent threats from
climate change and adapt to them.
-
sustainability
for generations to come and a high level of self-sufficiency
-
de-centralisation
and localisation
-
community
focused settlements and developments
-
lifestyle and
environmental qualities to have precedence over growth, monetary values
and any development
-
planning for a
sustainable, natural and social built environment
-
encourage
ongoing active cooperation of all stakeholders to achieve a holistic
approach to problems and their solutions
-
respect for and
integration of indigenous knowledge and culture
2)
Lifestyle
We envision FNQ to have a high
quality lifestyle in 2025.
FNQ 2025 and any other future
planning shall support and encourage:
-
a relaxed and more simple lifestyle minimising
stress
-
enrichment of spiritual aspect and happiness
-
enjoyment of nature and outdoor activities suited
to our tropical climate
-
living in harmony with our environment
-
a healthy lifestyle
-
development and promotion of a local tropical
culture
-
seasonal celebrations
-
creative arts (music etc), resourcefulness and
manual creation
-
tooled community workshops to foster creativity
-
encourage seasonal foods rather than un-seasonal
imported foods
-
integration of Yarrabah, Mona Mona and other
Aboriginal communities
-
Adequate social services to minimise rich/poor
divide and resulting crime
-
social services to eliminate domestic abuse and
education and support to assist change for dysfunctional families
-
free health care and education
-
use of natural medicine
-
respect and empowerment for both white and
Aboriginal elders, integrating them into society, rather than
separating them into 'retirement homes'.
-
provide local information to all new comers (rental
or home owners), especially on native fauna and flora
3)
Environment
We
recognise that without a healthy environment we cannot have a
sustainable economy, which is why any land useage has to respect,
support and compliment our natural environment
2025 and any other future planning
shall:
-
protect sufficiently large areas of all existing
habitats as a priority so they will become and remain long term
sustainable
-
identify and link eco-sensitive areas and create a
matrix of connecting corridors linking presently fragmented ecosystems
-
set aside corridors to allow for fauna and flora
migration to higher ground as temperatures rise
-
protect and encourage beach-side vegetation and
mangroves
-
ensure river water to be of drinking quality to
support a healthy native flora
4)
Land Use (Forestry, Agriculture
& Mining)
-
integrate agriculture and forestry
-
create diverse mixed native forestry plantings
-
encourage native food production
-
encourage and promote community supported
agriculture (CSA)
-
encourage and promote the use of Terra Preta for
soil enrichment and carbon sequestration
-
diversify agriculture to encourage local food supply
-
encourage tropical crops - eg coconut, sago, hemp,
bamboo, taro
-
discourage large mono culture farming to increase
climate resilience and minimise oil dependency
-
encourage and promote biodynamic, organic and
permaculture methods to maximise resilience to extreme weather, to
minimise our areas exposure to peak oil (fuel and fertiliser) and to
improve soil quality to be long term sustainable
-
discourage chemical fertilisers and use of toxins
-
encourage and promote non tilling methods of
farming to reduce erosion through wind and rain
-
FNQ shall be a GM free zone
-
encourage conversion of beef cattle production to
farming native animals
-
decentralised produce distribution, eg a network of
farmers markets, to minimise food miles
-
origin labelling and food miles of agricultural and
all other products
-
encourage and promote holistic land management
-
encourage land stewardship – eg encourage
farmers to plant food trees for native animals (eg flowering trees to
keep fruit bats from fruit crops)
-
mines shall be managed and operated without any
permanent negative impact on our environment respect and sensitivity of
environmentally and cultural values
-
to value our ecosystems above money generation
-
support
traditional Aboriginal land use knowledge/practices
5)
Transport
-
transportation
corridors – tramways utilising existing cane rail corridors
(adding a third rail to allow faster trains), light rail commuting
system carrying bicycles and passengers
-
Gordonvale to
Cairns train service on existing rails can be introduced immediately
(again allowing bicycles and electric bikes to be taken into carriages)
-
provide plenty
of parking for cars and bikes at strategic bus stops and all light rail
stations.
-
identify
corridors for future transport needs eg light rail services and bicycle
path
-
use of Skyrail
for commuting
-
efficient Sunbus
service
-
developing phone
and SMS based systems for buses, taxis and car-sharing
-
jetty / ferry
services from northern beaches
-
localisation of
public services eg hospital to minimise distances travelled
-
car / bicycle
pooling
-
southern
electric rail tunnel – White Rock to Mareeba for passengers,
bicycles, B-doubles, cars – with regenerative braking,
combined with a limited upgrade of Kuranda Range Road
-
minimise the
need for transportation through good planning
-
shift the
airport to higher ground, probably best to existing Mareeba airport
-
retain community
input/ control into the airport
-
encourage the
use of plug-in electric cars to reduce emissions and fossil fuel
dependency and lobby manufacturers for their production
-
bicycle
corridors - tree shaded and designed for efficient commuting (allowing
for use by bicycles and electric bikes; eg wide enough for easy
overtaking)
-
facilitate
increase of public transport and encourage reduction of individual
transport (more rail, less roads)
6)
Urban Footprint
-
development of
sustainable villages and urban nodes linked by bike-path, trains and
public transport
-
higher density
urban nodes with communal green spaces and facilities (to encourage
community life) rather than large suburban or rural residential blocks
-
allow for eco
villages in local planning
-
no further
hill-slope developments in Cairns
-
development and
settlements shall be allowed only in areas of least environmental
impact (especially on the Tablelands)
-
restriction on
house animals in areas around sensitive biotopes and world heritage
areas – eg cats and dogs banned
-
transforming and
retrofitting existing built-up areas to encourage community life
-
design
settlements for natural airflows to minimise heat effects and allow for
wide fire breaks especially in eucalypt forest (wide enough to stop
possible crown fires)
-
establishing a
duty of care for land owners
-
regulate pace of
growth to avoid boom/bust cycles
7)
Housing
-
integration of
housing into natural landscape rather than bulldozing and replanting
-
renewable energy
as prime source for house energy needs (eg photo voltaics, small
windmills, geothermal air-conditioning and solar hot water)
-
sustainable
green architecture and tropical house design eg passive cross
ventilation, tree and roof shading, energy efficiency (passive and
active) etc
-
give preference
to building materials which are locally resourced and have a low
embedded energy input
-
encouragement of
individual rather than mono-cultural housing
-
encourage,
favour and promote less obese housing (possibly consider
“tiny housing”)
-
encourage owner
builder - self education
-
rain water tanks
in all new housing and encourage retrofitting of existing housing
-
re-use of grey
water in all new housing and encourage retrofitting of existing housing
-
incorporation of
zero waste
-
encourage native
plant species and discourage introduced species in house gardens
-
encourage and
promote permaculture and food production in house gardens
-
encourage native
animals
8)
Infrastructure (other than
transport)
-
sea walls or
progressively turning roads into canals to prepare for rising
sea-levels in Cairns
-
infrastructure
and population to harmonise and fit within environment
-
local energy
generation from renewable energies
-
renewable energy
as prime energy source
-
decentralisation
of energy sources
-
high voltage DC
transmission to facilitate renewable systems and minimise line losses
-
FNQ nuclear free zone (like Herberton Shire)
-
sewage plants
converted to methane digesters to provide energy and fertiliser
-
increase re-use
and recycling
-
minimise land
fill and ultimately zero waste
-
public spaces
for recreation and creativity
-
diverse, native
plants and food plants for public spaces
-
drought tolerant
landscaping
-
storm water
treatment and recovery
-
water collection
towers in arid areas (eg western Mareeba and Herberton shire)
-
rain water
storage tanks in public buildings
-
maximising water
collection – incorporated into new developments
-
decentralising
water supply and treatment
-
resorts to
minimise water usage on gardens
-
solar powered
desalination plant
-
environmental and practical school education (eg
cooking, gardening)
-
community involvement in schools
-
smaller
well funded schools and diverse options for education and health care
9)
Economy
As a consequence of rising oil
prices and climate change there is a high likelihood of a decline in
tourism and possibly export of agriculture products. To mitigate
those effects and make our FNQ economy more resilient we envision:
-
FNQ to become a model of sustainability
-
federally recognised research and development of
alternative technologies and agriculture
-
educational centres for alternative technologies
and agriculture (like Freiburg in Germany)
-
export of technology and know-how
-
encourage rain-farms to export drinking water
-
encourage reduction of needless consumption
-
politically more autonomous bio-regions
-
encourage community banks
-
encourage cooperation of all stake holders
-
barter, trade and skill sharing systems
-
diversification – create as many products
locally as possible
-
diversified education to encourage wide range of
local trades and production, minimising our dependence on imports
please
feel free to comment on this document at futureofcairns.net
To help make this document more powerful, please
add yourself as a signatory. Thank you
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