Palm Cove Tech Park

I post this suggestion with the greatest respect to the Prettejohn families.  If there was another way to get this concept out there I would do it.  But we have to start somewhere.  I’m just hopeful that the Prettejohn Trust may be able to consider it as an option..

The 36 hectare undeveloped block of land at Palm Cove adjoining the Captain Cook Highway and Palm Cove Boulevard is on a number of titles owned by a Prettejohn Family Trust. As I understand it, Hugh Maitland Prettejohn (who passed away in 2013) purchased hundreds of hectares of waterfront acreages in Tropical North Queensland around the middle of last century. The family has developed some of this land for residential and commercial purposes over the past 50 years or so.

Examples of tourism assets that the family has created since the 1980’s include Kewarra Beach Resort and Thala Beach Nature Reserve. These initiatives reflect the Prettejohn family values when it comes to creating experiences on their land.

This 36 hectare block is the only undeveloped acreage at Palm Cove on the eastern side of the Captain Cook Highway. It is effectively in the middle of residential Palm Cove and its eastern boundary is within a hundred metres of the beach. The original family home is located on one of the titles tucked in behind the coconut plantation. Hugh it seems loved his coconuts and planted hundreds over the years. Perhaps he is responsible for one of our most valuable beachscape assets along the Palm Cove beachfront.

It’s not known what the Trust plans to do with the 36 ha site going forward. This Tech Park suggestion may meet the values of the Prettejohn Family Trust while also creating exciting and valuable employment options, economic opportunities and enhanced respect for the natural environment.

Through economic, employment and alternative concepts like this, Palm Cove still has the opportunity to become more than just another place where retirees park their money.  An initiative like this can bring a new energy to Palm Cove and Cairns.

As the founder of MediaApps and a Google Partner for over 10 years John Felan is digital tech focussed with over 40 years business experience in Palm Cove and the Far North Queensland and Cape York region.

“I believe that the environmental low impact of a tech park combined with the huge economic benefit would transform not just Palm Cove but our city of Cairns and our region” he said.

What is a Tech Park?

A search engine search will reveal a selection of developments of this type, sometimes known as High Tech Parks. They set out to provide a location and the necessary infrastructure and incentives for research and technology companies and organisations. Typically they include, but are not limited to, the following enterprises:

• Information Technology
• Biotechnology
• Software Engineering
• Space and Telecommunications
• Robotics and Mechanics
• Energy Efficiency
• Meteorological Technology
• Sound stage and studio
• Environmental research

How could it work?

Possible options may include:

• The Trust takes on total responsibility for the design and management of the project including concept development, sales and ongoing management
• The Trust creates an entity in partnership with a major high tech enterprise
• The land is sold or otherwise divested to a ‘chief’ entity with conditions ie: must be a tech park
• The chief entity sublets to suitable entities and activities
• The chief entity may be Atlassian for example.  One of the founders of Australian tech giant Atlassian already has investment in our region. Some of Atlassian’s partners include Slack, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Dropbox and Adobe etc. These Atlassian partners may choose to become involved.  Or it could be Apple Inc.  Imagine the Apple design touch for a tech park located where the rainforest meets the reef.
• In addition to the core tech sector there would be on site accommodation, food and beverage services etc. It would be its own community merging with the current Palm Cove built environment.

Pros

• Existing infrastructure is only the family home and caretakers house
• The site is 25 kms from Cairns International Airport – 6 hours to Singapore
  James Cook University Cairns Campus is 8 kms away
• The site can be supplied with whatever power, communication and other service infrastructure is necessary
• Cairns northern beaches and Cairns generally has the residential capacity to accommodate comfortably and affordably whatever human resources are required
• Palm Cove is a desirable destination which will be appealing to many potential investors
• Employees and business associates and visitors have close access to one of the planet’s most accessible wilderness areas on Cape York Peninsula and outback Queensland
• It’s not in a capital city
• At this time in particular there are likely to be considerable government incentives on every level for a project like this
• Research and Development related to hot and humid conditions
• More tech conferences for the Cairns Convention Centre probably with a break-out conference centre at the Tech Park itself
• Diversification of Northern Beaches economy; not so susceptible to the tourism roller coaster
• Cairns is the closest city to a proposed spaceport in Cape York Peninsula.
• Cairns is the headquarters for Wet Tropics, the managers of our two adjacent World Heritage areas being the Wet Tropics rainforests and the Great Barrier Reef.
• Australia is stable politically.

Cons

I’ll leave it to others to come up with the cons.  I guess that there are some. I can’t think of any.

Funding

There are numerous Federal and State funding initiatives for major investments in such projects including specific funding from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.

The Palm Cove Tech Park meets the requirements for funding through the NAIF. In June 2023 the Australian Government approved a further $2 billion for the fund.  The continuation of NAIF is supported by both major political parties.

‘The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2023, has been approved and we now have an additional $2 billion allocation, taking the total financing available for infrastructure projects to $7 billion.’ – NAIF June 2023 newsletter

The national headquarters for NAIF is in Sheridan St, Cairns.  It seems at this time that there are no NAIF funded projects within the Cairns Regional Council region.