General News
5 November, 2025
Speedy streets of suburbia
IT has been some time since the ‘C’ word has been mentioned in the ‘Goss’ and certainly COVID is not a word that I like to brandish around too often these days.
That awful period of our lives did, however, set the tone for a number of changes both at the time and afterwards.
Although the pandemic was a huge negative, in many ways it did encourage many Australians to visit our region as a result of not being able to travel overseas. As I said at the time: “FNQ has become the new Bali.”
This in turn saw an increased interest in properties for sale, as visitors realised the potential for investment and maybe more, so liked was Port Douglas as a place to settle down and live.
Together with this, naturally, has come a vast increase in property values and rental cost. This has been great for current property owners, but not so good for those trying to get on the property ladder or for those renting.
The initial post-pandemic enthusiasm eventually dwindled slightly, but once again this year has seen a great increase in visitors coming to Douglas Shire with the nightly spend and overall tourist numbers well up.
Workers, particularly from overseas, have also seen the popularity of the Far North as an opportunity to live in paradise during their stay in Australia.
Taking into account the above-mentioned factors of increased property values, inflated rental costs and higher numbers working in the Douglas Shire, by doing the mathematics and looking at each side of the equation, there does, however, appear to be something that is not quite adding up.
One superb example is the increased number of vehicles in the Shire’s suburbs.
This is one that I have certainly become aware of over the last couple of years and, speaking with locals, I am not the only one with concerns.
The question that people may well ask is why this has occurred, causing our roads to be much busier now, especially in suburbia?
Considering many house prices and rental costs have advanced well out of the range of people, particularly younger ones, many residents are now sharing houses.
A typical three or four bedroom house that would have been occupied by a single couple previously may now have potentially four couples living in it.
They may have a car each, which equates to eight cars. Suddenly that is a load more cars travelling around our suburban streets, with front gardens that were once a tranquil view from the lounge or bedroom, now a car park.
Another side effect of the traffic increase and higher house occupation now seems to be higher speeds on suburban roads.
It is very apparent that road users of all types, including motorcyclists, some tradies and shuttle drivers, are travelling in excess of the 50km/h speed limit in these areas.
Shuttle visitations to properties have noticeably increased with the enhanced number of people house-sharing.
Ultimately, all of the above-mentioned have potential issues.
Heavier traffic and higher speeds in areas where pedestrians walk and children play have their obvious dangers.
Then there are the hazards to local wildlife and the extra noise to locals who moved to suburbia for a quieter life.
All we can ask is that road users give due consideration when travelling on suburban roads and keep in mind the dangers of speeding.
I will certainly be keeping my eye on the speedometer, but for now it’s Gazza signing out.
Send your stories to gazza@cairnslocalnews.com.au
