Goodbye to the Magic

I first moved to Cairns because I wanted to attend a small university, with small class numbers and be able to have face to face conversations with my lecturers, something I would not have received at the larger southern universities.

I fell in love with Cairns because it wasn't like every other city, with skyscrapers and that awful shadow that seems to command so many waterfront places seen in most waterfront towns from 10am daily.

I remember seeing the mountains the first time and thinking this place is magic.

This magic may soon disappear. I guess we all knew it was coming, we all suspected sooner or later the high-rises would come to town and take over. Perhaps naively I admit, I thought we might win that battle, the first time I heard the high-rises were threatening to come to town the shouts on the airwaves were loud and clear, "We do not want another Surfers Paradise! We are unique! We are different! We are special!"

However our continuing silence at the ever sneaking high-rises popping up all over the city, each one just a little bigger, has now given the excuse the developers needed. In an application to rezone the RSL site, the developers have put it perfectly;

"Under the Height and Impact of Buildings Section, it is clear that the numerous other tall buildings along this part of the Esplanade has removed any sense of a low scale and the retention of this one building, otherwise surrounded by much taller buildings, would provide little value in attempting to retain a low rise character that has since been removed".

Am I against development you may ask? The answer is no, do I think we need to go skyrocketing into the atmosphere for development, the answer again is no.

Is it to late now to speak out? I don't think it is, we all need to yell now, before we are no longer unique, we are no longer different, we are no longer special, before we are just like every other town.