Cairns Works is responsible for Council’s maintenance programs and construction projects. As such, it has been a key contributor to the City of Cairns taking out a number of major awards. Not the least of these was winning the 2002 Tidy Town Award for Far North Queensland.
“Our maintenance guys have been doing such a great job that one of our northern beaches, Palm Cove, was recently declared Australia’s Cleanest Beach,” said Ross McKim, Manager Cairns Works.
In this current financial year, construction works to the tune of $14 million will be undertaken by Cairns Works. This includes a $4 million Suburban Enhancement Program that is concentrating on Cairns’ older suburbs. Work includes the sealing of road shoulders to reduce dust and water pooling, improve parking and increase safety for cyclists.
With Roads to Recovery grants, Cairns Works is currently constructing a new bridge at Stoney Creek, while work on a new bridge for Grays Creek will commence next month. Other scheduled works include a major drainage project plus various road resealing and asphalting.
Recently rebranding itself as Cairns Works, a new logo plus a change of uniform to the new yellow and navy corporate colours clearly identifies the maintenance and construction teams.
Council has also given Cairns Works the go ahead to undertake a public benefits analysis using National Competition Policy principals. This is a major step in becoming a fully commercialised business unit.
“Commercialisation will put us in a better position to tender for outside work,” Ross McKim said. “This will spread the work being undertaken providing additional skills and experience for staff. Greater job satisfaction and job security will flow from this. Improved business practices will also increase our efficiencies and make us aware of the real costs. This will enable us to benchmark against others and identify areas were improvements are required.”
