General News
7 October, 2025
New PCYC moving ahead
A MUCH-anticipated new Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC) facility for Mareeba has just taken a giant leap forward with an architecturally-designed building plan and development application now being assessed by the shire council.
In an application for a material change of use for two council-owned blocks on Constance Street, PCYC Queensland outlined plans to build a community-run facility with indoor and outdoor sports areas, including for pickleball and basketball.
The club would include a “youth space”, offices, a car park, and would “act as a social club of sorts with a youth focus with youth support officers who will be appointed to help young people re-engage with education, training, and community services”.
The new site was also ideally located, being surrounded by a range of complementary community uses, including a theatre company to the south, parklands to the north, and a skate park to the immediate west.
The long-awaited facility was announced in 2023, with a commitment of $5 million seed funding by the State Government.
However, delays in site locations and negotiations left the plan in limbo until earlier this year, when the council said it would provide an in-principal peppercorn lease of 30 years to the PCYC for the Constance Street site.
This was on the proviso that PCYC kept to a schedule that ensured building would be completed by the end of 2026.
Council had said the move would enable the PCYC to “get on with leveraging other grants” to help build the facility.
In the meantime, the PCYC has had its current lease at 136 Walsh Street renewed until then.
If the PCYC is unable to secure further funding, or build the centre by 31 December 2026, the provisional lease offer will lapse.
This latest development also comes at a time when the PCYC will become the only available Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service in town at the end of the month, following the cancellation by the Mareeba Kids Campus Centre of its long-standing service.
When discussing the Constance Street location in recent months, Mayor Angela Toppin said the new facility couldn’t come soon enough.
“Our PCYC does a massive job in helping our youth at risk,” she said at the time.
