Proposal to rename road in honour of Bob Norman

The enduring legacy of one of the city’s renowned and most respected business leaders could be immortalised with plans to rename one of Council’s largest roads in his honour.

Council today endorsed a general business motion by Division 6 Councillor Kristy Vallely for  community consultation to commence for the proposed renaming of the Redlynch Connector Road to Bob Norman Drive.

The prominent business leader and developer, who served the Cairns community in many roles for decades, passed away suddenly in 2018 at his Redlynch home, aged 71.

“Bob Norman was one of this city’s staunchest supporters, he was a successful developer with a real attention to detail, and his dedication to the community was immense,” Mayor Bob Manning said.

“Our city is so much the richer for Bob’s contribution and it is only appropriate that as a Council we move to remember his dedication and secure his legacy for generations to come.”

The Redlynch Connector Road is a four lane, median divided sub-arterial road between Cairns Western Arterial Road and Redlynch Intake Road.

“We don’t have Council roads bigger, in that it is four lanes, than this at the moment,” Cr Manning said.

“This is a well-used and prominent road, and its renaming will also take away the confusion associated with the Redlynch Connector/Connection Road and the Redlynch Intake Road.”

Born in Cairns on 28 April 1947, Mr Norman spent most of his life in the region, working in several industries before moving into property development in 1984.

A life member of the Cairns Chamber of Commerce, he served as its president from 2000-2007.

He chaired the Cairns Hospital and Health Service board from 2012-2016, and served on various boards and taskforces including, Freemasons Aged Care and James Cook University.

The son of Australian aviator Sir Robert Norman, unsurprisingly he was an active member of the local aviation community and was a helicopter pilot.

Mr Norman is survived by his wife Diane and their five children.