Services & Organisation Committee Meeting - April 2023 Transcript

3 PRESENTATIONS ¶

▶ 00:01:35

Nothing was transcribed under this heading — a stretch of the recording with no speech the model could make out.

4 DEPUTATIONS ¶

▶ 00:01:38

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5.1 PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS ASSET MANAGEMENT PLAN ¶

▶ 00:01:43· Carried unanimously 4-0 from council's minutes

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5.2 NOOSA – GYMPIE WASTE MANAGEMENT MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ¶

▶ 00:01:49· Carried unanimously 4-0 from council's minutes

00:02:00 Speaker 3: Thanks Councillor. The report table is to authorise the CEO to progress and sign a memorandum of understanding with Gympie Regional Council, allowing council staff to work together on mutually beneficial activities, in particular but not limited to waste management. The goal from a waste management perspective is to identify partnerships within waste for infrastructure and waste management which would be beneficial to both parties. There are several benefits for Noosa and Gympie residents of which a major one is to utilise the waste capacity over both jurisdictions to support capital feasibility of many major infrastructure which would in turn support potential funding from entities such as Council of Air South East Queensland. The MAU is designed to drive project by project planning processes which

00:03:00 will include the necessary council approvals required while being led by a steering committee with representatives from both councils. Councillor Jurisevic: That's my understanding mentioned in the report. Gympie Council is not a member of ComSec who we are currently dealing with regarding funding but my understanding is that they Speaker 5: have applied to become a member of ComSec. Chair that's absolutely correct. Gympie have applied to become an associate member of Council of Mayors for South East Queensland and there is a view that that will be accepted in the next ComSec meeting. And the CEO of Council of Mayors for South East Queensland is a member of ComSec and South East Queensland is aware and has no concerns in Noosa Council or in relationship with Gympie Council in relation to waste. I'm assuming that may help facilitate some of the funding opportunities for ComSec as well? It will too, absolutely. Councillor Jurisevic: Any questions councillors? Speaker 3: Just the make up of the steering committee in Cairo, what's proposed?

00:04:00 I think it's pretty open at present so we need to get the MAU signed from Gympie side and then the first thing will be get together and work out what that steering committee looks like. Councillor Wilkie: Would it involve sharing waste infrastructure like landfill? Speaker 3: At present that hasn't been discussed but there's always a potential. They're looking for a new landfill site at Gympie at this present time. We've obviously got our own landfill but more and more it will be about treatment of waste, not necessarily landfill. That's the general sort of consensus that we're going for treatment facilities. Waste diversion. We have capacity for another, is it 40 years? Councillor Wilkie: 50 years. 50 years. What about Gympie, how are they placed? Speaker 3: At present I think they're pretty low in terms of years but they're planning to look forward to something with a lot more potential in that opportunity. Councillor Wilkie: Ultimately this is more about diversion and reuse than landfills. Speaker 3: Exactly. Landfill will be the bottom of the pile and effectively we'll be looking to divert

00:05:00 as much as we can. Councillor Wilkie: In the report there's a reference to utilising land banks. What does that mean exactly? Speaker 3: If we're producing organic streams, so the back end of composting or anaerobic digestion for argument's sake, the requirement is to spread that material to a land bank and that could be farming communities or known farming entities that we could pair up with and they'll be using that material for or in the replacement of landfills. So just to make sure that's the point, yeah, I think that's the point. Councillor Wilkie: Would that, would council's gardens be one recipient of that sort of maturity? Speaker 3: That would be the intent, yes. We'd have to get to a certain quality, parks and gardens would require our material to meet that certain quality, mainly for germination of weeds or anything like that but that's that quality we haven't yet been able to achieve with our current process. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. That's obviously an opportunity going forward to look at what the needs of end users would

00:06:00 be of a product if we do go down that line and try to facilitate the means to produce that for a product. Speaker 3: Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: At a standard, etc. Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think that stretches not just from organic material but other materials, concrete and so forth. You know, Gympie have a lot more industrial zones than we do, potentially better uses for some of the material that we produce and I think joining up with them will be a big Councillor Jurisevic: plus in that, in exactly that. I see, indeed. Strange for gravel tours to be produced at all. Councillor Lorentson: Exactly. Yep. In terms of the memorandum of understanding Chiron, it's not a legally binding agreement. In terms of cost, are there any financial implications with signing an EMU? Not that I'm aware of. I'd tell you none at present. Speaker 3: It's a, yeah, as you said, it's not a legally binding document. The goal is to work on a project, work on a project by project basis to get us to a point

00:07:00 where we would find something that is legally binding. So we get to a point at that point where we're looking at an investment, we're looking at the arrangements and they may become, will have to become binding at that point, I would have thought. Speaker 7: They would come back to Council before any of that. Exactly. Yeah. Speaker 3: ya I agree and part of that would be just the feasibility of some of the infrastructure requires that that capacity. Just a follow-on question from Councillor Wilkie: Joe's that obviously there are advantages of cooperating with another council. It's fantastic. Was there discussions of a similar nature undertaken with Sunshine Speaker 3: I think we're still talking to Sunshine Coast. It's not that we don't talk to them. I think that is on its way in terms of that level of agreement.

00:08:00 They've got processes and infrastructure that's well advanced about and we are involved in some of that infrastructure. To the level that we're talking to Gympie, I would say it's not at that level just yet, but we are working towards that. Speaker 7: Clare, do you have any questions at all? Mayor Stewart: No, all good. I think it's a really positive step, collaborating with our neighbour. Share resources, share costs, potentially it's good. Councillor Lorentson: I do, I have another question, Chair. I'm just thinking, some time ago when we first started with Council, Council engaged with Regional Council, Sunshine Coast, Gympie, to have a look at feasibility of actually working together and whether it was advised to go on your own or not.

00:09:00 Has that report sort of resurfaced and guided this decision or not? Speaker 3: I think this decision's been taken purely with CommSec in mind. Okay. CommSec's relatively new to us and to Aznesa Council. But one of the key criteria of CommSec is we are working in unison with our neighbours, and Gympie being one of those, and Sunshine Coast as well. So I think we will end up down this sort of path in the Sunshine Coast. But that is one of the key criteria. So I wouldn't say that that report's driven this, but that's probably more of a result of CommSec rather than the report. Okay. Thank you. Speaker 1: With Gympie's positioning to the west and to the north, there's really not a lot of bigger towns. You know, there's Umari and like little tiny towns. So it just really makes sense that we work with them.

00:10:00 There are kind of, we're in our own little scene together going south, you know, they're much bigger councils. But it makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Speaker 3: Well, I think that probably the biggest thing, from a practical point of view, from my world anyway, is logistics. The logistics with Gympie, you know, from our landfill to the centre of Gympie is 35 minutes. Yeah. That's a massive advantage in the waste world because everything's got to be transported if you're moving material, whether that's organic material to a land bank or material to some sort of treatment facility, whether it's coming here or going there. That 35 minutes is a massive benefit for a financial model. And I think that's where we're looking to in terms of getting to a project-by-project basis that the financial model stacks up. And that's this sort of waste sharing and waste resource sharing helps us with that financial feasibility. Councillor Jurisevic: I know we've looked at, or we've spoken about the opportunity before

00:11:00 with regard to services on the North Shore, in particular Teewah. My understanding is that Gympie facilitates the waste services on the North Shore. Speaker 3: Yes, I believe they do, yes. Councillor Jurisevic: So there may be an opportunity to further enhance discussion with regard to... Exactly, yeah. ...Teewah recycling may be incorporated and all recycling services on the North Shore. Speaker 3: Yep, something to think about. That's right. Councillor Jurisevic: Any further councillors? No? Can I have a mover? Councillor Wilkie, Senator, Councillor Lorentson. All in favour? Mayor Stewart: Yes. Councillor Jurisevic: Do you plan to add? Mayor Clare? Thank you, Councillor. Speaker 3: Thanks, guys. Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: Back to item one on the agenda, which is the Parks and Playground Asset Management Act. As I notice, Brian's not here. He's away on holiday. He is, yeah. So it's his table now. Speaker 5: Thank you. What's up? Councillor Jurisevic: Good little Brian. Matt, have you got anything to say? Yep. Speaker 4: I can, yeah.

00:12:00 So Brian was the author of the report, so I'll just give a quick summary. So council has a statutory requirement to develop asset management plans for its major asset classes. So this is the last of eight in the suite, and yeah, basically it considers some key objectives, such as service levels, financial lifecycle costs, things like that. And, yeah. The objectives are aligned with our council asset management roadmap, and also the Queensland Audit Office asset management outcomes. Councillor Lorentson: A simple one for you, Matt. Why are we undertaking this review, and when was the last time Parks and Playground's asset management plan was reviewed? Speaker 4: I might have to defer. Adam, do you know the age when the previous one was? Speaker 6: Previous one?

00:13:00 Yeah. They're done on a five-year cycle, ideally. Speaker 4: On a five-year cycle? Yeah, they are. That's correct. So we started, as I said before, this is the final of eight. So we started with our major asset classes, such as rows and things like that, and worked our way to this. So with Parks and Playgrounds, in terms of the overall value of the asset, the whole of the assets, this is probably the least in terms of the value, but it's probably one of the ones where there's a high quantity of assets, just smaller assets, and they make up. I think we have... Councillor Lorentson: 2,000 parks. Speaker 4: Yeah. Well, we have 2,000 assets, so that's individual items, but it's across around about 250 parks. I think there's 80 playgrounds in the Shire. 80 assets, yeah. Yeah. So that's sort of... Getting back to your question about the importance of it, it is to bring everything together and get a good framework around it all. That's interesting. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah, I had a question about what that 2,000 parks and playground assets encompasses. So you said there's 250 parks, 80 playgrounds.

00:14:00 So the assets include equipment? Speaker 4: It does, yes. Items. Individual items. Speaker 5: What else would you include? Speaker 4: Yeah, so you have playgrounds are the obvious one, but we also have park shelters, which include furniture. The furniture. Yes. So if you think about Gympie Terrace, for an example, how much furniture we have down there, you know, just individual items. So one chair would be one asset? Councillor Jurisevic: Yes. That's correct. And one chair, one table, one shelter? Speaker 4: Correct. Councillor Jurisevic: Correct. One swing, one . That's right. Yeah. That's right. Or... Yeah. Speaker 6: That's right. Councillor Lorentson: So what's the standard that you would take as a council? Speaker 4: Yeah, so in terms of the assets themselves, particularly playgrounds, they do have Australian standards around them in terms of their... It's mainly around safety and risk, obviously. Yeah. Yeah, so we try our best to meet those standards.

00:15:00 And those standards involve frequencies as well, like frequencies of inspections and then condition ratings and things like that. So that's what informs our renewal programs. Councillor Jurisevic: I imagine the manufacturers would also have requirements on that. Speaker 4: They do, yeah, because every piece of gear is a little bit different. You know, you have the different companies that have their own individual styles and models and things like that. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah, like your car, where you get a... When a very small change, whether it's a 10,000 case service or a 15,000 case service. Absolutely. Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean... Councillor Jurisevic: Claire, have you got any questions at all? Mayor Stewart: You're muted. Councillor Jurisevic: Sorry, you're on mute, Claire. Mayor Stewart: Now, I guess this is quite separate, isn't it, to funding that we put towards, obviously, our parks and gardens going forward. This is just the plan, isn't it? This doesn't take into account, if we want to add additional funding, this is basically just the over-action plan. Speaker 4: That's correct. That's right, yes.

00:16:00 Councillor Jurisevic: But having said that, there's an element in this that is mentioned with regard to future planning, with regard to needs and... Speaker 6: Future capital works are in there, as part of the dollar figures, but nothing for grants or anything like that will be forecasted just yet. Councillor Jurisevic: Now, as far as future needs being required, where additional equipment may be required, or the overview of whether the level of equipment is sufficient for a level of park... Speaker 6: Yes, that goes with the hierarchy of the park. Councillor Jurisevic: And that's one of my questions. If you guys are finished, I've got a series of questions for you. Councillor Lorentson: Oh, I've got a series of questions too. Where am I going to start? Okay. I'm going to start with accessibility. So we assess hazards. Do we assess accessibility of our playgrounds?

00:17:00 I was just recently approached by some residents who asked, why don't... We don't have any wheelchair access picnic tables at any of our parks. How is that information captured? How are community expectations captured or collated? And that probably links with my next question, Matt, so I'll throw this one in. Have we had any public liability claims attributable to council playgrounds? Again, where is that information collated? And does that guide future? Speaker 4: Yeah, I'll answer that one since it's... So we don't, to my knowledge, have any public liability claims. We have had some very minor incidents where children have fallen off a swing and hurt themselves, but it hasn't been due to failure of our equipment or failure of our service standards. It's just the nature of a playground.

00:18:00 That's kind of what they're like. Sorry, the first part of your question, if you wanted to... Oh, the disability stuff. Do we assess accessibility? Yes, yes. I'm not quite sure about what's happened in the past, but it's certainly something that's now front of mind when we do... We're thinking about renewals and upgrades and things like that. So it's sort of become a fairly standard, I suppose, consideration, and there's a lot of new technology and new designs that do incorporate. We have one that I'm aware of in the Shire in terms of in the playground. We've got the... It's called a Liberty Swing down at the Pirate Playground at Gimpy Terrace. But it's one of the older... It's like one of the original, I think, versions of that style of thing. And yeah, and the playground hasn't been renewed or upgraded since that was installed and the whole playground. So obviously, going forward, it would come down to things like... Well, we're certainly factoring things like specific requests from families or whatever

00:19:00 that have children with disabilities. I know that the Hinterland Playground incorporated certain elements into that. And I know that we're looking at renewing some tables and shelters down Gimpy Terrace, for example. And we're just working with the design team on tweaking the designs of the tables to allow for... Wheelchair access. Yeah. So it's all about dimensions inside. It is. In between the post and the slab and the approach and the sort of the entry and exit points. Yeah. So certainly something that's being incorporated into our work. Fantastic. Councillor Lorentson: Can I just share some information? The area outside the boathouse, that's where a lot of the seahorse nipper families congregate on a Friday afternoon. Yeah. So there's a picnic table right near there. So as part of that investigation, that area would be ideal.

00:20:00 Yeah. Thank you. Matt? Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. I'm glad you mentioned the access element. I'm assuming pathway links and actually linking to the shelter. That's right. Exactly. As part of that thing. Yeah. Speaker 7: Just to answer that one too, Councillor. As you know, we're doing a full master plan of Gimpy Terrace as well. So that will incorporate a number of those types of things as we go forward and making sure that we do allow for or if there's ideas. And you know how much... If you think back 20 years, 10 years and now, how much playgrounds have changed and park furniture has changed. And it's just a gradual thing. And as we renew, replace, we look for the bigger and better or more accessible or whatever it might be, types of equipment. So that's... It's really just a rolling program. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. I think in the report we actually... Park is mentioned and it's due for renewal in next... Speaker 7: Yeah. There's a number of... Yeah. Yeah. That's right. So we just need to have that in mind. And there's some more specific disability type furniture equipment that can be incorporated

00:21:00 now. So we just need to make sure that we've got that on our list as we go forward. Speaker 4: All abilities is the term. Sorry. All abilities. It is. I was looking for you. All abilities, say. Yeah. Yes. Speaker 7: Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: 2,000 parks and playground assets are on financial... On council's financial register. Natural assets. Trees. Where are trees captured? In particular, you know, trees are near these picnic tables. Yeah. Where is that captured in our asset management plan? Speaker 4: Yeah. So trees aren't considered financial assets, but however we are, we're working on a... So we've done audits in a lot of our precinct areas. So Gympie Terrace, for example, a few years ago we audited all the trees and captured them all. We assigned them an asset number and they are in our system mapped as assets and able to be referred to so they're logged and they're managed accordingly, but they're not financial

00:22:00 assets. We kind of have to treat them separately and I know that we're working on at the moment as part of the urban greening program or project where we're working with some of the other staff and council on a bit of a system there because we're going to be doing a lot of new planting throughout the urban area of Noosa and both road reserves and parks. So we're working on a system there and I'm having regular meetings about developing that. Wow. That's exciting. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. Speaker 5: Yeah. That's good. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. From that perspective, I would follow on from that question. Whilst they might not be a financial asset, they're clearly an asset. Absolutely. Speaker 4: They're clearly an asset. Absolutely. Councillor Jurisevic: We should document and capture and understand them and that way the condition assessments and all the rest of the... Yeah. That's right. Yeah. And those sort of things to follow through. So that would be an advantage to yourself. Yeah. That was regards to how you manage that asset gap. That's right. Speaker 4: And they're a major benefit to any open space with what they provide and the shade component

00:23:00 in itself. If you put them close enough to an asset that they're not going to actually damage it through root contact, but the shade itself, yeah, it's a way to go. Councillor Jurisevic: That's right. Speaker 4: It's a way to go. Councillor Jurisevic: From a maintenance perspective. Tree was known as tree number one, two, three, four, that you know that the limbs are, it's being audited, it's been assessed, the arborist has gone there, you know the limbs are secure or whether it needs trimming and the like. So... That's the benefit of it. From a management perspective, the arborist would see the benefits. Councillor Lorentson: But in terms of financial, there is a financial element with managing natural assets when you look at their life cycles or life management. When you look at future risk, climate change, we know bushfires, water scarcity has been one of the number one future climate risk. And that's got financial impact on trees when we've got thousands and thousands of trees in the Shire.

00:24:00 So somehow I think that's got to be captured somewhere in our financial asset management plan. Speaker 7: There's a lot of spin-offs though, a lot of consequences. If you monetise your assets, then it goes into our overall asset base as a council, which has a whole lot of spin-offs. Councillor Lorentson: Other implications and risk. Speaker 7: So that's the decision that's been taken in the past is we don't monetise them, but we certainly manage them. Yeah, we manage them. They're on a register, but they're not... Monetised as such. Monetised, yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Any further? Councillor Lorentson: In terms of demographics, precinct demographics, a lot of our suburbs have changed a lot, and the people living in those suburbs have changed. I note in the report you've got usage, but do we actually understand who are using it and whether they're suitable for the demographic of that precinct? Speaker 4: Yeah. We...

00:25:00 It is quite difficult without doing actual, I suppose, surveys or that type of thing. Or the census. Councillor Lorentson: We've got the 2021 census, yeah. Yeah. Speaker 4: We probably needed a bit more work in that space to get a better handle on that. Yeah. As things change. Okay. Councillor Jurisevic: I ask a similar question. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. And in terms of even dogs, I've got a situation at Rainbow Park where it's frequented by both residents and lots and lots of dog owners. And there's with dogs on lead, and there's no fresh water tap there. In fact, there are no taps at all at Rainbow Creek. So it'd be great, again, in terms of usage to break it down to not just kids and people that use it, but also who've got pets. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: I think that we, remember we have a park without a tap, and much of them... Speaker 4: Yeah, Rainbow Park doesn't have a tap. If you use it, yeah, it's a lot of... It's just to do with the accessibility to the nearest mains and the cost involved and...

00:26:00 Councillor Lorentson: It's on my list of council initiatives, Jase, I remember that, yeah. I'm going to need you to say... Yeah, I think so. Absolutely, it is. Yeah, that's right. You see where I'm going with all my questions. Generally. Councillor Jurisevic: Off the top of my head, but there's your people that you've picked on that I wasn't aware of. Councillor Lorentson: And just another idea that I'll throw at you while I have the opportunity, do we have a sign, you know, I'm thinking of public toilets. When you go into a public toilet at a shopping centre, for example, it'll say the last time that someone visited and maintained. Can we do something similar? Because, again, one of the many requests that I get is when was the last time we actually had council staff maintain? And I was in a situation just recently at North Orient Park, and I really commend Ryan, Kelsey, you've got some fantastic staff that work in parks and playground, but they had been there recently, but no one in the community knew.

00:27:00 So that's just an idea if there's an access or a public information sign where we could just make a note or next visit will be such and such a date. Speaker 4: Yep, so... I oversee the management of the cleaning of public amenities contract, which is our major cleaning contract, covers all the park amenities blocks and a few other things. It's coming up for the tenders expiring at the end of August, so the 1st of September will be a new, and we're doing the procurement and developing and refining the specifications for that at the moment. And that, what you just suggested, is something that we've already identified in terms of something. It's something similar to what the shopping mall toilets have, where they're last cleaned and signed by the cleaning contractor, and I agree it would definitely sort out a lot of those complaints that we all get.

00:28:00 I know you guys receive a few, but we get a few as well, and a lot of the time, they're asking the question, but the reality is that the cleaner has just been there within a few hours previous, yeah, so yeah, it'll definitely help. Councillor Jurisevic: Can I add to that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The sort of future needs, where amenities should be considered. What drives where an amenities block may or may not be situated? Those sorts of things... It's a good question. Speaker 7: Yeah, and that's part of the planning and master planning exercise that's going on for the bigger areas. Councillor Jurisevic: I guess I are, so that's one of the questions I sort of was going to ask. Amenities wasn't something I specifically mentioned, but that's the sort of thing that I was alluding to in the major questions. Speaker 7: And I guess that's part of, with the changing environment, changing demographic, we need to consider all those. You know, some of the parks may no longer need to be the type of park that they are.

00:29:00 They could be something totally different. Some may need amenities because they become bigger or they're in a different area now or different, you know, there's a different demographic around them. All that needs to be considered. We're certainly considering the all abilities, change rooms, toilets, that type of stuff going into some of our parks as well. Because, you know, we've recognised that there's a need for those things. But again, it all comes down to planning, budgets and time to get it done. So, you know, we've got it on our radar, but we just not. Councillor Jurisevic: Of course, at the times I've been asked, usually mum with young kids or mum, suddenly someone needs to go to the toilet. What do you do? Speaker 7: Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Drop their strides into being a park. Speaker 7: Yeah. It must be, the teams that we've got now in place, we're far more able to react and able to plan for that type of change. Now than we ever have before, I think. Councillor Wilkie: All right, thanks for the report. Thank you for the report. The most striking thing about it is the condition, actually, value by asset class graph on page three.

00:30:00 And if I'm reading it correctly, it shows that $9 million worth of the assets are in reasonably good condition, condition two, but about eight and a half million are in really poor condition. Have I read that right? Speaker 6: You have? Yeah. I'll fill this one in as well. Councillor Wilkie: Sure. Yeah, so the question I have is, we seem to be doing record capital works programs every year. It's astonishing the amount of work the team's doing. Are we, when I see a profile like that, it begs the question, are we allocating funds in the right way when we've got so many assets in a poor condition, a state that you hope to avoid with a park? Yeah. Speaker 6: So, with those assets that are in condition five, a lot of them are age based. Now, with the data we have, a lot of those are your seats or wood that's out there on your tables and so on.

00:31:00 Now, I believe a lot of those have been replaced over the course of their life cycle. That's an audit we're going to undertake as well with Matt's team. And we're... So, we may go out to contract for that as well. So, the high volume there, I do believe they are lower than that, just based on age and how we capture things in the system. We know the date of when it was installed, but you can have an age of 10 years for your useful life on these tables or chairs, but they can go past that as well. But that's just... That's just purely how long we expect them to last. Councillor Wilkie: Are we sweating these assets too long? Councillor Jurisevic: Mm-hmm. Councillor Wilkie: Matt? And do we need to allocate money in a different way to ensure that we keep these assets in a better condition when it comes to the budget more?

00:32:00 Speaker 4: Yeah, look at... Is it... Councillor Wilkie: Is the $4 million enough annually? I don't know if I read that right in the report. Speaker 4: Yeah. So, again, I think it comes down to the hierarchy of where the parks are located and the overall usage. We have... As I was saying, we've got a lot of parks. Mm-hmm. I think there's about 20 plus... Around about 20 parks just in Noosa Waters alone. They're all pocket parks from developers and things like that. So, they will have assets in them to some degree. Like, it might just have one table, but the park doesn't get used as often as others. They can deteriorate... They can deteriorate just from the weather or they can deteriorate from use. Yeah. So, where they're deteriorating from use, obviously, the parks that are more popular and highly frequented... Yes. ...the assets, the condition drops quicker, and that's when we tend to do the renewals and the replacements. Councillor Wilkie: So, what Adam was saying, age-based assessment, if they're in these parks that are rarely used,

00:33:00 there can be an asset that is 10 years old, and that's technically the end of its life, but it's still got life in it because it's only been used that much. Speaker 4: Yeah. And it can have a lick of paint or a bit of a sand and oil, and then it's good to go for another few years. And we know that it's not getting the pressure of the wear and tear on it. It might just be the sun and the rain that makes it sort of weather a bit, and we can just do a maintenance repair. Okay. Councillor Wilkie: So, is there another way of assessing these assets that would give a profile that's more... that doesn't give such an alarming picture? Because I'm sure you would have reposed those assets if they were in poor condition. Hmm. Speaker 6: Denially poor condition. Yeah. We can manually change the condition of an asset within the system. Just a full audit would need to be undertaken with 2,000 separate assets. It's getting the... Yeah. It's getting the right stuff, or whether we go to contract for that, to look at those.

00:34:00 And then... So, it is a task, but it's one that we're planning for. Councillor Jurisevic: Well, then, as you go to take an inspection, you can see that the asset is... Does it need maintenance? Does it need maintenance? Is it replacing? And then, as a result of that inspection, you could go back and reclassify that asset as per what its actual condition is, as opposed to... You know, inspect and identify level of asset knowledge. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. So, that feeds into another question I had on page two. There was... It said, any assets that have reached condition five will be included in the relevant renewals program of the 10-year Capital Rewards Program. So, my understanding is you'd want to renew it before it reaches. In an ideal world, you'd want to renew it before it reaches condition five? Speaker 7: Not necessarily. So, this is... This is one we talked about, as well. But level five... Level five is essentially the trigger.

00:35:00 Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. Speaker 7: To then put it in. And when we say it goes into the 10-year capital plan, it doesn't mean it goes into year nine of the capital plan. It just means that that's how we have a 10-year capital plan. So, it just goes into the plan, if you call it the plan. And if it's really... Like, if it's a wooden seat that's down in Gimpy Terrace that's subject to weather and usage and just wears out quicker, and it gets to level five, and it might be that we know it's got a year left and then we've got to replace it. Or if it's something in a smaller park that's not used, but we know it's at level five because of time, you then put it into the 10-year program, and it might be at year four or five because we know it's got plenty of life left in it. That's what that means. It's just a trigger. Level five doesn't mean that it's at the end of its life, it just means it's a trigger to then be addressed. Councillor Jurisevic: That's exactly how I read the same question that I asked. Condition five, to me, is it's too late. Yeah. It's reaching. In your... In the way this asset management plan is working. Condition five is the time when you say, right, now is the time we need to plan for its replacement.

00:36:00 Councillor Wilkie: So, condition's not necessarily for its approaching replacement time, or the approaching life cycle. Speaker 7: Yeah. And it needs to be addressed. It now needs to be scheduled for the next... Speaker 6: Correct. Condition five is when you make the assessment, is it disposal, is it replacement? Yeah. Or is it... Yeah. It's dilapidated. Yeah. Speaker 7: That's right. Exactly. Yeah. Thank you. All of those. Councillor Jurisevic: That clarifies it. Thank you. Because that was one of my questions as well. Yeah. You know? Councillor Lorentson: In terms of the Cooroy Hinterland Playground, has the cost of that impacted on levels of services and management of the other parks within the Shire? Speaker 4: Yeah. So, the Cooroy Playground is still on maintenance. So, it's still within its first 12 months. It's coming off pretty soon. But it's still on being maintained by the contractor that built it. Okay. Councillor Lorentson: So, the impacts will be seen next... Speaker 4: Yes. We've factored it into the next financial year.

00:37:00 All of those costs. Yeah. The maintenance costs and things. Speaker 7: So, we've got additional staff. This is always part of the overall plan. I see. When it gets handed over. We have additional staff and additional resource that goes into maintaining that park. Councillor Lorentson: Okay. So, in terms of staff, I've had some concerns raised in the community. In particular, after the realignment, our parks and gardens, I think, are merging. And the question I've been asked by a resident is, does that mean we're... Will our parks be adequately staffed? Speaker 5: Through the Chair, Councillor Wamsum, that's actually off topic from an executive... Councillor Lorentson: Oh, excuse me. Speaker 5: But we're very happy to respond in that there is specific work that's being undertaken within our depot environment at the moment. And that's to work towards a multi-skilled workforce. I'm very happy to work with that particular resident that may have some concerns.

00:38:00 But please note that the standards of service that was counselled with us today is the standard service that we'll be delivering tomorrow. What we're trying to work towards and achieve, and there's very significant work that Larry, Brian and the team are delivering in the depot, is how can we have our workforce more skilled to deliver more and very different types of works, taking away from an old traditional structure, which made us be, if you're parks and gardens, that's all you do. And if you're a civil ops, that is all you do. So, a more modern way of delivering local government outdoor services. On a multi-skilled basis. So, MSWs, or multi-skilled workers, is a process that is being undertaken. We're working closely with the unions on that as well, because it is a change. But please note that is somewhat different to the functional realignment that the organisation has gone through, and it's specific to the depot. And it's somewhat off topic when we're talking about asset management plans. Councillor Jurisevic: I'll challenge you a bit on that, because the term of asset management is maintenance

00:39:00 of the assets and that kind of thing. So, having the workforce and the capability delivering on that maintenance and the assessments and the like, requires a multi-skilled workforce to be able to not only prepare them, but to be able to assess them and see how they go through. So, I welcome the opportunity for multi-skilled workers. And I think that offers a bit more variety and challenges in the everyday work environment as well. And I thought I could afford to implore you to welcome that opportunity as well. Speaker 5: Well, Chair, through Larry, Brian and also Matt, that's all the team's working towards. We've gone on the days of the silo, if you do one thing, you'll go on one thing only. But we're working towards that. It is a sensitive issue. We're talking about long-term employees that are having changes to their day-to-day work. So, there is some elements there. But note that the team that are managing and leading the depot are undertaking this task. It's somewhat difficult. But working with unions and key leaders within that workforce, they're doing a great job

00:40:00 to transition to what is a more modern, contemporary way of delivering an outside, multi-skilled workforce. Councillor Lorentson: Chair's got a hand up. Councillor Jurisevic: I'm trying to see if Amelia's finished first. Councillor Lorentson: Oh, good. Thank you, Joe. Amelia, Claire. Mayor Stewart: Oh, thanks, Joe. Quick question. Larry, when you're talking about those levels, the conditions, sort of condition four, condition five, and we look then and determine whether it's a new or a new upgrade, some of those things you're talking about, and they are minor works with park benches or lattice work in a rotunda or something in a park, can that potentially be brought into those – what we're looking at in the budget, which is potentially having those pools of funds for minor capital works? And that can sort of be a follow-over from that. So if we do see something that needs immediate attention or the community member draws it to our attention, we can action it pretty quickly through the potential of that new

00:41:00 pool of funding? It's not being approved. Speaker 7: I don't know the new pool. Mayor Stewart: If we – Speaker 7: No, I think – sorry. I think the answer to that is if it's urgent work, then we get it done anyway through our own maintenance programs. We've got the ability to do that. That's how we're set up. So we can do that. If it's something that's a little bit left of centre that may not be prioritised right now that needs to be brought forward, then that's certainly something we're talking about in terms of our budgets going forward and how we have that ability to do that. So yeah, we'll cover it no matter what, I think is probably the thing. If it's urgent, emergent and risk to Council, then we would sort that through our own day-to-day because we have the ability to do that. And then there's other things that are, you know, maybe lower down on the priority list that for some – for whatever reason, because we've only got a limited budget, then they're the things we can talk about in the new budget as we go forward.

00:42:00 Councillor Jurisevic: Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? No. Another question? No, thanks Shane. Councillor Wilkie: You've got some questions. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. So along the lines of what Mia was asking and one of the questions I asked is annual reactive versus preventive maintenance budget. Obviously, timber assets require oiling on a preventive maintenance and you would schedule that in for, I don't know, an annual, six-monthly, two-year, whatever. Yeah. Depending on the – Whatever. Periodic maintenance. So periodic maintenance versus you come to the asset, we're going to do the painting, we go, oh, we can see the rock here, there's no point applying the oil until this piece of the timber is replaced. Reactive maintenance. So that element comes in. So in – not quite the pools of the maintenance but how it's – the division of the maintenance budget, there's got to be an element of reactive maintenance and an element of preventive maintenance or ongoing maintenance.

00:43:00 Yeah. So do we have a break-up of that within that maintenance budget or do we specifically just have a maintenance budget and reactive elements are handled in a different way? Speaker 4: So I can ask that one, Chair. So within our operational maintenance budget, which we sort of manage internally in my team, we do have those situations covered for. We have probably – I'd say it's, at a guess, it's probably about 60% that preventative schedule sort of proactive. So it's your sanding and your oiling and your painting and your soft wall replacements. Grease and oil. Councillor Jurisevic: Grease and oil. Speaker 4: Grease and oil. And then we do find things, as you say, through our inspections and our attendance at these – at the parks, we find things that are broken and a bit of vandalism, graffiti, things like that. They get covered as well within – so there's elements of our budget where we're allowed for an itemised, you know, broken bits of equipment and having to buy replacement parts

00:44:00 for playgrounds, some timber, you know, just things like that. They definitely get factored into it. So we allow for both. And I reckon it's about a 60% – 60-40, yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Okay. That answers that question. And that's one of the things that I often get asked is that how come that's not getting repaired? Isn't there any money in the budget? Clearly there is. Speaker 4: There's often delays as well because some of your specialist parts for playgrounds can take a few months to order. So we'll order them as soon as we're aware of the issue. But then, yeah, we might have to, you know, secure that piece of, you know, bunt it off, make sure that no one can use it. And we are starting to now also put signs giving a bit of a why and a bit of a timeframe so we don't get all the complaints and the CRMs yet. Councillor Jurisevic: The more information you provide, the better informed the public are to understand the

00:45:00 wrongs and reasons behind that issue. Well, that's great. Glad to hear that. Speaking – and Blake had mentioned graffiti. It's one of the questions that came up as I was reading through it. It suggested graffiti wasn't reactive maintenance. Graffiti clearly is reactive maintenance. And even in the schedule there, it said graffiti – I've seen graffiti within 24 hours or something else. So why is graffiti not considered reactive maintenance when clearly it is a reactive maintenance? That might be semantics in the way the report's written. But I read that graffiti wasn't considered as reactive maintenance. But clearly the way it's addressed is reactive maintenance. So – I think that cleared itself up there. But I – No, it says – But one element within the table suggests it wasn't. Councillor Lorentson: Page 24. Page 24, graffiti. That table does say it's reactive maintenance? It says it's reactive and responded – emergencies responded to the same day. Reactive maintenance – Councillor Jurisevic: There was somewhere else where I didn't get that.

00:46:00 Speaker 4: Oh, yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: I didn't get that impression. Then later on I did get that impression. Speaker 4: Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: There might be an element of semantics within the report where graffiti's handled is just not referred to in the same way. Speaker 4: So any graffiti in parks, we're on to it straight away as soon as it comes to our attention, depending obviously on the volume. But anything that's obscene or anything like that, we're out straight away, get rid of it. If it's just something – a tag or something like that, we'll get to it within 10 days or as soon as we possibly can. Councillor Jurisevic: Do we still use youth justice to deal with offenders of graffiti, dealing with graffiti? Speaker 4: Yeah, we take photos of the graffiti and send it through. There's a hotline for it. Councillor Jurisevic: But do we actually get the offenders coming back and clearing up their graffitis or having a pass? Speaker 4: Not through council that we're aware of, no. Councillor Jurisevic: Is that something we can – I know it has happened in the past. Speaker 4: Is that something we can look at again? Yeah. I'd have to look into that. Councillor Wilkie: Community development more and more. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah, I understand. Yeah. Frank asked a question about the Condition 5.

00:47:00 That was sort of the way it read. You know, we're waiting for it to come to the end of its life before that. And that's clearly not the case. Condition 5, we know, we've seen it on the program. It's scheduled for replacement. Correct. So one would think that good preventative and reactive maintenance would help prolong the life of most equipment beyond that time period provided it's, you know, it's not abused or challenged in some other way, shape or form of life, you know, and in a – in a weather condition or the like. I've asked about reactive maintenance. How do we determine renewal along the lines of what Amelia was asking? You know, how do we determine renewal as like-for-like versus upgrades or for more and better equipment, different, longer-lasting? So how do we – how do we make the valued assessment on upgrades and whether we just

00:48:00 go with the same type and style, we actually look at what is better, longer-lasting, more facilitating, i.e., you know, hardwood requires a lot of maintenance. Is hardwood the ideal product to stick in the ground, for example, or to make seats out of that need to be oiled on a frequent basis and why? I know the looser-looking fuel comes into this a lot, but time has moved on. Hardwoods are a limited resource. Where does sustainability come into the elements of asset renewal? Speaker 4: So just to get back to your original part of that is renewal in terms of that in the asset world is a like-for-like or a modern-day equivalent replacement. An upgrade is a bigger and better or changing the – the – the – the – the – the – say it's a playground, changing it to – Councillor Jurisevic: Two swings to two swings in the slot. Speaker 4: So it's changing the overall function. Yeah, changing the function or adding an element, that sort of thing.

00:49:00 So with renewal, when we renew something like-for-like, it's not absolute like-for-like. It's using the modern-day materials, the technologies that are – and we try – we always try to go for as low a maintenance as possible and using – And the opportunity for sustainability. Absolutely, yes, using materials that are sustainable, environmentally friendly and all that. So – and at the moment, the Noosa design principles is – is under review by the – by the design run through the infrastructure planning and delivery design branch. And I've had – myself and Brian have had a lot of input into that. Councillor Jurisevic: Well, they've got a workshop coming up shortly. Speaker 4: Yeah, and we've had a lot of input lately into – around the – the maintenance side of it and the materials side of it. So, yeah, that's certainly something that every time something comes up for renewal and is considered with design and – and all that, that we definitely try to incorporate the – the best possible solutions.

00:50:00 Councillor Jurisevic: One question I do have with regard to the graphs is figure six. And I think this boils down to how I – how I interpret it. There are three lines below that 10 million figure. Yep. And there's one green line going up, which is an accumulator. It's the only line that's going up. And that's the only element of accumulation. Speaker 6: Correct. Councillor Jurisevic: Each of those is year on year. And each of those years has been – has been totaled to the previous year to – to create that – Yes. – green line going forward. Yes. That's all right. I didn't – didn't get it the first time. And when I looked at it again, I thought, this is the only way that this can make any sense. Speaker 7: Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: The last one is, there's no mention of the LEGIP in the – in the asset management plan. How do they relate? Point – 2.4 mentions identifying future demand forecasts, which we've spoken about a bit about here. And Amelia's talked about existing parks and – and infrastructure. So, what are the parameters that will determine future needs and how – how these will be determined? Is it through the – the LEGIP?

00:51:00 Is it – because that's – once assets have reached their – their end of life, is the LEGIP still – still staying at play? Mm. Classification of parks and the like? How does – how does the LEGIP and the – the asset management plan come together? Speaker 5: I – I can help answer that for the Chair. Yeah. So, the issue that we're facing around LEGIP or our particular Council is that we will have very limited growth into the future. Mm. So, LEGIP is there for when we have future growth and development to be able to deliver across the local government area. Councillor Jurisevic: Just for those online, local government infrastructure, please. Speaker 5: Thank you, Chair. The – yes, the – so, the problem that we're facing is that we have very limited, if any, future growth. And that the LEGIP is there to be able to look at the – the – the forward utilisation of developer contributions at the end of the day. So, how are we going to deliver those? And what does that actually mean? Councils across Queensland are no longer sitting on large development contribution reserves

00:52:00 that really aren't being spent, and the developer's unsure where they're going. We, as a Council, will have to self-fund our future renewals, because we're not then in a position of receiving new equipment or new parks coming from the developer, because we have limited development opportunities. So, it is definitely one for us that, from an asset management planning perspective, this work is extremely important, because we'll then need to be able to inform what our future budget is going to be in the renewal, replacement, refurbishment, have it what we will, what we do with each individual and your particular park groups that we have. So, it's setting the standard. What is – what is the standard of service in each individual park? What's the categorisation of that park into the future? And then, how will we review that? And we do know that when neighbourhoods with young kids grow to older kids, that mum and dad then pick up the phone at the Council and say, that piece of equipment isn't really fit for purpose for us anymore.

00:53:00 We want to see a basketball court, or we want to see a skateball, or something of the like. So, legit into the future for us is not a tool that can be a predictor, unless there is a change and there's further growth and development. Councillor Jurisevic: So, one of the things that we could potentially look at is across a suburb, for want of a better terminology, look at different categories of equipment within that, catering for younger, next age group, maybe four or five different categories of park with different elements catering for different age and needs that might facilitate a range of uses. Yep. Speaker 7: That's part of the broader planning exercise as well. Because you've got to look at that new look of hierarchy of parks. And for these guys, it's hierarchy of parks in terms of maintaining the furniture that's

00:54:00 in there, or the grass, or the trees, whatever it might be. But then, it's a matter of what equipment goes into those particular parks on hierarchy. And that changes, as we talked about before, with demographics. And that's interesting. Councillor Jurisevic: You've got to provide the different services so we just need to provide a mix that caters for a blend and that's why I use the Legip as the example thinking as a CEO because the Legip is what starts us and gets us here in the first place but once we're not growing anymore the Legip ceases to give us that direction so in that renewal process exactly the sort of thing I'm alluding to here. How do we then look at what we upgrade to or change to or can we put in a blend and a mix that caters for a range of age groups or a range of uses? Speaker 7: No question, that's what we are doing and I guess I think Gympie Terrace is a classic example of that. It's doing the master plan of that, understanding what the usage is, you know, it's the disabled or the all abilities tables, it's the all abilities swings and play equipment.

00:55:00 It's just... All of that needs to be brought into it and that, you know, gets its own, it gets its own master plan, own plan that we deliver against it. Councillor Jurisevic: So from an all abilities perspective, how many all abilities and where do we situate them across the region so that everybody has one within a particular, a particular region, within about five kilometres or ten kilometres or in a suburban area that a park is no more than certain, Yeah. 800 metres, for example, from the near, from the, from the ferns residence or something like that. And we have a formula to find... Speaker 7: To be honest, I think we'll capture a lot of that and this, Kim's going to head down on a computer, but the placemaking. Placemaking, absolutely. You know, we do it in Pomona first, but then as we move along, that's exactly what that should capture, because that's the community feedback saying we want this and we need this and this is what suits our, our community, so that's where we'll capture it.

00:56:00 Councillor Jurisevic: If that's where our asset management plan for the future... Speaker 7: Well, it all ties in together, so it's a, it's a whole group, it's not just these guys who are selecting equipment and putting it in there, it's being advised by the other groups in council to say this is what we need. Councillor Jurisevic: As to what's appropriate and where it's appropriate. Speaker 7: Absolutely. Councillor Jurisevic: And that's, again, the legit was the driver of that, so I'm looking for the future as to how we continue to view and review. Speaker 7: And that's exactly what we're doing and that's what part of the realignment's all about, it's all about just making sure that we all talk to each other and don't just go like for like as there is. Councillor Jurisevic: That we aren't, that we aren't walking, you know, we aren't walking beyond, we're talking to all the other elements of the council and the community to ensure that we, we meet their needs. Yep. Another question, Amelia? Councillor Lorentson: In terms of the hierarchy, Matt, can I just ask a couple of questions? So the parks and playgrounds have been classified in accordance with the service it provides, there's a hierarchy or a criteria that helps you understand which level a park fits into.

00:57:00 A couple of questions, environmental value, so we're looking at economic, we're looking at usage, does the environmental... Does that sit under cultural reasons? Sort of not spelled out that the environmental value of a park should be somehow listed. Again, I use Orient North Park where it's got identified casuarina trees for our vulnerable species, the glossy blacks. So how is the importance of the vegetation captured within the criteria? Speaker 4: Good question. Speaker 6: So the hierarchy, as it stands, is based on the service it provides. So when we're bringing natural values into there, this is primarily looking at, the asset management plan looks at it from that, from the financial aspect and what we have on our

00:58:00 register currently. So that's what drives that. So in terms of purely, purely natural, it would not affect the... The hierarchy as much if it's just a purely an open space. Speaker 7: Okay. The way we've structured it in this organisation, that's natural areas and environment that have that sitting under their, under their watch, if you like. And that's where, you know, you've got to, you've got to draw sort of lines somewhere. And that's where, in terms of the types of trees, if, if, you know, they, if they've got a question on that, they would go to natural areas and environment to understand what those trees are, are used for currently and what the, if they need to be replaced, what they're replaced with or should they be kept because they're of a, of a certain value. But that's where we've got to work in together. There's, there's not just one department and that's where we, we are getting much better at. Yep. In making sure that we don't just go off on our own tangent or our, our own silo. Councillor Jurisevic: Sorry, just one other question. Page seven of the Asset Management Plan, on level three, it refers to Parklands Park in

00:59:00 Tewantin. I'm assuming that's Heritage Park. That should be Heritage Park or Parklands Park? Councillor Lorentson: Yes, probably. Councillor Jurisevic: Can we just clarify... Speaker 4: Parklands is the... Councillor Jurisevic: Parklands is the region, Heritage Park is the park, yeah? Yep. Can we just clarify that and make sure that that's actually correctly described by the park manager? Speaker 7: Yep. Speaker 4: Sure. Councillor Jurisevic: I don't think any... When I looked at Parklands Park I was going, well the only park you're referring to is Speaker 4: Heritage Park. Yeah, there's no, there's no Parklands Park. No. Councillor Jurisevic: I think that's just a... Speaker 4: Yep. Councillor Jurisevic: A technical type of... That's right. That's all right. Councillor Lorentson: And just one last question with a criteria description, level four, infrequent use each week. It'd be interesting why the park isn't used a lot and it could be as simple as, and again, this is just on the street, it doesn't have a barbecue facility, it doesn't have a basketball hoop, doesn't have a tap for the dogs to walk through, so it'd be great to break that down

01:00:00 because to me it's a wasted asset. And maybe we can maximise the use if we looked at, you know, what needs to be added there. Yep. Councillor Jurisevic: One of the things that if a park is underutilised, maybe we need to go and talk to the community and say, what do we need to put in this park to make it more accessible or more interesting or more valuable to the community as an asset to be utilized? Yep. Speaker 4: I know of some parks that my staff go to maintain and the softball doesn't even have a footprint in it. And the softball under the swing seat or something. Yep. And so it's clear that no one's using it. And it could be that the demographics have changed and there's no young kids there anymore. Councillor Jurisevic: Maybe that's the time when we need to go out to the community if we're looking at that asset and say, maybe do a bit of a letterbox up around and say, well, are you using the park? What can we do to make the park more interesting for you? Are the current level of equipment in the park suiting your local communities?

01:01:00 Councillor Wilkie: Happy to read the recommendation, Mr. Chair. Councillor Jurisevic: I'll take a second then. I haven't taken anything or moved anything today. Claire, nothing further from you? All good. All in favour? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Councillor Lorentson: Aye. Aye. I don't realise you've got three other list of questions. That's right. It's an important asset. Speaker 7: Yeah, absolutely. Councillor Lorentson: It is. Councillor Jurisevic: Thanks, guys. Item three, tourism, noosaf funding agreement. Mayor Stewart: I have a declarable conflict of interest in this matter, so I don't have to look at the wall, but can you see it?

5.3 TOURISM NOOSA FUNDING AGREEMENT ¶

▶ 01:01:47· Carried unanimously 3-0 from council's minutes

01:02:00 Okay. Can you see it on your screen? No, I can't. Mayor Stewart: I have a declarable conflict of interest in this matter because I have a friendship with hang on, Kat, is it up there? It should be on the board view, on your board view. Councillor Jurisevic: On your board view. Those online, if you're prepared with us, we're using a new system this month for the first time and we're just happy to attempt some of the challenges of some of the views that we've got. Mayor Stewart: I'll just share it. I'll just share it through Teams, by the moment. Can you see that, Clare? Councillor Jurisevic: Is that better? Clare, can you see that? Mayor Stewart: Hang on, Jo, I'm just... I'm just trying to get my... In through Teams. Is it email free, Kat? In through Teams. I'm sharing it in your Teams. Councillor Jurisevic: It's in Teams. Okay, hang on.

01:03:00 Mayor Stewart: Hang on. Sorry, guys. Okay. Yes, thank you, Kat. In accordance with... I, councillor Stewart, inform the meeting after a declarable conflict of interest in this matter. As Liam decreed you, Richard Truzanusa is a friend. As a result of my conflict of interest, I will now leave the meeting room while the matter is considered and voted on. Thank you, councillor Jo. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you, yeah. Thank you, Mayor Clare. We'll wait till the mayor is... Mayor Stewart: Hang on. Yep. Councillor Jurisevic: And done. All right. Mr. CEO, item 5.3 has your name as . Can we get the summary of the item? Speaker 5: Chair, thank you. I understand the intent is to have this particular item referred to the general committee. So, councillors, very happy to be able to talk through the report for you and take any questions that you might have to be able to help you go through that process for further consideration at the general committee. Councillor Jurisevic: Do you mind if I go first, Mr. Chair? Speaker 5: Yes.

01:04:00 The advice that I have is that, yes. I just haven't been informed. Councillor Jurisevic: Sorry. Speaker 5: Secondary consideration. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah, we were expecting a two footer. Yes, yes. Speaker 5: Councilors, tourism noosa. Councillor Jurisevic: Most of the chairs will leave. Speaker 5: Tourism noosa. The single largest contribution of funding that this council makes for any organisation. This is not a decision for this council to take lightly. Council does need time to be able to work through and deliberate the provision of funds to an entity that, yes, is the largest economic contributor to our local government area, But also an entity with 600 members. Those members also need to have the ability to be able to start to shoulder the load when it comes to funding and marketing and the delivery of services for this particular industry and sector. For me, just over 12 months in the role and having a background within tourism, I've taken a particular interest in this item for our council to ensure that we're able to enhance how we have governance overarching and overriding everything that we do for this particular funding that we provide.

01:05:00 Tourism Musa is an organisation that externally within the tourism sector has a fantastic reputation. Marketing is what they do and they do that very well. We know that because as a community we see the high level of tourism that comes through our particular community day in, day out. And it's why us as not just elected members of the council but council officers, our community as a whole are undergoing a destination management process. We do not want to see Musa love to death. But we do need to be able to have a strong tourism sector and a strong representative body. At this point in time, to have that representative body continue, this council has to make a decision as to how it funds that tourism body into the future. The recommendation that we have before you is about funding Tourism Musa at the same level that we have through previous agreements and through this current year into future years.

01:06:00 It doesn't preclude us to have special projects or other elements of funding added to Tourism Musa. But I do believe with that in mind, we need to be able to do that. Within the time that I've been here, that it has proven that we work with Tourism Musa on not only their efficiency and effectiveness as an organisation, but also their governance as an organisation as well too. The efficiency and effectiveness of Tourism Musa and future funding should be dependent on how they run their business. Because let's face it, they are running a business, it's a representative business of a co-operative of tourism businesses overall. But it's still a business that is 90% funded by tourism. We need to see how they will manage future funds and through efficiency and effectiveness, they can have further funding available for the different pieces of work that tourism and tourism Musa do.

01:07:00 But they need to be able to start to look internally first and look at what savings are available before coming to council and asking for more money. Or going to their members and working through what a new membership scheme or a membership program may be. Some of the great work that they've done in terms of funding tourism Musa and future funds, how do they monetise that work better for them and create better products? Have strong relationships with the numerous associations and representative bodies that our local government area has. How can they be leaders? For council to be able to provide these funds, really the basis of the funding and performance deed that you have before you is just that. It's providing funding, but it's contingent upon performance. Performance for Tourism Musa and Future Funds. Tourism Musa means that they need to have a four year strategic plan as approved by this council. They need to have an operating plan, very similar to what our council has to deal with with our governments. An operating plan that governs their 12 months aligned to budget so we know exactly what they're

01:08:00 doing and they also know exactly what they're doing and where they're going. And then a quarterly report to this council delivered by Tourism Musa, either to this committee or to the P&E committee that demonstrates that Tourism Musa has delivered against what that operating plan is. So three pieces of governance work that Tourism Musa will need to do. They'll also need to do an efficiency and effectiveness review as part of this agreement and they'll also need to take regular reviews of their board and the performance of the board as well too. So there is a lot that we have in there. We have briefed this through to you on three separate occasions. And we've done our very best to work with Tourism Musa as the funding receiver and take into account all of the views and requests from the council. There are some elements though that we haven't been able to achieve. One is having specific funding go to specific areas.

01:09:00 Tourism Musa is just not that advanced and at this point in time, until they have a strategic plan, an operational plan, quarterly reporting, it's very difficult for us to fund one or two specific areas and put that in place. So it's very difficult for us to go into a particular project bucket or piece of work. I think in the future we can get there by working with them. The agreement and the way it's been negotiated is a two plus two deal. So it pushes this through funding of this financial year and also next financial year and will be the second year of the next term of council before this needs to be decided upon by the council again. My recommendation to the council though is we start a lot earlier. We don't get to the stage where we are now in April and we're unsure as to how Tourism Musa will be able to operate if we don't provide that funding overall. The other element to this is that past 30 June 2025 there, if this is operating and working well, there's the ability to continue this for another two years.

01:10:00 So it's a two plus two deal. Funding remains static throughout that time. Tourism Musa will need to find their own efficiencies within their own business. If they are to look at having more funds available for marketing or wanting to do more activations or different projects, it doesn't preclude them from coming to this council with a great idea or coming to this council and saying, we'd like to take on some of the work that you're doing and do this on your behalf. If that's an opportunity, it's for this council table to decide on the strategic basis. I do know that there's two parts to our community. There's a part here that's very much saying, look, let's get in and let's support our tourism sector. And there's a big part of our community that's saying, well, this has impacted our lifestyle. This is causing amenity issues for us. I think this though is now a great opportunity to really set a line in the sand for Tourism Musa to be able to say, here are the very clear expectations of this council for what we want you to do with the money that we provide.

01:11:00 Here are the clear governance elements that we now have in place to ensure that we do that. Should you not do that, there are mechanisms for amenity by this council within this agreement. Those can even be as much as cancellation of this particular agreement overall, terminating it. So it's a serious document. It puts parameters around Tourism Musa that they haven't had before. It still provides the same level of funding for Tourism Musa. And our hope as a council is now that with very clear direction, they can get and deliver for our community. One part that I haven't touched on though is the destination management plan. Once the destination management plan is completed, our council and Tourism Musa have the ability to be able to sit around the table, review the outcomes of the destination management plan. And upon review of that, we can make amendments and changes to this agreement that's enshrined within this document there for you as well too. So councillors, not voted upon today.

01:12:00 That I absolutely understand. A referral to general. But I'm happy to take any questions that you may have. And we've tried to make a fair and balanced agreement with Tourism Musa. But it is one that is very much in the council's favour is the way that I've done that for you. I'm happy to take any questions. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you Mr CEO for the report. Excellent. A lot of work involved in that. I have some clarifying questions and I'll save my debate for next week. Could you elaborate on the DMP timeframe? When do we expect this work to be done? Yes. And how that will, at what phase of the agreement will that potentially affect the agreement? Will it be at the end of the first two year term or could it be earlier? I don't know. Speaker 5: Deputy Mayor, through the chair, I'll take that question in two parts. I might defer to the director for the timeframe around the DMP. And then I'm going to add some advice on the basis of that as to how that will affect and be delivered. Sure. So Kim, if I could defer to you on the DMP question.

01:13:00 Speaker 2: Thanks Scott. And through the chair. Councillor Wilkie, we are in the process of developing a discussion paper for the destination management plan. That will be the first stage of community engagement on it. That needs to go through council and through the PCG, which will happen I'm hoping in the next four to six weeks. And then we'll run a community engagement process around it. That process will very much inform the development of the destination management plan. My hope, as you know with community engagement processes, will go out for a certain amount of time. I think it will engender a lot of interest and potentially a lot of public debate. So it's a little hard to predict exactly how much time that process will take. We want to do it properly, thoroughly and get it right. It's a really important piece. So that could, you know, there could be a good couple of months in that process.

01:14:00 Then there's the development of the draft destination management plan that will again be worked through with council and the PCG and consulted on. I'd hope that we'd have it by the end of the year for council endorsement and consideration. That's our current timeframe. That's what we're working to. As you can see, I'm sort of allowing a little bit of flexibility in that because of the nature of the topic and the amount of interest I think it's going to garner. Councillor Wilkie: So out of that process could perhaps come a reshaping, a recrafting of the role of tourism noosa. Does this agreement give us any capacity to change the funding agreement with tourism noosa before the end of the first two year term, Mr CEO? Or is the agreement written away though as intervention at an earlier point? Speaker 5: Do the Chair, Councillor Wilkie? Absolutely it does.

01:15:00 So it's been written away that once the destination management plan is adopted by the council, I would recommend. Or we are coming into a decision. It's a caretaker election period. But within three months of that DMP being adopted by the council, I think it would be prudent for the council to be able to set a timeframe with tourism noosa to look at adjustments to this agreement. Letting it go longer just leaves it more open for debate. Once the council has made the decision on the DMP, I think three months, sit down with tourism noosa and say the reshaping in our view is this and here's how we'd like it to be taken forward. Have tourism noosa consider and come back with what they'd like to do. Councillor Wilkie: Okay, thank you. My next question, the funding agreement and the report makes reference to efficiency dividend which may involve, if they're demonstrated, if efficiencies are demonstrated, may involve the waiving of council's internal costs which are charged to tourism noosa.

01:16:00 Do we have a ballpark figure about what amount that is? Speaker 5: Through the chair, it's about $130,000 per annum. So it is significant and it is important that tourism noosa, if we as a council are, we're not going to fund you at any high level tourism noosa, but we're happy to help your bottom line, you also need to start to make efforts to improve your bottom line and your efficiency and effectiveness. So we're happy to start that process, but it's for tourism noosa to start to demonstrate that now. How can that business run better? Well, if you are running a better business, there should be more funds and there should be a better outcome to the community. Councillor Wilkie: So is it acting as a government centre? So if they're showing these efficiency, improved efficiencies, which will free up cash within their organisation, we then will reward them with more cash? Potentially. Speaker 5: Is that how it would work? Yeah, definitely. And utilise as a fairly standard tool. By waiving the internal costs. Yeah, and within government.

01:17:00 That's a fairly standard cause that you would utilise for ongoing funding agreements to put in an efficiency dividend and that we either fund you less to that amount, but we're not forcing tourism noosa on that at the moment, but we're very much pushing them into that direction that if they want to have more funds, be more efficient. Councillor Wilkie: The next question is about the contingency fund. The former funding agreement made provision or made mandatory that tourism noosa set aside $300 million. $250,000. Yes. For downturns in tourism visitation. They had to dip into those funds when COVID hit. Speaker 5: Yes. Councillor Wilkie: So to reduce that amount by $100,000 to $250,000. Yes. Are we, and tourism noosa, is it suggested that we're, as partners, banking on a reduction in the frequency of perhaps climate induced disasters or any other sort of impact on tourism?

01:18:00 Cost of living. Like the two greatest global threats at the moment are climate induced disasters and also cost of living. Yeah. We both have the potential to impact on visitation. Yes. So by reducing the contingency to $250,000, are we banking that that's less likely or are we doing it? What discussions were there around the adequacy of that amount? Speaker 5: Through the Chair, Deputy Mayor, it really is just capacity for tourism noosa to be able to replenish that reserve. That reserve had been extinguished. And the advice that they had provided was to be able to fully replenish that reserve would cause difficulties within that business. So we negotiated at a lesser level of $250,000. And it's more so about how the business is running and operating and its capacity to have available free cash, as opposed to taking those other elements into account. Something I think when the DMPs finalise, the potential for a revisit.

01:19:00 Yes. I think the DMP will also take into all of the other threats and changes to the tourism industry and impacts in the future. And prudent to work through them. But it was one of the key markers that came back when we had finalised the legal document that you had before you, was specifically around the capacity to replenish that reserve to the full level. And that was a concession that we made to help tourism with that. Councillor Wilkie: Okay. So that reserve is currently empty? Yes. Thank you. That's my understanding. Speaker 5: Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: I'll just sort of follow on from where Frank's left, in terms of the overhead costs that have been removed. In terms of CPI, Consumer Price Index, I note that the agreement has no mention of CPI. My question is, why? And is it reasonable to withhold CPI? And in my three years of working in the industry, I've been told that it's not reasonable

01:20:00 to withhold an agreement that hasn't factored in a CPI increase or a capped amount increase. Speaker 5: Through the Chair, given that most of our agreements are year to year, that would be dealt with, Councillor Lorentson, within each of those agreements at that time. We very rarely have a numerous multi-year agreement. So Tourism Noosa is an anomaly in that respect. So it's grant to grant is how we work. So that's why you won't see that CPI. But I think it's really important for Tourism Noosa receiving these funds, that they are able to demonstrate efficiency and effectiveness within their business. The ability for Tourism Noosa to free up cash into the future really is incumbent on Tourism Noosa, for them as an entity, to look at how they're running the business, and for Tourism Noosa into the future, to be able to demonstrate to this Council of, we've created these efficiencies and we've delivered these great outcomes. Council, if you fund us more, we can deliver these outcomes.

01:21:00 It shouldn't be a situation where Council more money, but we're still not changing our model or doing anything differently. So that's where we've taken it. The view is it's reasonable. It's been accepted by Tourism Noosa at this point in time. And we're happy to talk to the board of Tourism Noosa about that. But I think it's a good safeguard for this Council and it pushes more efficiency and effectiveness in the business. Councillor Lorentson: Again, just following on with Frank's question, the contingency fund. I note that I've got the previous agreement in front of me. It was called the Marketing Cash Contingency. And the cause of the agreement actually stipulates that the cash, the Marketing Cash Contingency, be used only for marketing purposes. It's not for any activity required outside. So wording is quite different in this agreement.

01:22:00 Can you explain or give me some details why and what the implications of that omission of marketing means? Speaker 5: Through the Shire Council, this is very much there for Tourism Noosa to be able to have funds in reserve for the future of Tourism Noosa. Should there be an event or something that occurs for that business that it may no longer operate. It is proven for Tourism Noosa to have some sort of safeguard in there. Noting this is a new agreement, totally redrafted into a funding and performance deed. There was the review of the previous agreement as part of this, but it was viewed to have a more robust document in a deed style that has a number of different elements to it. What does the $250,000 mean as a contingency fund? What it will ultimately is there on an agreed basis to work with Council if there is some sort of event that can be utilised, but it also has additional funds that then safeguard

01:23:00 the business into the future. And given that from a cash flow basis, we're providing funds immediately when they become due for Tourism Noosa. I think it's important for that business to have some funds available should there be an issue in the future. Councillor Lorentson: And that's, I note in the agreement, clause 11.1. Number two, the approval's got to be, sorry, any withdrawal funding out of the contingency fund has to actually meet with Council approval. So it has to go through Council. Speaker 5: And through the Chair, Council, because it's ultimately our money. Councillor Lorentson: Excellent. Speaker 5: And that's what does need to be understood, that these are Council funds. So, yeah, there's an additional safeguard in there. Councillor Lorentson: Councillor observer position. So I see there's an observer. I see there's an observer. Which means I'm excluded from any matters that are considered commercial and confidence. The past agreement actually gave a councillor observer under clause 20.5, the choice to

01:24:00 either sit as a councillor observer or they can elect to sit as a board director. That choice has been removed from this agreement. And can I ask? And I know the reasons. Just some details as to why this decision was made. Speaker 5: To the Chair, Councillor Lorentson, at the end of the day, I would dissuade any councillor from taking on a director position as a councillor. Director's liability first and foremost becomes an issue for anybody taking that particular role. There is the provision under the Local Government Act to be a director on a board of an entity that we fund. It immediately puts you, though, into a conflict of interest situation as well, precluding from budget or planning matters. But there are elements that make it what might seem as attractive to be on the director,

01:25:00 a director on a board, and to be able to vote and have a high degree of input. For a councillor, it actually creates a lot of impost for you delivering your role. The recommendation is always to be an observer and to really be there to help you. To be able to provide advice and assistance, to be able to understand how council funds are being spent by the entity and what the future for the entity is going to be in relation to how that affects council policy, and be able to report back to the council. So it's really an assisting role as opposed to a decision-making role. We've made the decision to fund. We have a robust agreement in place as to how our funds are to be spent. The observer role is really to understand and ensure that that is being delivered at that level. So I would not recommend that that be taken up. There is a provision under the Act that there's only very few circumstances that that really

01:26:00 should be undertaken. And that's why there's been that change there. In consultation with the council, we've ensured, though, that staff matters within Tourism Noosa have a degree of confidentiality about that. Like all staff matters. So it would be expected that you wouldn't be present for those staff matters. But if there are any financial matters that are demonstrating difficulties, it is absolutely the role of the observer to be able to understand those. And provide advice back to council so it can help and assist and remedy any situation that might occur. Councillor Lorentson: Efficiencies and effectiveness review. I note on page 163 of the Act that there is a provision under the Act that there is

01:27:00 one or twoando you be seen for the behaviour of the tourism provider. Was consideration given for an independent review? Speaker 5: commentary on table Through the Chair, Councillor Lorentson, I believe that it would still be delivered independently. That's the view that I would take. But I'll let Tourism Noosa the latitude to be able to deliver that. They know their business. They know their scope. It's a bit of a window of hope for them. I just really want to be able to see them deliver a better business for themselves and then efficiency and effectiveness review should deliver that. But if it's not to the satisfaction of council, again, we have remedy to that and we can have a discussion with Jerusalem about it. But I know that they, through discussions with the chair and the acting CEO, they are committed to be able to be delivering on that review and see that as an important part. Councillor Lorentson: And given it's an obligation that we've imposed on Tourism Noosa, who's picking up the cost for the review? Speaker 5: The chair, Tourism Noosa.

01:28:00 Councillor Lorentson: Tourism Noosa, yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Sorry, just to clarify on the question, Amelia, you were talking about the review of the board and the staff. Councillor Lorentson: Yep, it's a, some of it, Tourism Noosa's priority obligations and performance measures, one of their KPIs Frank, by 31st of December. They're required to undertake and provide council and efficiency and effectiveness review, scope and structure to be termed. So I'm envisaging that's going to have... Board skills. Absolutely, so board will be reviewed, Tourism Noosa reviewed, their workplace planning, everything will be reviewed. Councillor Wilkie: Yes, that's my understanding. My question was, who's going to do the review? The Tourism Noosa hired an external consultant. That's what I just asked. Speaker 5: Yeah. Through the chair, Deputy Mayor, look, this will be best delivered via an external. It's like auditing yourself. No, no, it's like, it'd be like auditing yourself.

01:29:00 But they pay for it. You know, not recommended. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Are you ready, Councillor? Not on anything here, Mr Chair. Councillor Stockwell, and the audience has a question. Councillor Lorentson: I've got some more questions, thank you, through the chair. All right. In terms of events, there's lots of reference in terms of duplication. Can you explain... So TN and Council will take reasonable steps to avoid any duplication of funding. So what does that mean? So currently, we have some events that put applications for funding through TN, and also, through Council. Does this preclude them? They've got to make a decision, one or the other? Can you explain how that's going to work? Speaker 5: Yeah. Through the chair, Councillor Lorentson. And look, events are... Let's put it this way. It's a scramble egg right now, is the issue that we're dealing with.

01:30:00 We provide funds to Tourism Noosa. Tourism Noosa then administer those funds through a grant program to events. And then we have those event organisers that may or may not be successful then come to the Council and ask for more money. Ultimately, it's still Council money. So through the functional realignment of the organisation, we've split events within the Council business. We've elevated that to be within the environment and strategy team led by Kim as our director in that department. And it really is a sit down with Tourism Noosa to be able to look at the funding that they are delivering for events. How events are being managed within Noosa. And ultimately, how we stop the duplication of roles and how we stop the duplication of funding. We can't be in the position to be able then fund through one entity and then provide funding through us as the primary entity. There needs to be a better way of doing this. And we're really open to working with Tourism Noosa around that. Is it a role that's best served with TN? Is it a role that's best served just within Council?

01:31:00 Something for us to work through jointly. What doesn't leave Council, though, is within our property team where the land use permitting is delivered. That still stays there as merely a regulatory and compliance function. That continues within that team. But how we look at, let's say, our top 20 events, either on a profit or not-for-profit basis, how we help work with them with funding, and what Tourism Noosa's role is in that, is something that we'll work through as a team. And we'll work through that and then we'll see what happens in the outcome of this agreement. Councillor Lorentson: And this is just for everyone's information, and I think a lot of people know, Tourism Noosa sponsor 13 1-3 events throughout the calendar year. Eight of those actually have regional and hinterland dispersal. I just think that's a really important stat that needs to be shared. Speaker 5: And through the Chair, Councillor Lorentson, regional and hinterland dispersal, ultimately Council funds. So, while Tourism Noosa's administering this, ultimately that money is Council money going

01:32:00 through. So, important point to understand on that as well, too. Councillor Jurisevic: So, just to clarify, that's Tourism and Events, Queensland's funding of the events. Is that it, Amelia? Should we go to Brian in the meantime? Councillor Lorentson: Yep, go to him. Brian? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So, I've got a couple of queries in regard to the total quantum analysis. One is about allocation of funding. The first one is about the specific nature of the two plus two is. So, is it at TN's discretion to continue on the two years? Is it mutually agreed, or is it Council's discretion whether we continue on the agreement for the second two year period? Speaker 5: Through the Chair, Councillor Stockwell, it would need to be mutually agreed. And given that we now have very clear government's parameters, it would become more clear and closer to the end of the agreement, if not earlier, if they were not being met.

01:33:00 It would be an easier decision and discussion for the Council to have. So, now that we have, there's no ambiguity in our relationship anymore, but it should be a joint decision as to whether the parties continue for the next two years. But, yeah, a decision for the future. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And the second part, then, is currently, as it sits, there is no allocation within the different roles of TN. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: But there's a requirement for them to adjust to the Destination Management Plan. So, is it sufficient within the current drafting of the agreement, such that when the Destination Management Plan, if Council wants to shift the percentage of allocation between, say, marketing and sustainability and other aspects of their business, is it sufficient flexibility within the agreement as well to achieve that in years two,

01:34:00 three and four? Speaker 5: Through the Chair, it's written with that intent, Councillor Stockwell, that, look, we can't wait for the DMP is the issue. So, I've spoken about scrambled eggs before, we've got chicken and eggs here. We would dearly love to have the DMP inform this now. We're just not there yet. Tourism Noosa need funding, certainly, coming into the new financial year. But the very clear marker point within this agreement is the DMP, and it is a sit down of what the outcomes of what the DMP was, what is the role of Tourism Noosa in the future, and how we work together to be able to deliver that. But, yes, it's written with the intent that the Destination Management Plan is a very important component, and it's a point for both parties to sit down and discuss what the future then holds. Councillor Lorentson: That's it. Councillor Jurisevic: Moved? Speaker 5: Any further Councillors? Councillor Jurisevic: Happy to move. Moved Councillor Lorentson to adjourn. I'm moving it to general. To general, yes. Yes, to move to general to adjourn.

01:35:00 And seconded by who? Councillor Wilkie. Councillor Wilkie's seconded. That would be, if it was, to move to general to adjourn. As everyone agrees? Yes. All in favour? Carried. Speaker 5: We'll have to get the Mayor back in. I'll just cancel it. Councillor Jurisevic: I'll wait for the Mayor if you want to. Speaker 5: I still have another 22 minutes. Councillor Jurisevic: And we're back on this. Speaker 5: That's right. Councillor Jurisevic: I'm still on mute. Alright, we'll move to Item 4. Item 4, the proposed lease tenancy to the Bridges Digital Hub. We've got Kim Rawlings, our Director. Give us a bit of an overview. Speaker 2: Sure, thanks. Councillor Gerozzi. Chris Bowden, our Director of Digital Hub, is on a well-deserved break.

5.4 PROPOSED LEASE TENANCY FOR PEREGIAN DIGITAL HUB ¶

▶ 01:35:47· Carried unanimously 4-0 from council's minutes

01:36:00 So that's why I'm stepping in for him. This report recommends a Council agree to a commercial lease for a space that's become available at the Digital Hub. With our construction of our new AI lab next door, we've been able to move some of our co-lab functions. So that space where the wooden seating is at the moment, where there's guest speakers and things that were happening in the existing hub, we're repurposing that space and tenanting, proposing to tenant part of it. So this lease takes up about 75 square metres of that space. As per usual, we've run a process through our provider who works with us on this, Colliers, to run a market process. And they have attracted a local tech company called Nabuki

01:37:00 through that process. And the report recommends that we enter into a lease with Nabuki with this option of three potential extensions, a two-year lease with options of three potential extensions. Councillor Jurisevic: That's it. Council's question. Councillor Wilkie: Where are they situated currently? Speaker 2: I knew someone was going to ask that. I should have checked. Councillor Lorentson: I've got the answer. You've got the answer? There you go. Speaker 2: So they've got 12 staff. Councillor Lorentson: Staff are located in Sydney, Holland, Philippines, and an advisory board in the US and UK. They are local, though. So they do have a presence here. They do. They're based in Peregian, according to their link, as I did a little bit of looking around. Councillor Wilkie: Great. No, it's fantastic that a local business is doing so well. It sounds like we're at a global climate change. Exactly the sort of business we want to attract.

01:38:00 Speaker 2: Very aligned. Councillor Wilkie: Digital hub. It's great that we're expanding. Yep. And perhaps after two years they'll be even bigger and be able to take up other premises in the civic or somewhere else here. It's the hope for them that the business will accelerate by being part of this Peregian Digital Hub. Yep. Wish them every success. Councillor Lorentson: Excellent. What about you, Paulie? I'm reading. So they're white label marketplaces. And I think my understanding of what they do, online bookings and marketplace technology that helps local tourism. Yeah. And helps some operators gain exposure. Am I right? Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. They do marketplace. They do booking platforms. So tours and classes. Like Groupon and Scoop. All. Yeah. Great. Councillor Jurisevic: Claire, any questions at all? Mayor Stewart: All good. Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: Anything further? I'll move it. I'll move it. Councillor Wilkie seconder. Councillor Lorentson. All in favour? That's an aye from Claire.

01:39:00 Can we hear the verbal aye please, Claire? Mayor Stewart: Yes. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. Thanks, both. Councillor Lorentson: Thanks, councillors. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: Right. Going on to the last item in public, which is item five, the motion to the Algarve National General Assembly 2073. Speaker 5: Chair, I'll present this. But ultimately, it's a motion that's been brought to the council table by Councillor Lorentzen. And Councillor Lorentson will be attending the Australian Local Government Association's National General Assembly in Canberra this year. And like the Local Government Association of Queensland, there's the ability to be able to have motions put before the National General Assembly for consideration of the assembly that forms policy at a national level. So it needs to be at a federal government policy level to be able to have, firstly,

5.5 MOTION TO ALGA NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2023 ¶

▶ 01:39:15· Carried unanimously 4-0 from council's minutes

01:40:00 it be accepted by the Australian Local Government Association, then debated, and then the Australian Local Government Association policy executive, which is made up of all of the presidents of the local government associations of each state and territory, then work through a process as to whether this is accepted as policy for lobbying with the Australian federal government. Thank you. Councillor Warranson spoke to me about a number of proposed motions, and I worked with Councillor Warranson to get what we thought would be the better fit within the guidelines. And as you'll note from the report, they are quite clear as to what is required and why, because they are national level. So through the chair, I may ask if Councillor Warranson can speak to Councillor Warranson's motion and what Councillor Warranson is wanting to achieve. But this report is really to bring this to the council table from the operational element of the council, from strategic, the council to be able to make a decision to take that

01:41:00 forward. Councillor Jurisevic: I think that would be wholly prudent for the council to turn around and speak to our own motions. Thank you, Chair. Councillor Lorentson: I'll speak to it. This is something that I think everyone knows I'm quite passionate about. I went to the LGAQ with a similar motion in Cairns. Just recently in October 2022. And my purpose there was to get wastewater reuse on the state's list of priorities. And that was upheld almost unanimously. So this is sort of at the next step. So I'm going to read what I wrote, and I think that will be clearer in my intent and why it's important for me to do this on behalf of NUSA. Our beaches and coastline. Some of our most important public places. It's unacceptable that in 2023 treated and untreated sewage is still being discharged

01:42:00 into our oceans. A practice that commenced in Australia in the 60s. Our environment and community demand a better way of managing waste. Wastewater creates management problems for local regional governments and wastewater providers that has environmental, socioeconomic and public health concerns. Wastewater reuse, however, creates enormous opportunity for local regional governments. Advocating for a national policy and strategy that aims at one, no new ocean and estuarine sewage outfalls to be built or developed along the Australian coastline. And two, dedicated funding to develop new methods and technologies and make every effort to recycle 100% of all treated wastewater generated to avoid the need to discharge in the ocean. By advocating this, we encourage wastewater reuse and we ensure that our ocean outfalls

01:43:00 are not used. The Clean Ocean Foundation, the Outfall Database, data gathered by this group in 2016 from 165 of the 175 ocean outfalls. Provided the first national snapshot of wastewater discharges to Australian coastal environments. The total volume of wastewater discharge to Australia's oceans in 2016 was 1,350 gigalitres, equivalent to 2.7 Sydney Harbours. The potential value of this water would have been more than $1 billion, had as little as 20% been recycled. Again, that data has come from the Clean Ocean Foundation Outfall Database.

01:44:00 Why I'm going to Canberra is because of what's happening in our backyard here in Noosa. We've got a sewage treatment plant at Burgess Creek that discharges treated effluent directly into the Coral Sea at Sunshine Beach. The significant volume of discharge and constant outflow. Going into Burgess Creek and our oceans, in my opinion, is causing erosion to our dunes and coastal ecosystems that's also threatening road infrastructure and homes. I question and will continue to question why an activity of dumping treated wastewater and contaminated stormwater into our oceans is tolerated and in fact legal. Are we tolerating practices that compromise the environment, are reasonably foreseeable and preventable? Is it environmental best practice? Is the permitted use and environmental practices that were okay 20 plus years ago still relevant? And if we're okay with it, and the water quality has met water quality criteria, then

01:45:00 why aren't we reusing it? So in October 2022, I went to Cairns. I advocated that we needed, as a state and as a country and as a water industry, support less wasteful distribution and use of water, as well as water treatment and recycling. Water scarcity, extreme weather events and population growth require that we are more efficient with our water management and more sustainable with our sewerage and stormwater management. What's required is legislative changes, governmental support and incentives for the utilization of reclaimed wastewater. We must aim to recycle 100% of wastewater. We must seek out and encourage wastewater reuse markets to drive investment in water reuse that respect the environment and create jobs.

01:46:00 We must actively seek out public-private partnerships that increase investments in projects, again, that respect the environment, such as converting sewage treatment plants to produce biogas and electricity from wastewater. UNESCO made it clear that climate change and water quality and water scarcity is one of the biggest threats to the health of our environment and community. And whilst it might not be currently possible to do away with marine outfalls completely, we must be forward thinking and do what we can to look at alternatives and new technologies to lessen the environmental impact. We must understand that the value of water is greater than the cost of an ocean. And that our beaches, our dunes, our natural environment and the health of Australians must be a key priority for this country. Therefore, ASCET Council supports this motion that calls on the National General Assembly

01:47:00 to formulate a national policy that aims at no new ocean and estuarine sewerage outfalls to be built or developed along the Australian coastline. And that dedicated funding is provided to support local regional governments and wastewater providers with existing ocean and estuarine outfalls to develop new methods, technologies and make every effort to recycle 100% of all treated wastewater generated within their localities and avoid the need to discharge in the ocean. People and planet before profit. Thank you. Well said. Councillor Jurisevic: Thanks for looking. Councillor Wilkie: Look, I'm going to support this motion. I think it's good that we won. It would be wonderful if it was achieved. If 100% of all wastewater was recycled. I think it's a very noble aim. I think it would be a wonderful thing if it was a policy that, and funding and resources dedicated towards that outcome. But I like the report, but I do have to pick up one element of it.

01:48:00 I do have a question. There's a statement in here, and it's clearly a statement of opinion, that the wastewater going to Burgess Creek is causing erosion to our dunes and coastal ecosystems that are threatening road infrastructure and private homes. Probably a question for Director of Environment and Planning. Is there any evidence to suggest that the water flowing down to Burgess Creek is causing erosion that's threatening road infrastructure and private homes? Speaker 2: Through the Chair? No, we can't categorically say that. There isn't. There isn't. There isn't substantiated evidence of that as yet. As councillors know, we are in partnership with the University of Sunshine Coast undertaking a research project looking at these exact issues. So a model is being developed that was looking at the flows, the velocity, the whole environment

01:49:00 for Burgess Creek and what impacts that might be having on the surrounding environment. We've only just started that. We're about three months into that partnership. So we're looking at that. The model has started to be developed, but we are still needing a few more data inputs. So we're some months away from having that sort of statement being able to be categorically made or otherwise. Councillor Wilkie: Of course, the outcome of this motion is much bigger than what's happening locally. Yes. And I would not stand in the way of this motion because of the point of fact like that. Couldn't you? Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Can I just add the aim of 100% recyclable reuse water is actually councils already doing it. So it is achievable. And one of my other aspirations, Councillor Wilkie, is to somehow facilitate and whether

01:50:00 it's through Noosa Council or the LGAQ. A national or state. Yes. And that's why we're going to waste wastewater technology and innovation expo where we can share what's actually happening. Real life projects, innovation, best practice techniques and sustainable water management. And I've got huge files on councils that are doing it so well. It is so achievable. It's not a dream. It's not an aspiration. All we need is political will and community to back us. And as much as I hate to say it, money. And you know, I get it. This costs a lot. Who's going to pay for it? And if it gets passed on to the rate payer, you know, not everyone's going to be happy with it. And that's why I'm going to federal government and asking for dedicated funding for these projects. It is achievable. Councillor Wilkie: That's why I think it's a good idea. It's occurring piecemeal across the country.

01:51:00 Councillor Lorentson: It is. Councillor Wilkie: But if there is a policy at a national level, it can pull it all together. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. And looking at in terms of rather than supply needs, because there's some dams that are full and there's some places, some localities where they're declared emptied, you know, some places around Australia where they're at drought levels. So it'd be great as part of the strategy to actually have a look at need rather than supply. Where is water actually needed? And whether it's pipelines, whether it's conversion, the solutions are there. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Are you clear? Got anything to add to this? Mayor Stewart: No. I'm very caught. I can't realize the motion. And I'll call the group attending. And find her in this, the minutes where she's done. Thanks. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. Look, I, likewise, am very happy to support this. The reason, my recollection of the reason that a lot of councils are at that point is that this was an issue that was addressed by governments in the past.

01:52:00 They did put resources in and it appears to have fallen off the agenda to some degree. But in a country like Australia, where they talk about droughts, and droughts are an extremely prevalent part of the landscape in this country, we shouldn't be wasting water. We shouldn't be losing a resource that can potentially be reused anywhere. It's a little bit of recycling that should be, should be embraced. And we should look at the opportunities. I understand there are members in the community that are challenged by the concept of using treated wastewater in some way, shape, or form. And that there are some challenges towards utilising it. But, where possible, we should look at the opportunities. And we should look at the opportunities.

01:53:00 So we are perhaps re-evaluate the use of wastewater and where it can and can't be facilitated to drought proof this country in some way, or can try to help drought proof this country in some way shape or form. If that is in any way shape or form an achievable goal. So I commend Councillor Watkinson on bringing this to us and I'll take it to the National General Assembly and I wish you every success in approving and moving forward with the motion. Councillor Lorentson: One last thing I'd love to add is... Councillor Jurisevic: I'll let you get more than one. Councillor Lorentson: But it's not going to General, so I'm just going to take the opportunity. But I think people forget water is finite. Once it's gone, it's gone. But wastewater isn't. It's the only type of water that's actually increasing. And again, with population growth, climate change, I keep talking about water scarcity, but wastewater is the only thing that's guaranteed to increase, not water.

01:54:00 Councillor Jurisevic: I think we in the urban area tend to take it for granted. We do. Because it's just a resource that's on tap. It's not that case if we were in the... Councillor Wilkie: We could get into a broader conversation about the world being a closed system. That every drop of water that was here 50 billion years ago is still here because it's recycled naturally. Probably Professor Stockwell would elucidate on that. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah, every drop we drink's probably been through the kidneys of a dinosaur. Councillor Jurisevic: The number of elements of recycled water that goes through different river systems and water supplies in the canopy. But anyway, yes. I'm happy to second it. Thank you. Moved, seconded. All in favour? Yes. Thank you, Mayor Clare. Carried unanimously. Moved. To the last item. The last item for consideration today.

01:55:00 There's no reports been made by the committee. We do have a confidential session listed. Public release around the centralised legal services file. Before we go into confidential session, we'll leave our information at the bottom of the confidential session. Councillor Wilkie: Just a question for CEO. Why is this on? Speaker 5: It has legal details that could be identifiable. Speaker 4: Okay. Speaker 5: Cases. Cases. The attachment has individual cases for three months worth of council legal. Okay. Councillor Lorentson: Are we going into confidential? Councillor Wilkie: Yes. Councillor Jurisevic: I'll move that we go into a confidential session. Councillor Lorentson: Happy to second. Councillor Jurisevic: Councillor Lorentson is second. We need the reasons. The meeting is closed. They are. They're not working. Councillor Lorentson: They are section 254J3. Councillor Wilkie: To discuss confidential legal issues. Yes. There's two items. Yes. Councillor Lorentson: It'll be the same reason.

01:56:00 Councillor Jurisevic: I can fix that up later, but it's the same as before. Councillor Lorentson: June 2. Councillor Wilkie: What competition? Legal nation. Councillor Lorentson: I'll fix it up from here. Okay. Councillor Jurisevic: Okay. All in favour? I've moved it. I've moved. Sorry. Cancel. Councillor Lorentson is second. All in favour? Yes. Mayor Stewart: Thank you. All right.

7.1 CONFIDENTIAL - NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE - CENTRALISED LEGAL SERVICES TRIAL ¶

▶ 01:58:54· Carried unanimously 4-0 from council's minutes

02:14:00 Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: We have a motion that the matter before us on Central Eyes for Legal Services Trials be referred to General Committee. Do I have a mover? Councillor Wilkie. I'll second it. All in favour? Mayor Stewart: Yes. Councillor Jurisevic: Unanimously carried. So that matter will now be referred to General Committee for further discussion. There are no further items on the agenda. I'll close the meeting now at 3.47pm. Thank you all for your time. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Chair. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, Chair. Bye, everyone.

8 MEETING CLOSURE ¶

▶ 02:14:56

Council's recording ends before this item. Where a meeting resolved to close its doors, that is what the end of the recording means — see what council discussed in private.