Services & Organisation Committee Meeting - October 2023 Transcript

1 ATTENDANCE & APOLOGIES ¶

▶ 00:00:26

00:01:00 And also I would like to remind everyone around the table of their obligations under the Councillor Code of Conduct that we all are respectful to one another, including staff. First I'd like to go to confirmation of minutes. Can I have a move on that? Thank you, Clare Stewart. A seconder? Thank you, Councillor Wilkie. No discussion? All in favour? Thank you. Presentations and deputations? There are none. And we'll go straight to the reports for consideration of the committee meeting. Item 5.1. Final waste plan 2023-2028. I'd like to welcome Director Kyron Dodds. Excuse me. I'm just giving you a promotion. And you deserve it.

2 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES ¶

▶ 00:01:29

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

3 PRESENTATIONS ¶

▶ 00:01:42

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

4 DEPUTATIONS ¶

▶ 00:01:45

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

5 REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE COMMITTEE ¶

▶ 00:01:47

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

5.1 FINAL WASTE PLAN 2023 - 2028 ¶

▶ 00:01:50

00:02:00 So can I ask before we start, are there any conflicts of interest? No. And Kyron, if you can start by just giving us a summary and overview of the final waste plan 2023-2028. Speaker 4: No problem. Thanks, Councillor Scott. So the waste plan that was developed involved a two-part consultation process conducted during February and March. In August-September this year, Phase 1 sought community and stakeholder values of waste management and organisation, shaping the draft waste plan. Phase 2 gathered additional insights on the draft waste plan itself, and in total we had 828 surveys on both phases of that process. Community feedback strongly supported the draft waste plan vision and the waste hierarchy,

00:03:00 which is principles to avoid, reduce, reuse, and reduce waste. Those opposing the draft waste plan include concerns over rate increases, requests for off-curbside, opposition to food waste collection services, and already compostable food waste and opposition to change. However, the overall plan received very strong support for encouraging personal responsibility, advocating to reduce waste at source, innovation and innovation, and ensuring that appropriate infrastructure and operations are in place. To support waste reuse and recycling. The plan also received strong support to promote circular economy and to reduce the cost to the community of landfilling material, and that material will be used as a resource for potential revenue generation. Changes to the draft waste plan include design modifications along with new council branding, additional wording, and advocacy for product stewardship schemes and new actions related

00:04:00 to food waste and construction and development. By November 1, 2015 some of the numbers will be updated. Councillor Lorentson: Councilers, questions for Qyrain. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you Qyrain, thank you for a comprehensive plan and a roadmap going forward for the changes that need to be done and an element of change that has to be implemented. One of the reasons that we have to implement that is the impact that we've had on the And I'm reading here it was set to land currently $85 per tonne, increasing to $95 a tonne this year. So what is the implication of the state's waste levy on what currently goes into landfill? Speaker 4: So currently the actual waste levy this year, this financial year, is $105.

00:05:00 So that is applied to commercial waste, commercial customs... Councillor Jurisevic: So it's $23.24, so it was $95 and $22.23, so that's the $10 increase that's mentioned here annually until it goes to $145 a tonne. So what's the impact of that $95 to $105 all the way up to $145 a tonne by the 1st of July 2027 going to do to the cost of landfill? Speaker 4: Well, in a nutshell, it will increase the cost of our public. At the start of this year, July, so the state government have introduced a percentage of that levy that we have to rebate the state. I think that equates to $5, but I'm not entirely sure how much, about $5 to $6 per tonne, and that increases over the next five years until it's the full cost of the levy, and that gets applied to our domestic customs. Councillor Jurisevic: But yeah, until now it's only $25. It's only been applied to commercial customs, and from this year it gets applied to domestic services, so there'll be a, just based on that state levy, there'll be a change to the cost of implementation of, or the cost of continuing the service where we landfill residential waste.

00:06:00 Speaker 4: Exactly, so the actual cost of the collections or anything doesn't, is not affected, but the costs are going through our land, our levy zone, so there's a dedicated earmarked zone on the site. Anything that goes into that zone, which we have to track and report on the levy, attracts that levy. Councillor Jurisevic: So what's the obvious way for, I can turn around and do this, what's the obvious way and the thing that the plan delivers for the public to consider to avoid the increases and to manage the costs of things going to landfill? Speaker 4: It's to look at waste differently, and I think that's what we're trying to do within the strategy. Waste in particular. In particular, outside of Queensland and Australia, as much as in resource.

00:07:00 Councillor Jurisevic: Should we, yeah, should we stop calling it waste? Speaker 4: I, yes, I think it's a good start. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. Speaker 4: It's only waste if we waste it. If we put it in a landfill, yeah, wasting a energy value of some sort. Councillor Jurisevic: And potentially creating a greenhouse gas that we can't, that we currently can't deal with. Yep. Councillor Lorentson: I've got a bunch of questions, and I won't ask them all at once, so I'll leave it to the table, but before we go on, why do we have to develop a waste plan? Is it obligatory? Speaker 4: Yes, we have to, as part of the state law, we have to have a waste strategy. Councillor Lorentson: Okay. Okay. Okay. Councillor Lorentson: Okay. In terms of, I'm referencing page 18 of the plan, the figures are really startling, and I'll just pull out page 18, the landfill site, 49 years remaining in the landfill life.

00:08:00 49 years is not that far away. Have we included in those numbers, you know, the potential impact of the, a population or dwelling increase? So the SAQ regional draft plan had population and dwelling forecast. How, if those numbers are realised, 19,000, 100, 10,000 in the first three years, how does that change the data that we get? And has that been considered as part of the plan? Speaker 4: So we haven't included the data in the model, but if we reduce the years, there's no doubt. The tonnage is directly related to population, so we'd have a strong correlation of those years with reduce, and what's somewhat.

00:09:00 Unless, what it also doesn't include is the fact that we're actively trying to divert materials from going on. So the model looks at, if we carry on with the current rate of material to landfill, we've got 50 years left. We are actively reducing that year by year. If we increase, introduce infrastructure to divert further, then it should lengthen. But obviously, if we increase population, that adds to the tonnage. Councillor Wilkie: Questions? Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Kyron on page 19. There's an amount, 2021 cost of 147 per tonne of waste going to landfill. That's operational cost, isn't it? Speaker 4: Yes. Councillor Wilkie: Not the waste levy. Speaker 4: No, not the waste levy. That's our cost to put one tonne of material into the ground, and that's actually. Councillor Wilkie: It's increased since then. Yeah. What are the costs now? Approximately $200.

00:10:00 $200. It's gone up that much in two years. Yeah. And also on page nine, a really interesting figure, which is the amount of household waste the average Australian produces every year of 543 kilograms. We've got an aspirational goal to reduce the amount produced per Noosa person, resident, to below that, significantly below that. But there seems to be, in my opinion, an omission from this report about what is the rate generated per Noosa resident. And I understand there are difficulties around calculating that. Could you just talk us through the variables that make it very difficult to include that figure, please? Speaker 4: Yeah. So that's a national figure that we've got from the statistics. To calculate it locally, we would need to understand exactly who is a local and who's

00:11:00 non-local coming over our wagerage, because it's internally coming into the landfill as well. Councillor Wilkie: From outside the Shire? Speaker 4: From outside the Shire. Yeah. So it's very difficult to get the resources and the equipment and technology to do that right now. We also have a 1.8 million tourist population per year. And what percentage of that, and if it's B and Bs and so forth, adding to that domestic change is not quite clear as well. So what we do know is the number is higher than our national average. It's putting that into accurate terms, and we can do that and so forth. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. So that's the number. Yeah. And you mentioned that there's waste coming from outside the Shire into our landfill, which affects the figures, but collaboration is a big part of the strategy going forward, isn't it? Yes. Can you just talk about the sort of collaboration that's going on and your thing? Speaker 4: So we've got an MOU with Gympie that was signed six months ago. Yeah. We had our first steering group meeting about a month ago.

00:12:00 The one that started? The one that started. We have a weekly working group meeting with our opposite numbers in Gympie, and we're currently looking at all the infrastructure and the tonnage between the two councils that will potentially make some of these projects viable, which is key. And that shared infrastructure, shared resource will support us in the funding area, which is a critical concept in that collaboration as well. Councillor Wilkie: You mentioned also the 1.8 million visitors per year, which are happening up to the end of the year. So that's a big part of the collaboration. And that's also part of the solution. So part of the problem there, also part of the solution, the tourism industry. Could you talk about the collaboration with the tourism industry that's underway to help address some of that? Yeah. Speaker 4: So tourism in Noosa would be, I think, excellent if they're plastic free Noosa. The way, that's been a model, a model that's been used outside of Noosa.

00:13:00 And I think the way they've delivered that is a model you can use for some of the behavioural change going forward. So what they've done, I think, has been excellent. I think our role, particularly around this strategy, is the infrastructure that sits behind that behavioural change. So if you make a difference, and you do something different, we need to have that infrastructure to support that material when it's processing. Councillor Wilkie: And in the waste hierarchy, it's often referred to avoidance, reusing, recycling, and disposal. But there's also another line that's in the report that hasn't been mentioned yet, is recover. Can you talk about what that step involves? It's quite, quite exciting. In the material space. Yeah. Some of it, polystyrene recovery. Yeah. And also, isn't it waste to energy? Yeah. Speaker 4: So waste to energy.

00:14:00 Waste to energy is a very interesting space, in terms of taking the typical residual waste that's left over after you've removed recycling, organics, green waste, and anything else that could be recovered and turned into another material, or reprocessed. The last position before you put it into a landfill should be the storage. So you extract the energy that's within that material to produce energy. Yes. And we're actively talking with ComSec, as well as our neighbours in that space, through the MOU. And I think it's an exciting space, because once we are in that area of looking at that type of technology, suddenly our landfill becomes the last port of call. And 50 years could become 150, 200 years. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. One more question, if I may, Madam Chair. Yeah. The feedback from the community is that taking personal responsibility for our waste is widely

00:15:00 supported and advocated for. In Japan, there are no bins in the streets, and the streets are very litter-free. Is that an example of residents taking very strong... Not saying that's going to happen here, but that's an example of what can be achieved when personal responsibility is taken very seriously. Yeah. Speaker 4: I think, yeah, it's... Yeah, that's the... Gold standard. The gold standard. We're quite away from the gold standard, but I think that's the intention. We can get personal responsibility, and that goes across all facets of waste. In terms of buying something you don't need and disposing of something the wrong way, effectively, you're making a difference with the actions that you make, personally. And that's the message we're trying to get through, and looking at how we're behaving in Australia. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you. Speaker 4: I've got a question. Mayor Stewart: I'm from Kansas City.

00:16:00 Karen, when I was doing some radio around this, it was some of the stats were interesting around the food scraps, that 40% of what takes about landfills is from food scraps, and it takes 25 years for a lettuce to break down. So, what can we do in that space without food scraps? Because I know that is the issue, and what is the plan specifically? Speaker 4: So... The bulk of our emissions are generated from predominantly food waste. We remove green waste 2,070 years of council. We're probably one of the leaders in Queensland for doing that, if not first. But the next organic stream that goes into the landfill is food waste. Of that 40% that goes in, not only from our bins, but from commercial customs, that generates 63%. We've got actions in the strategy to review technology that can process that food waste,

00:17:00 and look at the infrastructure, the potential building of the infrastructure, with our partners at some location. Once we pull that material out, once again, it has an energy value, and we can extract that energy and utilize that to produce green power, green oxygen. That's the intention. I guess the next stage after the strategy is to get into feasibility studies in some of the projects, which we've actively already started in some of the projects. Mayor Stewart: Like the AD plant? Would that be one? Speaker 4: AD plant? We're looking at organic treatment, solar power. Councillor Lorentson: We've already started those feasibility studies. Thank you. Councillor Cho, do you have anything to add? Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah, I was reading through some of the feedback that was given, and one of the ones that

00:18:00 I've heard for a long time, and I've advocated for a long time, was a review of bins. I read under litter avoidance here, 3.1, 3.2, but the one thing that was missing there under litter avoidance was bin management, public place bin management. But I noticed that under precinct waste management, 5.1, review precinct waste management, 5.1, precinct waste management opportunities for innovation, including inclusive of bin ratios, compaction bins, bin level sensors, bins overflowing. That's how litter starts. Bins are overflowing if we can prevent that, but also making bins available, the right bins available. I've often said there's an imbalance in the number of general waste bins to recycle bins. If we want people to recycle more, we really have to provide the right balance and facilitation of those bins. And if we go into composting, we'll be looking at a third public place bin, potentially. I'm just wondering whether that point, 5.1, can be added as 3.3 and reiterated under litter

00:19:00 avoidance. Because it is a litter avoidance mechanism. It's a minor thing, but I think that reiterating that point under litter avoidance, it's a litter avoidance mechanism. It's precinct waste. Yeah. In the major precincts, I think we should apply the level of bin ratios and the need for compaction bins and bin level sensors and understanding if bins are overflowing anywhere across the Shire, that we understand that that occurs. Is that the opportunity going forward with regard to public place bins, is to facilitate each of the strains better than we currently do and the potential for, I don't know, is a third public place bin for compostable waste, considering Plastic Free Noose has done such an amazing job of getting retailers on board in the Hastings Street precinct and Gimpy Terrace and the junction of most of our areas.

00:20:00 Our tourism precincts around to go away from plastic containers and have compostable containers. Is that where we need to go? Speaker 4: I think in the long term, the bin infrastructure should match our infrastructure group. That's where we've got to get to. So we've got to be careful with behavioural change. If we don't have the infrastructure, we can find that behavioural change. Otherwise, we tend to get a customer to do something. Councillor Jurisevic: We lose the faith that people have in the current system of saying, well, I put my recyclables in that bin, but I know that, you know, I don't see that truck going to deliver to recyclables. I see it going to the landfill. Some misapprehension of whether, you know, like the truck that goes in Hastings Street, which has two compartments. The other element of that question, and I've just lost my train of thought. Throw in another question. I'll see if anyone else has another question. I'll come back to where I was going.

00:21:00 Councillor Lorentson: I want to comment on the engagement process. It was excellent. So really, really well done. In terms of all the surveys submitted, 828, and I did a little bit of research on... You know, sample size and what's considered a good sample size and margins of error and how, and 828 is ranked really high. And if my research is correct, margin of error is 3%. And that's, you know, something really excellent. My question is, can you just talk us through the engagement process? Did we engage an external consultant or was a lot of it done in-house? Speaker 4: Yeah, I think, thanks for the credit, but I think it actually, it's seen, so Jo Ferris and Mark and the team were key to that consultation process.

00:22:00 Team members shared the work. We've worked with comms on the process and, yeah, I think there's credit to be seen. I think most of that has been done internally. Councillor Lorentson: Could you please extend congratulations to them? That's great. That's brilliant. Jo, has your question come back to you? Councillor Jurisevic: Along the lines of, yeah, again, with the sort of feedback, with regard to the draft plan and what we see here, have we taken on board comments from the public and the feedback that we've got? And how are they implemented or shown within the final plan? Speaker 4: Yeah, so in the report, Councillor Wright, the last couple of pages of it, we've incorporated all the changes and anything that's updated we see in bold. Councillor Jurisevic: So there's a summary of, the summary of changes in that last section there and included in bold is directly relating to the questions or the points that have been raised?

00:23:00 Speaker 7: Yeah, exactly. Yep. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: One more question. Will Noosa Council lead by example? Will Council introduce a low waste policy? And will that get extended into sustainability procurement? And will we look at resource recovery facilities at all our facilities, not just at the depot? Speaker 4: That's an interesting question. I think it's... Councillor Jurisevic: If I've got anything to do with it, absolutely. Don't go, is there a waste allowance on the policy? Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I think there's, you know, if you look far enough ahead in the discussion with our consultant the other day, who does work in Melbourne, on buildings that they have, rather than hiding their waste three cents away, they are actually advocating and showing a lot of sort of clear glass and they have RVM machines in there and it looks like they're promoting the bin enclosure rather than closing it off.

00:24:00 Oh, cool. And I think that sort of mentality actually is not a bad idea, getting the right response. Councillor Jurisevic: You have to encourage, you know, you have to encourage the correct behaviour that you're trying to instil into the population. Councillor Lorentson: So correct. Councillor Wilkie: Happy to move the recommendation. Councillor Jurisevic: I'm happy to second it. I was happy to move it. Councillor Lorentson: Before speaking, I'd like to ask Councillor Tom Webner, you've got your hand up, would you like to ask some questions, please? Councillor Wegener: Yeah. Do you think, I guess if I can put my comments into a question, do you think that this is the biggest change that our term as councillors and as staff has brought to Lucie Council? Because it is a phenomenal change from when we came here, the waste strategy, to the waste strategy today. So I'd like to just congratulate you and Mark Carroll on coming on board and that Lucie Council staff is present.

00:25:00 Thank you. This is a big one for us. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Who would like to speak? Councillor Wilkie: I moved it, so I'll speak. Thanks for answering the questions, Kyron. Please congratulate the staff. I thought it was a very well written, clear strategy. It used simple language and didn't hide the hard truths of where we are at and the work, the large task ahead of us. So please pass on the congratulations to the team. Speaker 4: Yeah. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Oh, okay. Councillor Jurisevic: That's it? That's it. And I need to go on. Yes, Councillor Thom, you're right. This is the biggest transitional move. 10 years in the making of my time here on council to see these things being implemented into a waste strategy and the way forward to change the concept of waste. It's not waste. It is a resource.

00:26:00 And the more that we can understand and value that it's a resource, and the more we can continue to advocate for changes where waste gets generated by manufacturers that don't have a process for accepting those products that they generate back, that creates a need for landfill, the more we have to push for change higher up the chain. Fortunately, the Australian federal government and the state government, 20 years behind most of the southern states, I might add, are on board. They're on board and starting to implement the strategies and the processes that will facilitate this change going forward. We can no longer see landfill as a viable option. It has to be the exception rather than the rule. And in fact, if we can avoid it completely, we can avoid the one thing, some of the comments here with regard to what we need to do going forward. We want to keep landfill. We want to keep waste charges down.

00:27:00 Well, the way to keep waste charges down is to... Look at what you take in, what you purchase. Look at what it's made of, what its life is. Don't buy the cheap junky stuff that is disposable. Let's stop being a disposable society and start taking responsibility for the waste that we generate. Let's bring our businesses on board to help facilitate the change that we need. I see so many businesses that could easily be saving themselves costs. Simply by segregating their waste and taking it and using the opportunities of waste that carries no charge and doesn't go into landfill and facilitating the separation of that at the facility so that they don't incorporate charges where recycled goods like paper and cardboard and that don't fill up the bin. We know that 40% to 50% of what goes into the general waste bin is organic waste.

00:28:00 It's organic matter. It shouldn't be in there. If you can't compost at home, we need to have an alternative. If that doesn't go into landfill and doesn't continue to generate landfill gases, it becomes a resource that can go back out into regenerative farming. The way in the future is to turn around and acknowledge that compost is as good, if not a better, form of fertilizer for land management than any of the ones that we purchase commercially. And that's what we're going to do. We've been using it in our backyard for years. It's not rocket science. It's back to fundamentals. As a society, we understood that when necessity was the driver, post-war in particular. But through those commercialized and consumer-driven years, and American society has a lot to do

00:29:00 with that. Through the 70s and 80s. The 70s and 80s of consumerism, that we started to become a society of throw away, throw away, throw away. That has to stop. Through this, and I was one of the counsellors at de-amalgamation that advocated for the return of the kerbside cleanup service. But in my time here, and through the understanding of taking responsibility for the waste you generate. And I applaud that we finally made the commitment that that service is no longer a viable service to deliver. I appreciate that people have had that service and rely on it, but this is the 21st century. And we have so many alternatives to putting it out on the street and making it somebody else's responsibility to take it away. We've got Facebook Marketplace. Everybody uses that. If it's got any real value, and you're going to put it out on the street.

00:30:00 We've got Facebook Marketplace. Somebody will take it, sure. But if it's got any real value, we have charity organisations that will help facilitate that. You know, help facilitate a need for those that actually need these products. You can talk to your neighbours and say, I've got this, go and actually walk down the street and let your neighbours know you've got something to give away. Maybe they'll take it. We've got the garage sale trail. We've got garage sales. We've got, you know, social media and social marketing. We've got so many opportunities to dispose of valuable goods if you no longer want them than just throwing them out and expecting somebody else to do it. The challenge comes in delivering a service like that. You want to talk about keeping costs down. It's an expensive service to deliver for the community and only a small percentage of the community realistically utilise it. But the other element is the people that abuse the service. The cost of service from businesses. The cost of being available in the long run. We can't have people dumping asbestos and we can't have streets being used as rubbish

00:31:00 tips. It's just not the way in this day and age and it's not the way of the future. We really need to, and this outlays it, we really need to take responsibility for the rubbish that we generate. There are so many methods to explain in this waste strategy for the future going forward for people to avoid the need. For that sort of mindset. And the way to avoid the cost of waste services in the future is to adhere to the ideas and the concepts that this strategy delivers. And I want to congratulate staff and all those that had a hand in putting this together. Many of these areas of delivery are things that I've been advocating in my time on council. And I've had many in the community ask me to advocate for them. To advocate for these services to be delivered and I'm pleased to say that this waste strategy

00:32:00 will deliver this for our community in the future. Thank you, Kyra. And thank you to your team and all that were involved. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you, Joe. That was well said. Thank you, Stuart. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, Kyra. I remember reiterating everyone's thanks and appreciation to you, Mark, Joe and your team. Tom, I think it is something that we should be incredibly proud of. This is the 2023 and 2028 from waste to resource waste plan. It's not the 2012, it's not the 2016, it's not the 2020. So I think it's something that all of this council and at this table, and indeed all of the councillors, can really hang their hats on. With such a wonderful team, Kyra and led by you, you really have been a game changer. We're looking at real, meaningful, tangible results from this waste strategy. We're looking at the containers for change. We've got that. We've got the polystyrene thermal compacting machine. We have an MOU with Gympie to make some real meaningful collaboration and changes in this to share resources, share costs, share opportunities.

00:33:00 We also have, with having joined the council of mayors, an opportunity now to be part of the big picture. And as we can see, the state government is so important in this space and advocating and working together as a South East Queensland council of mayors for waste and to deliver outcomes, to get finance, to get resources, and to get the funds, I think is incredibly powerful. It's really important, fundamental, and central to our waste strategy going forward. That was evident. So I want to thank you and the team. And Councillor Wegener, I agree wholeheartedly. This is something that I'm incredibly proud of that we've delivered in this term of council, but not without the skill, expertise, and knowledge of all the staff. So please, thank you. Thank you, guys. It's been a huge team effort. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks. Councillor Lorentson: I'll just add a couple of extra things. In the report, it actually states that 2007, this is designated the UNESCO status for a biosphere.

00:34:00 And with that comes obligations. And the obligations, you know, protecting, conserving our environment, or said another way, do no harm. When I go through the draft report, you know, the numbers are really just startling. 63% of emissions come from our landfill. We've got 49 years left on our landfill site. And that doesn't, you know... Yeah. So the time to act is right now and I think this is just an excellent roadmap. Community and even the local businesses and I do want to shout out to the small local businesses who are already in this space and I think the plan is a commitment that we are going to support them in minimising, reducing recycling waste.

00:35:00 And we've got a community with shared vision as council. So again, thank you Kyrone and the A team or WOW team, Law and Waste team. This is a game changer and it's a really wonderful way to end this term of council. Big tick from us to you and community to you. Thanks Kyrone, thanks team. Mayor Stewart: Absolutely, absolutely. Now about that directorship. Councillor Wilkie: We haven't closed this. Councillor Lorentson: So I'm going to put all this to a vote. Not yet, not yet. Councillor Jurisevic: Frank hasn't closed. Councillor Lorentson: Oh excuse me. Councillor Wilkie: Look, I would only be reusing, recycling, recovering and disposing of things that have been said before around this table.

00:36:00 So. I won't say anything. I won't say anything. Well done. Councillor Lorentson: All in favour? Carry unanimously. Two hands up. That's right. Thank you Kyrone. Two feet up as well. Thank you Kyrone. Mayor Stewart: Thanks. Councillor Lorentson: Well done mate. Well done. Mayor Stewart: Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Okay. Next we go to report 5.3. I think we've all heard it. Noosa Shire Council, Sol and Specialist List. 5.2, endorsement of Noosa Local Disaster Management Plan 2023. Firstly, sorry, I'd like to introduce Shaun to the desk. Speaker 2: I'm the Director of Environmental Services. Councillor Lorentson: And Neil Ferris. And Neil Ferris. Welcome to Noosa Council. Speaker 2: And I'll get to hear my name. My name's our Disaster Resilience Officer for the month as well. Councillor Lorentson: Thanks very much. Speaker 2: So we actually have deliberately put out high profits because we thought you'd like one

5.2 ENDORSEMENT OF NOOSA LOCAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLAN 2023 ¶

▶ 00:36:33

00:37:00 on the shelf. Oh, thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: No, sorry, I'm into waste minimisation and I can't take paper. Thanks. Thanks. Mayor Stewart: Make an exception in this case, Jo. All right. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Before we start. Before we start can I ask any conflicts of interest? No. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you sir. Thank you very much. Thanks. And Ian's also helping out to get ready for Saturday. Councillor Lorentson: He'll be there in a moment. I'm going to hand it over to Sean. Sean, can you give us an overview or summary of the report in front of us? Speaker 2: I'm actually going to put our new results on the spot and ask him to present the paper.

00:38:00 Because we're very happy that he's commenced with us as an organisation and timely that he's commenced with us to deal with that disaster period. Councillor Jurisevic: It's alright, I've got no burning questions. Speaker 5: So it's a requirement of the Disaster Management Act 2003 that was developed in regular reviews of the Disaster Management Plan to assist with effective disaster management for this area. That's what we're presenting today. It's the Local Disaster Management Plan. The last major assessment of the Noosa Local Disaster Management Plan occurred in 2018. The plan has been rewritten to align with contemporary best practice and used the Queensland Emergency Risk Management Framework, also known as QAMF, methodology and in consultation with emergency service providers and stakeholders. The plan was reviewed and endorsed by the Local Disaster Management Group.

00:39:00 In February 2023. And rebranded with the Council President. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Okay. Thanks Neil for this summary. And I'm going to throw it to the Councillors. Any questions? Councillor Wilkie: It's the best looking one I've ever seen. Beautiful design. Thank you. Speaker 2: I'd like to acknowledge the City of Lowry. And we'll say in advance. And compile in the whole consultation. Process before the decision is made. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you. Thank you. I just have a question about how has the risk management matrix changed since 2019? Speaker 7: Ian, how did you answer this question? Predominantly for 2019 we're missing the fire focus. Because we've had a lot of flood since then. And to be honest with you, that five year cycle of the fire focus has changed. Because of the recovery that we've been in.

00:40:00 It's been, grab the chair before you sit down, have a situation and have a sense that we've gone fire, flood, fire, pandemic, flood. Yeah. So the matrix in a sense has changed. I mean in relation to not necessarily our procedures, but with the actual disaster already that we've been in. Councillor Wilkie: I mean the likelihood of that. Yes. With climate change. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. Yeah. I would have said the elements of pandemic were probably there in the previous plan. Yes. But now are far more highlighted now that we've actually had one. Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. Speaker 7: It was a token picture and now it's very much. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. And you forgot landslips. Councillor Jurisevic: A realisation. Councillor Lorentson: In between that as well. Sorry. Of course. That's right. $80 million worth of landslips. Yes. And that's the management group. Speaker 2: I might actually defer to our chair of the disaster management group. It's our CEO, Larry Sengstock, who's still in that role.

00:41:00 Fantastic. And that's an appropriate person to respond to that. Speaker 3: So we have government management groups in the regional and in the state. So whenever there's a need for that group to get together and react, then that's the process that follows. So yes, I'm the chair of that. Why some of the groups are there. Sorry. I'm the coordinator of that. And then here is the chair of our local group. And then Tony constitutes all of our service providers. In terms of when a disaster does happen. So if it's a flood, it's as we had in, what was it? 2020. February 23rd. February 23rd. February 23rd. February 23rd. Councillor Jurisevic: I'm losing track of what happens when. No. Speaker 3: It's the early 23rd. So it's council or the LPMG that stands up and council takes the lead role.

00:42:00 If it's a fire that we had in 2019, it's the CUPAS, so the fire and emergency services, that takes the lead role. Councillor Jurisevic: Pandemic, Queensland Health. Speaker 3: That's just changed over now to Queensland Police. Yeah, so it sits under the banner. So it just depends on the type of disaster. But the focus has been certainly improved and increased enormously over the last few years up here, but across Australia because of the climate change and the amount of natural disasters that we've been encountering. So it just means that the councils, local governments in particular, are far more focused and we have now specific people. In my last council, we had somebody who was a part-time. Part of their job for me is now is that it's full-time where we have a number of people and that resource I think is only going to grow as we go down the track because the amount of work and the amount of planning and the amount of, you know, cash to line volunteers, we need to have people who are fully trained and who can step up straight away.

00:43:00 And, you know, we've increased our resource in terms of our fire management as well with the local government. So Sean Harris on our group now, he's been amazing. Giving us that, you know, we've increased his resources, but he's also done a lot of work on just giving us that level of comfort that we are doing stuff where we can and as much as we can to try to minimise the impact should there be a fire in the near future. So, you know, certainly as an organisation council, we are far more focused on how we manage disasters, how we mitigate, how we prepare for and how we mitigate the best we can. So it's a... You know, we're young and perfect, but certainly we're well down the track and we've got some very good people who are very dedicated to the task we've got to do, so it's a company impact for our community, I think.

00:44:00 Councillor Jurisevic: Can I tack something onto the end of that? The growing level of technology in this sphere and trying to keep abreast of all of that really means that we need a resource that can stay at the forefront and be aware of the changes and some of those changes that we've been at the forefront of with that fire technology. We're still going to try to keep that level of gibtge-like sort of technology that's been developing, you know, right out of our own bridge in Digital Home. Councillor Wilkie: Just on that, can we ask about the sort of technologies that are... We are employing and will be using this season? Speaker 2: Well, I think we need to be cared with the fire tech program which is going to be digital central. That's still in a experimental or the commissioning phase is probably a good term. So the particular technology that they're specifically looking at is in terms of fire management, which is in relation to using artificial intelligence related to cameras to run a fire that actually detects smoke, and that sends out a series of alerts. That's the first time we understand it's being trialled in Australia, but there's a lot of fine-tuning.

00:45:00 So we haven't set up the actual alert system as yet, but it's been monitored, and if they see a leak through the smoke, then obviously they'll immediately react. And our vision of digital centres being the forefront of actually embracing that technology and rolling it out. The other areas that we're actually looking at is also organic flood monitoring stations and alert systems, which are basically an update of the system. We have more manual flood monitoring stations around the Shire, so we can actually give much more accurate local information to our residents. So you might be aware that some issues we experienced in 2022, you know, the flood event was that, you know, the data coming from other more regional authorities or organisations wasn't necessarily specific enough for our Shire. And we need to get much better at actually monitoring those catchment conditions for our local residents and give much more to our residents.

00:46:00 So the other thing that we're on, is the finalisation of procurement as a Shire-wide VHF communication system. We've never actually had a Shire-wide POM system before. And you might note that during, you know, local disasters, mobile phones are next to useless because the towers systems are taking up a lot of capacity with residents, you know, communicating with each other, so you need a parallel communication system. VHF is valued at the localised communication and infrastructure sites, but it doesn't carry around the Shire. So for the first time, we've had a broad digital-based VHF system so that we're in a process of clearing at the moment. So we still have a long way to go in terms of using new technology. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you, Shaun. The fire detection cameras, what percentage of the Shire are covered by that? It's not the entire Shire. What percentage? The whole Shire is covered. It is? Speaker 7: Yeah. So there are two mounts for the cameras. One's at Timberwater. Councillor Wilkie: Yep.

00:47:00 Speaker 7: And one at Blackburn. Councillor Wilkie: Yes. Speaker 7: Between the two. Okay. Any smoke, obviously. Councillor Wilkie: Because I got the impression that the one at Kin Kin wasn't detected. Speaker 7: So, certainly it is detected. It is in the distance. Councillor Wilkie: Yes. Speaker 7: But it is the third. Obviously the most, Como, Kin Kin are all part of the, certainly is part of the coverage of the camera. Okay, good. But it is the first. Councillor Wilkie: Yes. Yes. Okay. It's not a black spot though. Speaker 2: No, I think ideally we would get additional coverage. Yes. You know, and there's been explorations from that worldwide. And also, I think we've been looking at the Mississippi as well. Yeah. To get even better coverage of the Mississippi shore and also the Kin Kin area. So we've got further. This is why we talk about the commissioning phase. And about how we read the technology. Yeah. Before we actually. Councillor Wilkie: No, it's a great ambition. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: My understanding of the Sunshine Coast Council on the news the other night was also talking about implementing the systems and that will give us great coverage to the south, I would imagine, to facilitate.

00:48:00 Mayor Stewart: I've got a question. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. Mayor Stewart: Can we finish? Yes, thank you, Claire. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Ian and Shaun and all the team. Thank you, Sue. And of course, James. That's James, yeah. Yeah, James. You guys have done a terrific job on this. And we're the lead agency when it comes to flood. And obviously QFIS and now Queensland Police will take the lead on if there are fires. But coming into fire season, and I guess that's what's part of Get Ready is that, you know, I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, but from, you know, where we were four years ago, we're in a far stronger position with all the resources and the extra technology that's been put into fire management and mitigation. I think the 2019 fires were a game changer for this community and realised that so much more had to go into fire management. The question is that, you know, we can only do so much, but we really need the community to come on board with this, don't we? And to really prepare their own properties as best they can.

00:49:00 And know their own risk. Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. And, yeah. It's a really good statement because, you know, love value is community, but we need communities to support local government at times like this. And the best communities are the ones who are pre-prepared and resilient and work with each other. Because unfortunately, during natural disasters, our resources are stretched. They can't be everywhere. And the more communities are self-prepared and ready to help each other, then the safer they're going to be in more resilient to disasters. So I can hint at this. Ian is our Disaster Resilience Officer, which is a very different kettle of fish, which is all about preparing communities for resilience. Do you want to add to more of that, Ian? Speaker 7: Well, only, in a sense, what you see before you is, as was read out by Neil, incorporating the quorum. But as far as our engagement with community in that process, last July, we began the engagement with a whole new series of five workshops. And they were sort of just being aware of where they were. So we had Kin Kin School of Art School for Kin Kin Komo Federal, and then Peregian Beach

00:50:00 Community House for Peregian and Eastern Beaches. For the Beach Holiday Road Resort over on the North Shore, so that was Tewantin North Shore Residence, Cooroy, Pomona, Lion's Den was Cooroy, Black Mountain, and Pomona itself. And then we did Lake Cootharaba Sailing Club for the Cooroy, Lake Cootharaba and Boring Point communities. And all of those, the data from, or the information that came back from those meetings were incorporated into the report, which you saw in the preview. So the engagement has been, I suppose, since then, almost ongoing. And then probably more importantly in the engagement part of things, we have a resilient plan, a resilience plan that I've worked from in my contract at the time. It focuses on three main areas, and I think you've all been graciously attended many of those. And that is obviously schools, which we're in the rows of right now, with Get Ready Month, and then right through to summer until literally almost the last day of school. So that's all state schools, private schools, nearly every school, every school and nursery

00:51:00 will be receiving us in the next month and a half. So that's schools. Aged care, which has been a really exciting time for us. We've had workshops and forums, but we've also had individual, you've probably seen through Council's Facebook, we do individual visits to about 100 residents at a time, and we're doing that right through Shire with that QFIS ambulance and SES partners. And then the third component is through small business. We had a small business forum in March, and then we will hold that annually. And in between, we still pop in the town hall meetings and the various chambers and things like that. So that in a sense becomes the bulk of what's in front as far as engagement with that community. And we've pretty much got a cycle now in our structure that plans for that ongoing. Mayor Stewart: And Eddie, what you just said about the schools, it's so powerful, because often the kids are the ones who go home and go, hey, have we done this? Or don't forget about this. And so it's so great to engage them. And exactly as you said in, and I was going to mention, having the support of emergency

00:52:00 services there has been so valuable, because seeing them, and the kids interact with them and able to ask them questions. I think it's been really powerful to do all of that. And I've been to some of the aged care workshops. They've been excellent too. I mean, I think they've been, you've covered, I don't think there's been any area that's been left out. You know, no stone's been left unturned. You haven't covered it all. That's good. Speaker 2: That's good. Oh, I think also that, you know, we've probably got more work to do in terms of local residents, in particular new arrivals who have been here so long. Like in the road I live in, in the hinterlands during the 2022 event, we have everyone's contact details. We don't give each other's pockets. But we have two intern people who rely on prescription medication, no support network. So we went door knocking, not sure they were okay. But this group's arranged, you know, driving on very wet public roads. And the more we can do, and so we did have to call upon emergency services, or ambulance, or SES, we can stress times. So I think the next stage of things we do is how we embed that thought process in our

00:53:00 communities to make them all as even as possible. Councillor Jurisevic: But that's creating neighbourhoods again. Back to neighbourhoods knowing neighbours. I mean, similar situation during the fires. I mean, last found out, I was knocking on everybody's doors when the Tewantin evacuation was here, making sure everybody was aware and was evacuating. Lights were on in particular. Speaker 2: It's a joint effort. I think the notion that council can do everything for people in emergency services is a false belief. We need to all work together. Councillor Lorentson: Absolutely. And I think the fires also are really still fresh in everyone's mind. So commend Ian what you're doing in the space of engagement. Because, you know, when we're that close to the smoking fires, that just doesn't disappear overnight. It's still fresh. I want to ask a question. Just before I came to the meeting, there's some plastic lids that are floating out on the eastern beaches. In terms of environmental spillage, is that what the LDNG, have you guys got a plan or

00:54:00 a process how to address environmental and in light of the polystyrene spillage that we saw just a year ago? Speaker 2: So, embraced in the Local Disaster Management Plan as well as the LDNG is environmental restoration. So we actually respond to these incidents. The thing we learned about the polystyrene disaster on the beaches was the lack of resources that were out there in the endeavouring cleanup. So we're actually, one of the lessons learned from that disaster was actually, you know, marine cleanup kits that can be deployed, you know, to the eastern beaches along the port areas. That's a work in progress. We actually had a meeting about it with Melissa Coyle and Ben Derrick about it last week to discuss the next steps about actually properly deploying. We've got an outstanding action in our continuous improvement plan. Unfortunately, priorities are being elsewhere and we're still going through our list. And we've already got a trailer at the depot for oil spill response, but we need to ramp

00:55:00 that up throughout the debris. So I would have liked to have said that we're better prepared for mean marine debris at the moment. We've still got some more work to do. And that's just because of time and resources and going through the pilot. Councillor Jurisevic: And heightened awareness, having had it happen, we're now aware of the sort of things that can occur. Speaker 2: It's still, we're actually still working through the lessons learned from the 2022 disaster. And we're actually planning on doing a report to the LBNG and the State of Council about our status and what the connections are. And where the outstanding things are going to be fixed. So that's one that we're in progress, but we haven't had as much progress as we would like. Councillor Lorentson: Thanks. I'm happy to move. Councillor Jurisevic: And I'll happily second it. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: Thank you. Claire, would you like to speak? Sure. You just want to reiterate our thanks. You know, I feel that we are very well prepared here. And that's so much to do with all the work that you've all done.

00:56:00 So there's no one who knows disasters better than you. And your expertise and skills were fundamental during the floods. And so, you know, I think we've got, if a disaster does strike, we've got a really strong plan. We've got a really strong team. And I think the community should take comfort in that. But it doesn't mean that we can't, we need all our community to get on board, get ready month. And as you said, there is a really good opportunity to prepare our community to keep having those talks, those resilience talks. I think a resilient community is a prepared community. And we can't control modern nature, but we can certainly prepare the best we can. And I think we're doing a really great job in that. And I think, you know, we're the team outside. And I said to Dale from the Queensland Police, I said, we're so lucky we've got the best in business. We really do. So I think that, you know, when we sit in that disaster room, I know that we've got the skill, expertise, and knowledge. And I think that's something that the community can take comfort in. So thank you very much for all your hard work. It's greatly valued and appreciated.

00:57:00 Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Councillor Dray? Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. What a change over my time in that room. 10 years ago when I sat in for the first two years as an observer and then the last two terms of council as a deputy chair of the LDMG, I've seen a major, a large number of changes. And changes are the better. And this plan resembles a lot of the change that has occurred and a lot of the learnings that we've gained, not only as a council, but through the DDMG and through the challenges that we've had thrust at us. And we've gone through fire, flood, pandemic, environmental spills. You know, we've had the lot. I'm exhausted just thinking about it with the hours of sleep that we've lost over the last five years in particular. But, you know, fortunately the state government has been a large part of the support of this as well. We didn't have a recovery plan for this state until a few years ago. I remember going to that first meeting with the state about recovery plans and the word

00:58:00 resilience was barely mentioned. We've now got a resilience officer. And what a transition, what a change that's made to the way that we understand and we deal with disasters in this state and in this council as a result. Yeah, resilience adds a whole new meaning that we just don't replace like with like, that we actually look at what the impacts of replacing something that's been impacted and see if we can't construct something that has the ability to outlast the last disaster and the next disaster. And hopefully we don't have to replace it time and time again, that we actually learn lessons from each of these events and that we grow strategies and procedures that try and keep us at the forefront of it. But at the end of the day, you know, this is a great plan. But as you said, as you guys have said, I mean, we rely on the individuals to make sure that they implement their own plans at home and how important that is because, yeah, we

00:59:00 can't be everywhere. The services are stretched at that time and everybody's going to understand they have a role to play. And even in your own household, you have a significant role to play of understanding of where it is in relation to you. When is it time to pack up? When is it time to get your family together and get out? Because that's a decision that ultimately we all have to make at some stage. Remember the fires. 10,000 people in Tewantin had to make that decision. They had to get out. They were told to evacuate. Every time we have a flood, there are a number of people that know what the rising waters mean and know what the trigger points are. And newcomers to the place have to find that out. You know, they have to become aware of those challenges that confront us. Being able to do rapid response when we've learned from the lessons of the polystyrene on the beach or an oil spill. I can remember years ago, Mayor Bob Abba having to react to an oil spill on the beach. He couldn't wait for the state to turn around and give him approvals. He got the vehicles on the beach and started damming up and trying to prevent the oil spill

01:00:00 from spreading. It's that capacity, that knowledge and that sort of local understanding of conditions that we need to have to know what we need to put in place when those sort of things strike. I said full credit to James. I said, I want to acknowledge James Elliott for the work that he's done in putting this together and some of the technological advances that he has helped us to embark on through his time as our disaster management officer. I think he did a tremendous job. And I'm sure, Neil, that you'll equally fill that role going forward. But the opportunities that technology present to us are ones that we must embrace. We're all in this together. We can do whatever we can because they will help our community and will help our operations to go forward. But even making sure that we've got good communications across the region. Black spots. Those little things are so important to ensuring that when, not if, but when, because we know

01:01:00 this is going to happen. It's not a matter of if it's going to happen. It's when it's going to happen. That we're as prepared as we possibly can be and that each time something like this happens, we learn from those, learn the lessons of what we can still deliver better for the community going forward for the future. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Frank, you haven't spoken. Cancel it. Yeah, thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Look, as one of the Peregian Beach residents who was evacuated twice in six weeks in 2019 due to fire, and on one of those occasions a red glow in the distance within 20 minutes became an ember storm over the house, prompting quick evacuation, I'm really looking forward to this. I'm really interested in how this fire tech is going to be working and helping us detect and mobilise really quickly before it gets to that point. But I have a question. One of the things we're being asked to approve here in this recommendation is devolving responsibility for updating and approving the operational subplans of the Local Disaster Management 2023

01:02:00 to the Noosa Local Disaster Management Group. Could you tell us how often are the subplans updated? Yeah. Speaker 2: And who does them? Yeah, subplans have already been updated. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Because I don't recall any of them coming before Council. No, no, they're done within the LBNG. Speaker 2: This approach is consistent with other local governments that have subplans for the major plan. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. Speaker 2: And it basically allows the local groups to update the subplans themselves without having to actually come before Council or the LBNG. So it becomes a much more flexible and easy to manage subplan documents. For instance, we've been involved with SEQ Wateries recently, updating inundation and subplans associated with, you know, possibly, you know, if there's catastrophic damage, which is, you know, something that could happen. So we don't have to bring that through to the Council. So it allows it to be much more nimble and flexible. Councillor Wilkie: I appreciate it.

01:03:00 Is it just ratifying something that's happening already? Speaker 2: I don't quite understand that question. Councillor Wilkie: So we've been asked to approve the devolution of responsibility for updating these plans. Yeah. I don't recall any of them coming before Council anyway. So is this just ratifying a process that's underway already? Speaker 2: I think that's correct. And I think we're just trying to make it clear that there are subplans to support this master Speaker 5: plan. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. In essence, it gets kept. Totally, totally supported. Yeah. Speaker 5: In essence, it would get encapsulated in the approval of the disaster management plan, Councillor Jurisevic: because all those subplans are part of this going forward. Speaker 3: Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: I want to acknowledge the firefighters. Today's the firefighters remembrance day, and I just think it falls on a really good note. Well done, Councillor. As we're endorsing our local disaster management plan.

01:04:00 So I want to acknowledge and pay tribute to those who've lost their lives in the line of duty. And a shout out to all our other SES workers, the lifeguards, our police, and the volunteers, our volunteering rural riders. You know, I sit back and go, when disaster hits, where would you rather be? And I think the most important thing for us is to be safe. And to be safe is a pretty great place to be. And I'm going to finish on a quote which gets thrown a lot over the last four years in the space of local disaster. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. And I'm hoping for the best. Thanks. Anyone else? Just one question before the Mayor closes. Question. Oh, and Tom. Excuse me. Tom. I'll let you go. I'll go to Joe first. That's all right. Councillor Jurisevic: If the community are looking for where they can get their information with regard to disaster

01:05:00 management from Council, where do they go to? Speaker 7: The one. Thank you for asking. Councillor Jurisevic: It's my Dorothy Dixon for you. It is. Speaker 7: Two reasons. You'll see before you PACS. So every engagement that we have, we're seeing the right number of PACS coming in. So you can see here at disaster.dixon.pqld.gov.au. Or you can just go straight to Council's website and almost immediately you'll see the disaster dashboard. So ultimately every LDA in Queensland has one. Our Guardian is the system that we use. But our disaster dashboard is that point of truth for all residents. Councillor Jurisevic: You don't only have to wait for a disaster to find use in that disaster dashboard. What sort of things will you find on the disaster dashboard that people will find useful? Speaker 7: That's the beauty of the disaster dashboard. We can also move and change and certainly under LDA's leadership we'll be able to incorporate some of this. But it can be meteorology updates, weather updates.

01:06:00 Road updates. Councillor Jurisevic: Road closures. Speaker 7: So smoke hazards, fire areas, whatever it is. But we also work with our partners to have some of their promotion in there as well. And on the disaster dashboard it takes you back to Council's website as well. So the idea there, we basically have it in stay informed. And there are two things that happen on the disaster dashboard. First of all the information that every resident would need in relation to any question. The second part is a NUSA alert which sits right beside it. And on that NUSA alert is the ability for them to put in. There's no privacy issues in the sense that it's just an email address and a phone number or a mobile number or information from the disaster dashboard when LDMG is leaning forward standing up. We are then able to send all residents that information through by text or by SMS. Councillor Jurisevic: So probably a good thing for people to familiarise themselves with outside of a disaster so that when the time comes they know what sort of information they can see. Speaker 7: And the last but not least, these packs that you have in front of you represent the packs that will be this Saturday at the Get Ready event for NUSA.

01:07:00 We're really proud of this. It's not something we get to speak about that often. But the great thing about it is that there are 17, this is Get Ready week around Queensland. There are 17 events happening around the state but there are only six that are basically being attended or promoted by Get Ready Queensland. And we're one of those six. So Saturday you're all invited. You all received my earlier email and then Susan went out lunchtime. This Saturday from 7 until 12, directly behind and keeping with the weekly promoted markets, there's going to be 13 disaster management events. We're all going to be there having a chat with everybody about everything that they may have questions about. Councillor Jurisevic: So if people aren't sure of what they need to put into their own household disaster emergency thought processes, this is the place to come. Absolutely. Councillor Lorentson: This is how you make a plan. That's how you make a plan. So excellent. Speaker 7: So the idea here is, in this case I've brought the aged care kit with me for you. So obviously what they, this is through my engagement with them and then getting sort

01:08:00 of best practice through all the disaster groups around the state. It's just a clear clipboard. And then on it you'll probably see some two, three different things. The thing that Councillor O'Neill showed up, which is the dangerous weather emergency plan. And then, I don't know if you want to, if you don't mind really holding it up, just that little flyer there. Yeah, that one. So that's magnetised. Oh, I'm going to give these to my neighbours. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. This is so exciting. Speaker 7: So they're, they're magnetised. And if you spin them around, it's a little magnetiser. Councillor Lorentson: That's the thing. That's what I thought it was. Speaker 7: So on the back, that just goes on your fridge. So that's every now and then when a disaster happens. And then a USB and a language. And that allows the USB is empty. So that's wills, passports, insurance certificates, all the things that are going to happen. Councillor Jurisevic: The sort of things you probably don't think of at the last minute that you need to have at hand in the event that something tragic happens. Speaker 7: So everyone who visits us on Saturday and everyone in between will receive one of these packs. Fantastic.

01:09:00 Councillor Jurisevic: Very good. Such great work. Such great work. Thank you. Thank you. Sorry, Tom's got another question. Councillor Wegener: I just wanted to say thank you so much for that. I think it's a really important feature. It just like, gives me thinking straight away. I just open it up. There's a little can opener in there. There's that one thing that, you know, this data you need to have, your staff, because it's really a, it's a great tool to play with. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Fantastic. Said it. Speaker 7: They're just great people to work with as well, it helps with the human important. Councillor Lorentson: Fantastic. So good. Thank you. Okay, so everyone's spoken. Claire, would you like your place? Mayor Stewart: No, no, all good. Just thank you again. Good, send that in, please. Councillor Lorentson: Good morning, guys. They cancelled my holiday this week. Oh. Okay. Mayor Stewart: We'll come and say hello. Speaker 7: Oh, we'll be there. Our fire management officer will be there. Our like, very different, you'll see many different council people there as well. Perfect.

01:10:00 Councillor Lorentson: Thanks, Anne. Thanks, Anne. And again, extend our thank you to all the staff. Excellent work. Great. All those in favour? Thank you. Thank you, Carrie unanimously. Thank you. Thanks, Sean. Speaker 6: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Councillor Lorentson: So now we're going next to report number 5.3, Noosa Shire Council sub and specialised beliefs. And I welcome to the table. Before I move on, I'm going to clear a conflict of interest. If I can have that in front of me, can't be. It's like a screen. Is it a screen? It's a bit bigger for you. Councillor Lorentson: It's a bit bigger for you. I, Councillor Lorentson, inform the meeting that I have a declarable conflict of interest

5.3 NOOSA SHIRE COUNCIL SOLE AND SPECIALISED LISTS ¶

▶ 01:10:29

01:11:00 in this matter, as my husband, Chris Lorentzen, is an employee of Page Furnishes who are proposed to be included on the specialised supply list. As a result of my conflict of interest, I will now leave the meeting room while the matter is considered and voted on. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you. I would like to move that Mayor Stewart be appointed chairperson. That's all right. Also me. Councillor Jurisevic: You were on that side of the table. I was going to ask you. No. Councillor Wilkie: Would you like to ask for us all in favour? All in favour? Carried unanimously. Thank you, thank you. Mayor Stewart: Mayor Stewart.

01:12:00 Speaker 6: So summary to this report, the procurement of council goods and services must be carried out in accordance with the Local Government Act 2009 and the default contracting procedures outlined in the Local Government Regulation 2012. The Local Government Reg also allows for exceptions to the default contracting procedures, and that includes the approval of a supplier being deemed either as a sole or a specialised supplier. So a sole is that it's satisfied that there is only one supplier who is reasonably available, and a specialised supplier, because of the specialised supplier, or confidential nature of the services that are sought, it would be impractical or disadvantageous for the Local Government to invite quotes or tenders. Councillor Jurisevic: So examples of something like that would be where we're using a particular type of software and intellectual property is that, or legal services that are king and co is that an example of that?

01:13:00 Correct. Mayor Stewart: Great, thank you. Any questions? Councillor Jurisevic: Yep, got another one. Joe. In light of what we've just been talking about with the waste strategy, these guys are on our books. So when it comes to procurement of services and procurement of products in particular, how do we, is there an opportunity within this sole supplier list to incorporate the elements of circular economy and the type of elements that we procure with these suppliers when we've got them on our books? Speaker 1: Yeah, I think in terms of sole supplier, this, at the moment, we're currently working on a sustained procurement policy, and we'll, we'll come to Council to workshop that in December, this year. The intent of that policy is to cover any type of procurement, any type of arrangement, not just sole specialised.

01:14:00 Councillor Jurisevic: No, I realise that, that, but I was just wondering. Speaker 1: So there would be an opportunity under that. Yeah, okay. Once we, once we implement that, for any of our arrangements, whether they're sole specialised or other arrangements that Council has, to be able to meet some of those objectives, for sure. Councillor Jurisevic: That's right, it's just that, given that these aren't actually a supplier that is going through that renewal phase on a, on a regular basis, or, or do we, or do we do that? Every time we update this list, do we go through and refine that list and look at who is on that list? Because I do notice there are some dropping off and some coming on. Speaker 6: That's correct, it is an annual process that we do do, and it does come in alignment with the types of projects that we ramp up, ramp down with, so, yes, part of that process, we review that in accordance with the regs. Councillor Jurisevic: So the elements of procurement can, can be, can be revised each, each, on an annual basis when this list is upgraded, thank you. Councillor Wilkie: I just have a question, thank you, Mayor. The reason why someone might be removed from the list, like Adamas, for example, why would they, is that alternative procurement and contract solution completed?

01:15:00 That means you've found something else to do the work? Speaker 6: In that case, there was a, there was a different supplier that had been, that had come on board in the market, and that we could do a competitive process, and through that competitive process, it has been able to be a more advantageous option. Councillor Wilkie: Okay, and Specialist Supplier List, University of Queensland, your service is no longer required by Council? Speaker 6: So the services in particular that they speak to are those that are written in the Reason for Inclusion, so those ones in particular were specific to specialised knowledge, experience in planning appeals, for the understanding of the municipal plan, these specialised services are time sensitive due to court time frames, so they were deemed that they were no longer required for that.

01:16:00 Councillor Wilkie: So does that mean if you need the expertise of a university, you wouldn't be using UQ anymore? Speaker 6: We could potentially go through another procurement process in order to engage them for other services. Right, okay. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you. Mayor Stewart: Any questions? I'm happy to move it. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. Mayor Stewart: Okay. Thank you, guys. A very long list. We appreciate all your hard work, because it is time consuming, and there's a lot of due diligence required, so no, we appreciate it, so thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: At the end of the day, the concept of this is to save time and effort on services for the community, and the needs of Council at times, so that we don't have to go through the full open process.

01:17:00 Yeah. Mayor Stewart: No, thank you. Thank you. All in favour? All in favour. Carried unanimously. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much. Thanks, Barry. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: She's run away again. Keep going. Mayor Stewart: Yeah. Councillor Wegener: Okay. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Thank you very much.

5.4 COUNCIL MEETING SCHEDULE – JANUARY TO MARCH 2024 ¶

▶ 01:17:25

01:18:00 Thank you. I ask you if you can start by giving us a summary or overview of the report in front of us. Speaker 3: So this is just a schedule of council meetings that we're advised to do on an annual basis. So this is for the next year, 2024, given that we have our election on the big call on the 16th of March. So we've really just seen the period of January, February and March is really what this shows. It's a series of meetings that we have, our two committee meetings and then our general committee and then our ordinary committee meetings. Councillor Jurisevic: So we are on the 14th? Speaker 3: Yeah, the last one on the 14th. Councillor Lorentson: So just for clarity, so we're in taper mode from January 1. Councillor Jurisevic: Not that soon, not that soon. Speaker 3: It's still, once the last year is called, we expect it to be called on the 29th of January at this point in time.

01:19:00 29th of January. We don't know until the end. Councillor Jurisevic: Typically about six weeks before. Six weeks. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah, that's six weeks. We're expecting it to be there. Okay. And in terms of the meetings between January and until March, only, no major policy decisions will remain during that period? Speaker 3: In terms of the meetings between January and March, we still hold these meetings but we're only able to make basically business decisions and operational decisions. Councillor Jurisevic: No financial decisions. Speaker 3: I think this is going to affect the council in the long term. Councillor Jurisevic: The budget and all that. Mayor Stewart: I'm happy to move the report in front of us. Can I ask a question? Can I ask a question, Larry? In regard to March, there's an ordinary council meeting literally on the Thursday night before the election. Yes. Is it standard practice that there have always been meetings, general and ordinary, that close to the election? Speaker 3: Yeah. That's a good question. My understanding is yes you can if you have it.

01:20:00 Because that's our, Thursday night is our system. Yeah. Every council is different in terms of which nights and days they're used. But Thursday, it's in our schedule. If we don't have anything we want to bring to the table as officers, then we don't need to look at the council. That's a good question. But at least there is a- We have time. We have time. In terms of no, no agenda items necessarily if we don't have anything specific. But we might be, we'll be bringing regular BAU stuff. We still have to do those reports. Councillor Jurisevic: Standing orders required. Speaker 3: Might be very short. Yeah, exactly. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. Mayor Stewart: And Larry, what about within the caretaker period? Will there be workshops on? Like, because I can't imagine there'll be, there's workshops to lay the foundations for them, reports and things like that. Yeah. So, I imagine that will be less too. Yeah. Yeah. Have to be more. Speaker 3: The things that are specific to what we want to, what we want to get through and what we, again, as long as they're not foundations for any major change to the maintenance.

01:21:00 So, we'll be playing that. All right. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Thank you. I'll move the report in front of us. Happy to second it. Second? Great. Nothing more to say? All those in favour? Thank you. Supported unanimously. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Madam Chair. We're up to item seven. There's no confidential sessions. I now declare the meeting closed. And the time is 2.55pm. Thank you and see you next at the...

8 MEETING CLOSURE ¶

▶ 01:23:07

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.